Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, SELFISH AMBITIONS, DISSENSIONS, HERESIES, ENVY, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21, NKJV).
I Have Seen the Enemy and He is Us - Part 5
The works of the flesh are endless in their infamous subtle variety. They are like all the names for cuts of beef: a hundred different words that all boil down to the same dead cow.
SELFISH AMBITIONS are those acts of unfair self-promotion that achieve their lowly goal at the expense of integrity, honesty and other people's reputations. Duplicitous advertisements, smear campaigns to bring the competition down, and falsely taking credit for something are all means to this same end. The prime motivation behind such evil is satisfying the lust for prestige or power, no matter what the cost. It is what demeans politicians, breaks up fellowships and destroys businesses. The unrelenting drive for self-promotion can kill any relationship without remorse because the only thing that matters is putting yourself forward. Others are mere objects to be used, manipulated and discarded as expedience demands. This is a series of behaviors that starts out ugly even in children, who, through God's grace, often display their inherent fallenness in ways that are at first cute, and only later become despicable. And self-promotion becomes even more repulsive with age, the quintessential cultural stereotype being the has-been celebrity who cannot give-up the spotlight despite any reason for it being aimed in their direction having long since been gone.
DISSENSIONS are the conscious, willful, perverse decisions to take the opposing view merely to stand-out and be noticed. It is the incestuous cousin of SELFISH AMBITION, and the illegitimate offspring of CONTENTION and JEALOUSY. Chronic, habitual dissenters are the spoiled brats of intelligent discourse, masters of the "yes, but…" interpersonal strategy that makes any semblance of unity impossible. This is not to say that any and all dissension is evil, but it is to point out that it is the heart behind the dissent that determines its quality. Dissension against sin and for God is praiseworthy. Dissension to gratify a base need to be paid attention to is a complete waste of other's time. In a Christian, it often takes the form of theological nitpicking. In an unbeliever the varieties are endless.
HERESIES in this context are not primarily doctrinal, though it certainly includes such. These refer instead to the more generalized self-serving desire to follow one's own philosophy or tenets of living at the unreasoning expense of the truth in order to justify the person's or group's presuppositions and sinful life. Examples today are rampant, pervasive and institutionalized: abortion is good; alcoholism and addiction are diseases; Christianity is repressive and the root of all evil. Ultimately, all heresies are pathetic human attempts to win an ancient argument with the God and Creator of the Universe, and are doomed to ignominious and eternal failure. Heresy, by its very nature, can be likened to a rebellious child thumbing his or her nose resentfully at the adult authority figure and expending great effort at arguing nonsense.
ENVY is the corrupt desire to have that which is someone else's by rightful possession. It is the active version of covetousness, in that covetousness is almost always passive, not from lack of desire but from paucity of strength or will. Envy is the spark that stokes the fires of resentment and bitterness, and, left untended, can result in a conflagration that destroys a marriage, a family, or a church. It is the underlying certainty that everything you want should rightfully be yours, and not to have it is a cosmic crime against your august being. Underneath all class warfare is envy, puerile and simple.
There you have it, four more attributes in the hit parade of sinful humanity, and note well, this is part and parcel of who we are from God's point of view. That He loved us enough anyway to sacrifice His Son on our behalf says most of what we need to know about the depth and power of God's love. Keep all this in mind the next time you feel the need to pat yourself on the back for any reason.
I Have Seen the Enemy and He is Us - Part 5
The works of the flesh are endless in their infamous subtle variety. They are like all the names for cuts of beef: a hundred different words that all boil down to the same dead cow.
SELFISH AMBITIONS are those acts of unfair self-promotion that achieve their lowly goal at the expense of integrity, honesty and other people's reputations. Duplicitous advertisements, smear campaigns to bring the competition down, and falsely taking credit for something are all means to this same end. The prime motivation behind such evil is satisfying the lust for prestige or power, no matter what the cost. It is what demeans politicians, breaks up fellowships and destroys businesses. The unrelenting drive for self-promotion can kill any relationship without remorse because the only thing that matters is putting yourself forward. Others are mere objects to be used, manipulated and discarded as expedience demands. This is a series of behaviors that starts out ugly even in children, who, through God's grace, often display their inherent fallenness in ways that are at first cute, and only later become despicable. And self-promotion becomes even more repulsive with age, the quintessential cultural stereotype being the has-been celebrity who cannot give-up the spotlight despite any reason for it being aimed in their direction having long since been gone.
DISSENSIONS are the conscious, willful, perverse decisions to take the opposing view merely to stand-out and be noticed. It is the incestuous cousin of SELFISH AMBITION, and the illegitimate offspring of CONTENTION and JEALOUSY. Chronic, habitual dissenters are the spoiled brats of intelligent discourse, masters of the "yes, but…" interpersonal strategy that makes any semblance of unity impossible. This is not to say that any and all dissension is evil, but it is to point out that it is the heart behind the dissent that determines its quality. Dissension against sin and for God is praiseworthy. Dissension to gratify a base need to be paid attention to is a complete waste of other's time. In a Christian, it often takes the form of theological nitpicking. In an unbeliever the varieties are endless.
HERESIES in this context are not primarily doctrinal, though it certainly includes such. These refer instead to the more generalized self-serving desire to follow one's own philosophy or tenets of living at the unreasoning expense of the truth in order to justify the person's or group's presuppositions and sinful life. Examples today are rampant, pervasive and institutionalized: abortion is good; alcoholism and addiction are diseases; Christianity is repressive and the root of all evil. Ultimately, all heresies are pathetic human attempts to win an ancient argument with the God and Creator of the Universe, and are doomed to ignominious and eternal failure. Heresy, by its very nature, can be likened to a rebellious child thumbing his or her nose resentfully at the adult authority figure and expending great effort at arguing nonsense.
ENVY is the corrupt desire to have that which is someone else's by rightful possession. It is the active version of covetousness, in that covetousness is almost always passive, not from lack of desire but from paucity of strength or will. Envy is the spark that stokes the fires of resentment and bitterness, and, left untended, can result in a conflagration that destroys a marriage, a family, or a church. It is the underlying certainty that everything you want should rightfully be yours, and not to have it is a cosmic crime against your august being. Underneath all class warfare is envy, puerile and simple.
There you have it, four more attributes in the hit parade of sinful humanity, and note well, this is part and parcel of who we are from God's point of view. That He loved us enough anyway to sacrifice His Son on our behalf says most of what we need to know about the depth and power of God's love. Keep all this in mind the next time you feel the need to pat yourself on the back for any reason.
