This episode addresses the tendency among believers to draw on resurrection power only in crises or challenging circumstances. The operating presumption is that believers utilize their own power for routine everyday life but rely on God's power when our own isn't up to the task. Some who are successful in achieving a certain degree of sin-management settle into a mediocre Christian life in which DAILY reliance on Christ becomes optional. One reason is that the bar for Christian life is lowered: being a Christian is primarily about sin-management and strangely "following Christ" is only necessary to manage sin. But this recasting of the purpose of Christian life is fundamentally self-centered and contradicts the Scriptures. "If anyone would be my disciple he must first deny himself, pick up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24) Following Christ and service to Him is the end-goal and it is embodied in love of God and neighbor. In essence "sin-management" is the necessary precondition of following Christ which is principally demonstrated by love of God and neighbor. The recasting of Christian life into sin-management, divorced from following Christ, is arguably the principal reason why many dichotomize routine everyday life from crises moments, only the latter of which requires depending on resurrection power. FOLLOWING Christ and loving God and neighbor requires divine power ALL the time.
Samson: When One Sin Becomes a House of Cards
Coming from the narrative of Samson and Delilah, this episode posits how God uses deceptive influences to root out and bring into the light our own obstinate embrace of the "lusts of deceit." While Samson's obvious sin was fornication, the narrative also paints him as a liar whose moral compromise leads him to lose the lying game to the seductive manipulations of Delilah. About half of the episode centers on the deceptive nature of the "lusts of deceit" which don't immediately reveal the severity of consequences. The episode deals with many common deceptions that Christians embrace regarding unchecked embrace of the lusts of deceit, including 1)they're somehow the exception to the rule, 2) embrace of God's gifts for kingdom purposes renders indulgence in sin a "minor offense," and finally 3) the bogus conclusion that sin can be managed. All three betray an underlying pride which provides a formidable rationalization for refusing to obey God completely. This monstrous web of deceit came crashing down on Samson..literally in his death. The episode is a stark warning that God takes sanctification seriously and will judge those who "drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood." (Isaiah 5:18)