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Flattering Ourselves

         I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good. Even on their beds they plot evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong. (Psalm 36:1-4) 

Quite often, the bad guys on TV fit the description above. Even if they profess the Name, there is no fear of God before their eyes. They think they are God or are so close to Him that they speak for Him, no matter how vile they act. It’s s trope, a stereotype, a cliché and, generally speaking, we either smile at their ridiculousness or cringe at their utter depravity, but it’s spectacular in its scope.

In C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, one of the things Uncle Screwtape tells his protégé, Wormwood is that the size of the sin doesn’t matter. What matters is separating the “patient” (person) from the “Enemy” (God.) Murder, or serial murder, might be spectacular, but if cards will do the job, it’s best to create that break. After all, more interesting temptations can follow.

With this in mind, this passage needs more consideration for those of us who are not master criminals. One of the comments Dallas Willard makes in Renovation of the Heart is that if we could see what we are really like, it would probably destroy us. It’s similar to Joshua being told that the Promised Land would not be given to the Israelites all at once, because they couldn’t handle it. Instead, they would take it as they were capable.

In the same way, we flatter ourselves in our own eyes too much to detect or hate our sins. Even when we say we do, we don’t go to war with them like Joshua and the Israelites did the five nations – and they didn’t go to war with the five nations the way they should have. Something we should pray about?

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