You Can Change #37 (Chapter 4)

From page 69 of You Can Change:

Human beings are always interpreters and always worshipers. We're interpreters who form explanations for what's happening to us. And we were made by God to worship him; so worship is hard-wired into our being.

There is a two-fold problem in the heart: what we think or trust and what we desire or worship. Sin happens when we don't trust God above everything (when we interpret in the wrong way) and when we don't desire God above everything (when we worship the wrong thing). Sin happens when we believe lies about God instead of God's Word and when we worship idols instead of worshiping God.

I love it when you can cover this much territory with a just a couple of simple categories. This really gets at a lot of what goes on in our heads and hearts that ends up as sin in our lives.

This can become a helpful diagnostic for when we are confused, perplexed, or even angry with God. How am I interpreting my circumstances? Am I making assumptions or jumping to conclusions about God and his purposes that are inconsistent with what he has revealed and promised in Scripture?

Or try this when you are fighting a particular temptation or struggling with contentment. What am I desiring here? What is it that I really want? The friction is probably the result of God's holy standard going against the grain of my sinful desires.

As Tim Chester concludes the chapter, he says the answer to the problem of bad interpretation is faith, and the answer to bad worship is repentance. Though he is going to elaborate on these in coming chapters, I think it will be practical for us to apply these right away.

Can you give an example of when you interpreted your circumstances poorly (not according to God's Word, his promises)?

Can you give an example of identifying an idols in your life by tracing in through your desires?

How can we help each other be better interpreters and worshipers?

Note: I'll be taking a break from blogging on You Can Change until mid-January, since our last small group meeting for this calendar year is this Sunday, December 5, with our next meeting with discussion on You Can Change being on January 30.

In the meantime the blog itself will continue with its regular irregularity.