We are continuing our focus on what it means to purge ourselves of anything that blocks our relationship with God.

We ask the question, “Where does Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit live within us?”

Reminding you of what I said yesterday before we can advance our thought, Crabb says,

“In the center of your soul and mine, in the exact center, the Shekhinah glory resides – the literal, real, overwhelming presence of God. And when we live out of the center, all the self-seeking, self-serving energy that guides so much of what we think and feel and do, often without even knowing it, is miraculously displaced by love.”

If that is true, then we have no choice but to admit that we don’t usually live out of that center.

Something is in the way. Something is blocking our access to it. We will look at that tomorrow.

 

So, what is in the way?

Crabb suggest that what is in our way is what he calls “relational sin.” And what we must do is purge ourselves of relational sin. In truth, there is no other kind of sin.  All sin is relational. It is either sin against God, or others or myself and in many cases against all three.

You see all sin, all relational sin, starts with fear. We are afraid to be real with others because we are not sure we will be loved if they know who we really are. So, we create relational barriers. We won’t let anyone get near our inner thoughts. The mask is on. We won’t let them know us and we are blocked from knowing them.

We are afraid of ourselves, so we stay busy, even doing churchy things in order to avoid having to confront our own weaknesses. We won’t take the time to be introspective enough to even know ourselves. We are afraid that if we really know who we are, we won’t be able to like ourselves.  

We are afraid of God, so we come to Him in learned prayers that say we know Him, but in truth, we are afraid to get too close to Him.

We are afraid to say with the psalmist,

Psalm 139:23–24 (NIV84)

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

But in truth, that is what we must do. We must ask God to show us our offensive ways and to empower us to purge ourselves from anything that is blocking us from entering into our “sanctuary of the center.” 

 

We must see our sins before we can purge ourselves from our sins. The easiest way to see our sin is to look honestly at the way we relate to others, to ourselves and to God.

Deep purging always involves relational sin. And the deepest purging will always center on the way we treat God. If we are not open to seeing what’s wrong and if we are not motivated by a holy desire.   to love God and others, we will not be able to deal with our sins.

Crabb says that in order to do that, we must abandon ourselves to holiness.

But, what does that mean? We will explore that tomorrow.

For now, ask yourself what fears are keeping you from a genuine relationship with God, with others, and even with yourself.