What Are We Really Talking About?

Which are you more likely to say?

• I’m sorry that I got frustrated with you, I’m really tired and it’s just been a rough day.
• Please forgive me for sinning in anger against you.

Or:

• I am feeling really stressed over our finances. I just can’t see how ends are going to meet.
• I’m feeling anxious and worried about finances.

Unfortunately, our sinful tendency is to talk about our sin in generic, non-biblical terms. If you study your Bible, you’ll never hear Jesus talk about the sin of frustration. You’ll never see therapist Jesus do a one-on-one counseling session with someone that has “frustration issues”. But you will hear Jesus talk in smashmouth terms about the sin of anger. In Matthew 5:22, Jesus says very plainly:

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Also, you’ll never hear Jesus talk about being “stressed out”. Today everybody is stressed out. They’re stressed about their finances, their marriage, their school grades, their heavy handed boss, etc. If you do an Internet search for stress relief you’ll find that there are approximately 3.2 million different things to do to relieve stress. You can meditate, do yoga, hike in the woods, take medicine, jump on a trampoline, go on a detox diet that consists of only chick peas, or learn to crochet. But Jesus doesn’t talk about being stressed out. He talks about the sin of anxiety. In Matthew 6:25 he says:

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Here’s the problem. Often times we talk about and think about our sin in these non-biblical terms. Why is this a problem? Because Jesus died for people who sin in anger, not people who get frustrated. Jesus died for anxious worriers, like myself, not people who are stressed. And Jesus gives angry, anxious sinners the power to change, not people with frustration issues. The glorious, life-changing news of the gospel is for wicked sinners like me.

So what does this look like practically? Take a quick work inventory. How often do you use the words:

• Frustrated instead of angry
• Stressed instead of anxious
• Discouraged / bummed out instead of lacking faith
  

I confess, I’ve used all of these phrases. But if I’m going to repent sincerely and receive grace to change, I need to confess my sin biblically. I need to ask the Lord’s forgiveness for my anger, not my frustration. I need to confess the sin of worry to my accountability group, not the problem of stress. I need to repent of my lack of faith, not the sin of being bummed out. When I confess my sin to the Lord, there is grace to change. I don’t want to hide my sin behind neutral, non-biblical words. I want to kill my sin by the power of God’s spirit.

What about you? What non-biblical terms do you find yourself often using? How can you grow in confessing your sin biblically?

Note: This concept was originally introduced to me in an excellent article entitled “Watch Your Language” by E. Bradley Beevers. Unfortunately I can’t find a link to the article. If anyone can I would appreciate it.