A good friend of mine always readily, even eagerly, walks in the light about his
own sin, but he struggles with believing that God really has forgiven him for that sin. That his sin is not only completely forgiven, but, according to the prophet Jeremiah, entirely forgotten by God as well, is unimaginable to him. He cannot yet see what he will soon embrace—that our sin is now irrelevant in our relationship with God because of the cross of Jesus Christ! “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).
My friend is addicted to the same drug with which all we descendants of Adam are addicted—wanting to be like God and decide everything for ourselves, including doing what we deem is “good” and not what is “evil.”
As a result, we are all “navel-gazers,” always checking to see how clean our lives are. How are we doing in this monumental task of being “good,” which we took upon ourselves at the Tree in the Garden? When Satan said to Eve in Genesis 3:4, 5, “You will not surely die (a lie – we died spiritually). For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (the truth!).
So, we see that with that tasty snack, Adam and Eve took upon the human race the job of pleasing God by being good like He is good, and not evil. We no longer are like little children, as Adam and Eve were when they were created, simply always just doing what Daddy (God) told them to do. Now, we are demanding independence to “handle everything ourselves!”
How am I doing at my self-appointed job of “keeping my navel clean?” I have found over the years that there are three different ways to express this unconscious, insatiable desire, and we all naturally fit into one of these categories. Keep in mind we do not get to choose whether or not we are navel-gazers; we all naturally are, due to our ancestor, Adam, who simply “passed it on.” You could say, “We are addicted to ‘navel-gazing.’”
There are three categories of people with this addiction::
1. The Pharisee Navel-Gazer – I am intimately familiar with this type, as I am a card-carrying, charter-member of this club! We can be easily recognized as arrogant, know-it-alls, who never lack for the “right answer” to any problem. Why do you need the Holy Spirit if you have me? And I am sure to be all-ears to hear the accolades and kudos you communicate in appreciation for my sage advice!
We Pharisees have an incredibly difficult time ever being wrong or recognizing that God is the Sovereign One and has us all on different paths and in different places on our “journey to the City with Foundations.” It is so hard to relax and let God teach us all new truth if and when He wants to.
Ad, of course, we never see any lint in our own navels!
2. The Wannabe Pharisee Navel-Gazer – On the other hand, this navel-gazer sees nothing but lint in his navel, and, try as he might, he can’t ever get it clean! He castigates himself for misspeaking, acting inappropriately, and not being as righteous as he could have been. “Ought to,” “Need to,” and “Should” is the mantra by which he lives his life.
This navel-gazer always sees lint in a crevice he can’t quite reach, and finds new lint every time he checks, which is constantly.
3. The Rebel Navel-Gazer – This final navel-gazer is not at all worried about measuring up to God’s standard as are the other two, because the biblical standard, the Law of God, is not important to him. He has chosen his own standard: “What’s right for me,” “What my social group believes,” “What my gang dictates,” etc. are popular choices.
The Rebel’s addiction is harder to see, but make no mistake, he too, as a son of Adam, is addicted to living by a standard, whatever it may be. He either measures up and is “good,” or he does not and is “bad.”. How he feels about himself is still dependent upon his performance.
God is, right now, in the process of moving us (all three categories) on from navel-gazing. That addiction gripped us at the “first tree” in the Garden, where we discovered “good and bad” for the first time. But God took us all on to the “second tree,” the Cross, where good and bad became totally irrelevant to Him!
Hallelujah! My concern is no longer righteousness, but now only repentance—genuine, continual, open, transparent, eager, and joyful repentance—from already forgiven sin I still commit. It is only this repentance, in response to the Holy Spirit’s loving, unceasing conviction in my heart, that opens the door and ushers me into the experience of “walking (living) by faith!”
We are getting it! Shaking our addiction and then learning a new way to live (having our “minds renewed” – Romans 12:2) takes time, but as we do, we are becoming an unstoppable force in our families, our churches and in the civil government. Jesus’ promise is becoming a reality: ”I will build My church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. ”(Matthew 16:18).
