How is the Statue of Liberty like the Gospel?

 The other week the pastor at my church ended his sermon with an illustration.  The illustration was about a man dressed up in a Statue of Liberty costume that regularly dances on the corner of an intersection near his house.  He used that regular occurrence in his life to illustrate the main point of his sermon.  When I was first saved that was the part of the sermons that fascinated me the most, the illustrations.  I was intrigued with more than just the mere story, I was captivated and curious how the pastor could use such regular daily life experiences to illustrate his main points.  You see, I didn’t think that way and I was amazed at people who used the Bible to shape their view on life.  I wanted to be able to do the same thing but all I saw was the dancing Statue of Liberty and nothing more.

Before I was saved I couldn’t see my sin.  For the life of me I really couldn’t tell you how I was a sinner.  I knew the Bible said I was a sinner, but I couldn’t name one specific sin.  I remember coming across the verse 1 John 1:10, “If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and His word is not in us.” So I concluded that my sin was saying I had no sin.

After I was saved God was faithful to teach me how to clearly see my sin. One means He used was my time at The Master’s College going through the Masters of Biblical Counseling program.  I foolishly thought I was going through the program solely to learn how to help counsel others.  When I started I had no idea the impact it would have on my own life.  The biggest thing I learned from the program was how to think biblically and how to view life through the Scriptures.  It was both exciting and overwhelming at the same time to finally be able to concretely identify and name the sins in my life.  At first it started out exciting, but quickly it changed to weariness as my eyes were opened to how utterly sinful I am.

Ironically my struggle went from one extreme to the other.  Before I was saved I was blind and didn’t think I had any sin at all.  I was very proud in my self-righteousness.  So you would think that with the new ability to clearly identify my sin would come humility—but no, that was not the case.  At this point I went from one extreme to the other.  Instead of priding myself in my supposed “sinlessness”, I now prided myself in my ability to perceive, understand, and identify the nuances of sin in my life.  But there was something missing.  What was missing was the other half of the story.  After identifying my sin I would stop.  I failed to finish the other half of the story, the good news.

I share all this because this is a danger and temptation I have when writing posts for my blog.  Being able to clearly identify my sin is just the first step.  And it is useless without repenting from my sin.  Repentance is a “U-turn”, turning away from sin and turning to God.  After clearly identifying my sin I then need to turn to God through the good news of the gospel.

Something I am working on is formulating specific goals for all areas of my life.  I realize that I have lost my focus. I don’t know what I am aiming for in my mothering. I have forgotten what the goal is for my role as a wife.  So I am thinking through and formulating specific goals for 2012 in all areas of my life (motherhood, marriage, housekeeping, ministry/others, personal, physical, and support raising).  I am really excited about this.  There are a few blogs I have read that has encouraged me to start this process (Simple Mom and Money Saving Mom).  But more than just managing my time and making it purposeful (I really don’t need more “to do” lists), I want to redeem my time and make sure everything I do is for the motive of glorifying God. 

That’s where this blog and specifically this post come in.  A friend mentioned that it would be beneficial for a missionary to pick up a hobby.  So that in working towards long term goals, which you may never get the priviledge of seeing the fruition of in your life time, you can have a hobby which has a specific start and completion.  A hobby.  Yikes.  This is one of those ice breaker get to know you questions that I try to avoid.  “So what are your hobbies?”  I never knew how to answer that one.  I am not crafty and don’t really do any regular sports.  In my leisure time I like to read and drink a good cup of coffee.  Now that doesn’t quite qualify as a hobby.  But then I realized that this blog can become my hobby.  And a hobby with a purpose too!  I want to use my training at The Master’s College in Biblical Counseling to bless others.  It is my desire to share my day-to-day life circumstances for the purpose of explaining how the Bible shapes my thinking.  And I think it will be a good discipline for my own life to, to constantly reflect on viewing my life through gospel lenses. 

This is where I hope my readers will help keep me accountable—making sure I tell the other half of the story.  So how is the Statue of Liberty like the gospel?  Well the pastor used this illustration to emphasize his main point which is “Is it okay to remain silent when you have good news?”  (Jesse Johnson preached this sermon from 2 Kings 6:24-7:20.)  His three points were (1) you have to know God’s Word, (2) you have to believe God’s Word, and (3) you have to share God’s Word.  As I seek to share the stories of my everyday life on this blog, it is my desire to do so through gospel centered lenses.  Is it okay for me to remain silent on how to Word of God practically applies to the everyday circumstances of my life when I have such good news?  No.  I was wonderfully blessed with training from godly men at The Master’s College on how to take the truths of God’s word and apply them to life.  And it would be my privilege to speak up and not remain silent.

I want to comfort others by allowing my life to be an illustration of what it looks like to bring God’s Word to bear on real life situations.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

I am not called to convince people to believe in God’s Word, but I am called to open my mouth and not remain silent and declare the blessings and truths God has entrusted to me.

Romans 10:14 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”