The problem...

I gotta be frank with you, folks... today is going to be a little bit uncomfortable for all of us.  And I say this, because as we approach the altar of God, we inevitably forget that it is only ourselves we can bring.  We want to bring forth other problems, blaming the world's follies on other things, looking through what we perceive to be the "big picture viewer" and assuming we are wise for doing so.  But the problem stems from one thing, and one thing only... me.

"I'm not a prodigy!"

"The Problem" by downhere

I say "me," not literally referencing myself as the root cause of all problems with the world.  I'll explain how that ties to it in a second... but think of what I am, and what you are, that is similar.  We are flesh.  And it is the flesh, the sin nature, the nature which we carry from conception (Psalm 51:5) which causes the problems.  The sin within us produces desires to go and do and say things that we shouldn't... and sometimes we are successful in fighting that urge.  Other times, we are not.

I called a friend of mine, and I told him that this was a perfect song, because I know who causes all the problems, and I can point them out with little to no effort.  Of course, I was employing severe sarcasm in this, and he responded in the same sarcasm, and then I shared with him the final choral ending of the song, one which I believe should be on your lips and mine every day.

"The sooner you can sing along; the sooner you can sing this song, the happier we'll be.  'The problem with the world is me.'"

"The Problem" by downhere

We can name and list and identify all kinds of things wrong in the world, and we can seek apology from all kinds of entities and organizations that don't line up with our particular ideology or theology, but the one thing we often fail to do is look to a passage like Philippians 2:12b as it tells us that we should...

"... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling..."

Philippians 2:12b

Seek Him first (Luke 12:31-34), and don't try, as stated yesterday, to bring the whole world to the altar.  That has been done already, friends, by our Savior and Redeemer... Jesus Christ!  Instead, as I often tell my small group of high school boys I teach, you need to own who and what you are: a sinner, born of flesh and redeemed of the Spirit.

Remember: The problem with the world is me.

God bless you all!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9iPHGyaWuE