"Who are we?"

David and Bathsheba. We all know the story. He broke and repented before the Lord. But sin had entered David's house. Years later David's son would rape his half-sister. When another brother stood up to defend her, asking his father to take a stand against his wayward son, David refused. More bloodshed would enter his house. David's kingdom divided and collapsed. And as Jesus said many, many years later "a house divided cannot stand."

We are that house divided. We look at the immorality exploding in our land and we are overwhelmed. We can't take a stand against every one of the evils that threaten our house so we choose not to stand against any of them. We know we ourselves are sinners, maybe still actively living in sin. "Who are we to judge? Who are we to say anything when this sin is no different in God's eyes than that sin or that sin?" Our house is about to fall.

Jesus said to take the plank out of your own eye so that you can help remove the plank in your brother's eye. We are all walking around with painful, festering logs in our eyes thinking this is somehow a better way to reach the world ("I'm ok, you're ok") when it is killing us. 

Jesus asked what good is salt if it loses its saltiness? Salt isn't just for flavor, it's for preserving, for cleansing. Salt in an open wound is painful, but it's necessary for healing to take place. 

God in His wisdom knows we won't take a stand against sin if we are dealing with our own sin--the guilt of past ones, the reality of ones still strongholding in our hearts. We can't fix this with fig leaves. Jesus already provided us with a way to be holy as He is holy. 

That is who we are. "Who are we to--" WE'RE FORGIVEN, MADE NEW, BLOOD BOUGHT AND TRANSFORMED BY THE LOVE OF THE SON WHO ALONE WAS WORTHY TO TAKE ON ALL OUR SIN.  We are His ambassadors, a people made holy and washed white with His own righteousness. We have a voice to speak into people's lives because we've been redeemed, once in offense to God and His holiness now made right with Him, empowered with authority to take His message of love and hope to this dying world. God help us to bring our sin boldly to you to rectify. Help us despise our own sin, not to treat it with care or affection. Help us to run to you with hidden sins that are cancer to our souls. Help us understand that it is a loving Father who longs to deal with sin in our lives. Help us to see who we are now that we are in Christ so that we can speak without shame about You and Your grace.