Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Friday May 12, 2006

On Tuesday past I referred to a portion of my Sunday Evening sermon titled, 'Brutish Beasts.' The gist of the sermon is that people who fail to operate under control and in bounds are following the example of what Jude calls brute beasts. Inordinate affection as it is called in the Word, means any 'affection' or addiction which is 'out of bounds' according to the Bible. Colossians 3:5 "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:"

I received a rather curt, "Please remove my name from your daily rag." Being somewhat familiar with the culprit I did as he requested all the while thinking that his loafers last a long time.

Just this morning as I was imbibing the morning cup of 'Witches brew' I received a note via email from long time friend J. Austin Bennett. I will let you eavesdrop:

'Larry, One subject with which you seem to be preoccupied recently is the action taken by those operating on reason as opposed to instinct. I thought you would like this one:

"It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built upon a renunciation of instinct."'

It is not often that you find the author of the above on the same page as the Lord, but there it is, naked, for all the world to read.

That the scripture emphatically teaches the denial of self, the renunciation of instinct, is a matter of clear statement and the preponderance of evidence. Jesus said, "And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Mark 8:34

Here is where folks get things out of perspective. If we are to follow Jesus, a denial of out of bounds affections is essential. It doesn't mean that a person is not tempted or even driven by some impulse that the Bible clearly condemns. It does mean that we do not act on said impulse or drive, be it drunkenness, adultery, even homosexuality.

After I finished the early morning email, I carried yet another cup of Ethiopian energy out to the back yard and sipped while watching the dogs run. The morning was unspoiled by the sun and a mist was hovering over the fallow field and I was drinking in the morning along with the coffee. The cell phone rang. A man's voice while weeping shared with me the letter his pastor had given to him a few minutes prior. Yep, the 'other' woman thing. I assured the Brother of my prayers. When I went back into the house, the real phone was ringing and a rather feminine sounding voice wanted to know why I insisted that practicing homosexuals have no legitimate place in leadership of the church. Men are usually wired to at least fantasize about adultery, yet we are commanded to deny this wiring of the brain. The feminine sounding man has been falsely taught the he is 'wired' to get all excited about other men. Denial of self and surrender to Jesus is the formula for dealing with any inordinate affection. This is not said hatefully, but with compassion, in the hope that folks in our day of departure from the Bible will accept what Jesus and Sigmund Freud had to say about civilization and instinct.

"It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built upon a renunciation of instinct."

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2006 Use with credit.

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