Saturday, March 1, 2014

The Desensitization SINdrome

In my high school, for the drama club, there was a desensitization class. This class's aim was to desensitize an individual to certain things that he or she may have to do during a play. For example, in a scene that involved a kiss, this course would desensitize the emotions of those kids. Sin has the same effect towards righteousness and holiness, but no one needs to take a class. It is in human nature to sin. The Bible warns believers over and over again of the perils of sin and one danger in practicing sin, is that it causes desensitization towards righteousness and to be more Christ like and Satan loves when a believer engages in sin because that believer is one more step to practicing sin more and more. The reality is that the Christian life is a mindset, and so also sin is a mindset. Of course, the believer acts out a physical sin, but that is only in direct reaction to the premeditated sin of his or her heart. Psalm 119:11 tells us clearly that the Psalmist hid God's Word in his heart so that he might not sin. To be desensitized to righteousness and holiness is an indication of spiritual apathy towards God. Spiritual apathy and being desensitized of righteousness go hand in hand and to prove that is not hard at all.

Let's quickly think of a Bible example. Jonah was not happy to do the Lord's will. In fact, he fled to Tarshish, the furthest point in the opposite direction that he could think of. Jonah had made a conscience decision to dis obey God. Herein is the premeditated sin of Jonah found. That mindset is what desensitized Jonah and Jonah rested in that decison, so much so in fact, that he fell asleep on the ship. Although falling asleep was an outward show of his inward spiritual apathy and complacency towards God.

So often, believers rest in there premeditated sin. The outward action is simply the fruit of that mindset. There are fruits of the Spirit that are described for believers in Gal. 5:22 and 23. Those 9 fruits (and there are more in other scriptures)

are only shown in the believer's life first through a conscience mindset of yieldedness and humility to God, in everything.