Face the Mirror and Face the Music

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Face the Mirror and Face the Music by Patrick D. Odum

[John said,] "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as

our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God canraise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the

root of the trees, and every tree that does not producegood fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

"What should we do then?" the crowd asked.

John answered, "Anyone who has two shirts should sharewith the one who has none, and anyone who has food

should do the same" (Luke 3:8-11 TNIV).

Ever had one of those days that just seemed to go from bad to

worse? Some folks in Kane County, Illinois, had a Wednesday inSeptember that was a day like that.

Truth be told, though, their bad days were largely of their own

making.

It started out as a day in traffic court for ten people who hadbeen previously identified as having suspended or revokedlicenses. They had company when they left the courthouse after

their appearances -- undercover police officers followed them tothe parking lot and signaled other officers in unmarked cars.

When these ten folks got into their cars and drove -- drove --away from the courthouse, the police pulled them over, wrote

them tickets, and had their vehicles towed.

Some of the red-handed complained. One guy said his sister was

supposed to drive him to court, but hadn't shown up. "If I didn'tappear, there'd be a warrant out for my arrest. I'm in trouble

either way." Poor guy. When pressed, though, he did have toadmit that he hadn't possessed a valid driver's license in 27

years.

Really, though, what do you say in a situation like that, watchingyour car being towed away and knowing you really have no

http://www.searchgodsword.org/desk/?sr=1&t=erv&query=Luke+3%3A8-11






defense? It's not like these drivers didn't know they were

breaking the law. They had just gotten away with it long enoughthat they got comfortable. Complacent. It probably never

occurred to them that they might get busted.

That's the path of least resistance, to not give your habits andchoices much thought until the consequences turn and take a

bite out of you like a mongrel dog you've grown accustomed toscratching between the ears.

It's the path of least resistance, which I guess explains why ahusband doesn't give his temper much thought until his wife

takes the kids and leaves. Or why the stories and confidencesyou pass on regularly don't seem like such a big deal until you're

face to face with a friend who's angry and hurt. It's why we canconvince ourselves that an online "friendship" is no big deal --until a marriage implodes. It's why we can throw our weight andattitude belligerently around a church and never really see

ourselves until someone holds up a mirror and makes us look.Recovering addicts talk about needing to hit rock bottom before

they decided to get some help, but rock bottom isn't just foralcoholics or drug addicts or sexual compulsives.

God asks us, though, to not let things get that far out of hand.That's what repentance is about.

Repentance isn't for God so we can let him know that we'rereally sorry for our sins. He knows how sorry we really are -- orreally aren't. And it isn't to pay for our sins, to somehow right

the balances. He did that for us, in Jesus. And besides, we

couldn't do it even if he asked us to. Repentance isn't for God atall, actually.

Repentance is for us. God knows our tendency to take the path

of least resistance and not spend very much time at all in honestappraisal of our behavior, thoughts, values, and priorities. In

asking us to repent, he asks us to look in the mirror to see if who we really are is anything at all like what we imagine

ourselves to be. "We're children of Abraham," said the religiouspeople proudly in John the Baptist's day. John dared to suggestthat God wasn't all that impressed with their professed pedigree."God can find children of Abraham under any old rock," he

sniffed at them. "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."



Repentance is the place where we bring our walk in line with our

talk. To be the "children of Abraham" that they imaginedthemselves to be, John said that the haves needed to share with

the have-nots. The tax collectors needed to stop enrichingthemselves at the expense of their brothers and sisters. The

soldiers needed to stop using their power to extort the peoplethey were supposed to protect. Repentance is where practice is

made to match profession.

Wonder what he'd say to us, church people, who strut aroundwearing labels like "New Testament Church" or "Evangelical" or

even "Christian," and forget to look at ourselves long and hard

enough to make sure that who we really are matches the labelswe wear? God, after all, can still raise up New Testament

Churches or Evangelicals or Christians from the rocks, if needbe. He doesn't need our glowing self-characterizations and

wordy professions of faith, which are more useful for hiding whatwe don't want to face about ourselves than bringing about the

lives of faith and devotion that he really wants.

I think he says the same thing now that he said then: "Producefruit in keeping with repentance." Sync your walk up with your

talk. Look for the places in your life where conflict exists, and

honestly ask yourself what you have to do with creating thatconflict. Do you need to reconcile with someone? Change some

relational habits? Make restitution for something you've done?

Show more love, patience, and gentleness? Back off on the fault-finding?

Look for places in your own heart and conscience where there'sconflict -- conflict between what you claim to be and what you

often are? What habits do you need to change? What impulsesdo you need to say "no" to? What values and priorities need to

change? What kind of help might you need?

Cultivate an attitude of repentance, and I'm convinced that the

Holy Spirit will make the specific areas where you need it clearto you. Repentance isn't something we only do at church on

Sunday morning. It's for the office on Tuesday morning andhome on Thursday night and the basketball court on Saturdayafternoon. It's worked out in relationships and choices and habitsthat affect every part of your life. "The axe is at the root of the

tree," warns John, not really to scare us, but to remind us of theurgency of repentance. God will call us to account. He's not



looking for completely pure hearts, but he is looking for penitent

ones. He's looking for people who are willing to look in the mirrorand own up to what's there without defense, pretense, or self-

justification. He can work with people like that. He can shapethem and mold them into the people he wants them to be.

So face the mirror, and face the music. And watch with joy the

transformation he'll bring about in you.

Posted: 10/25/2008URL:

http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200810/20081025_facethemirror.html

(c) 2008 Patrick D. Odum <[email protected]>.

(c) 1996-2006, Heartlight, Inc.

http://www.heartlight.org/




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Face the Mirror and Face the Music