Scary Things

This message was delivered at Fountain of Life Christian Fellowship, Fairmont, WV on 10-26-25.

Halloween is coming. As believers we do not necessarily condone this holiday due to its ungodly and unholy nature. Typically, Halloween is all about scary things, and as I was contemplating the upcoming holiday, I was reminded that there are some pretty scary things that exist in Christendom.

If we are honest with ourselves, we understand that kids aren’t the only ones who put on masks. We all are guilty of putting on a false face at times to hide who we really are, or we attempt to put on a better version of ourselves so that no one knows how we really feel. We call it “putting on a brave face” or “keeping a stiff upper lip” or “keeping up appearances.”

Putting on a false face is something we all do at various times. But there’s something that we do that is far more disturbing, and that is that we try to justify our actions, our choices, our attitudes, and even our sin. And that is a very scary thing indeed.

Self-Justification

By definition, self-justification is the act of making excuses for oneself. We reason with ourselves. We rationalize our actions and reactions by comparing ourselves with those around us. We say things like, “I’m not as bad as so-and-so,” or “At least I’m not (fill in the blank here),” or “I don’t do such and such like they do.” Then there’s the ever popular, “We are not under the law anymore; we are under grace now.”

Indulging in self-justification is like diving into a riptide or rip current at the beach. For those who don’t know, a riptide is a strong, steady current flowing out to sea through an inlet or channel in the water when the tide is going out. A riptide is a narrow, powerful current that runs perpendicular to the shore and can quickly pull swimmers away from the beach. Everything around it appears to be coming toward the shore, but this is forcefully pulling away from the shore. It may seem innocuous in the moment or perfectly harmless, but it has the power to pull you far from shore and into a situation where you are fighting for your life. Indulging in self-justification can leave us fighting for our spiritual life.

Justifying Our Excuses

It can begin as easily as justifying the excuses we make for our actions. I know that I’ve done this, and I’m certain that everyone reading this has done the same thing at one time or another. For example, it could be that you’ve done something that you know was wrong or hurtful. It could be that you reacted or responded in a way that you shouldn’t have. It might be that you didn’t flee the temptation in time and got caught. Or it might be that you were given a task that you didn’t feel capable of doing.

If you’re making excuses for not doing what you’ve been asked to do then you were in good company. We’ve all been there. In fact, we see many similar situations like this throughout scripture Beginning at the very beginning in the garden of Eden where to find Adam and Eve making excuses for their actions in Genesis 3. We skip forward several centuries to find Moses making excuses at the burning bush in Exodus 4. Move forward again several centuries, and we find Gideon hiding in a winepress offering excuses why he couldn’t lead the nation in Judges 6. Skip forward again to I Samuel 15 where King Saul is making excuses to the prophet Samuel as to why he didn’t obey. Later, in Jeremiah 1, we hear Jeremiah trying to excuse himself from doing God’s bidding because he was too young. As we move to the New Testament, Jesus shares the parable about the king who gave a great banquet in Luke 14, and guest after guest offered excuse excuses why they couldn’t attend. And in the story about the servants and the talents in Matthew 25, the servant who received only one talent made excuses for his choice to bury the talent he was given.

Justifying Our Choices 

Justifying our choices is another kind of self-justification that we engage in. The Word says in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” We want to be right, don’t we? But the path isn’t always clear or easy. We read these words in Proverbs 16:9, “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps,” and we take comfort in those words. The truth is our lives are filled with choices – good, bad, or indifferent – but we also realize that the choices we make also have consequences – good, bad, or indifferent.

One of the choices that we have available to us is to engage in the kingdom or remain disengaged. Engagement is a choice that we must make. Disengagement from the things around us is rampant in the world today. How often do we hear comments like, “I don’t want to get involved,” “It’s not my problem,” or “It’s none of my business?”

Most of us live in nice houses in respectable neighborhoods, but we live to ourselves with very little interaction with our neighbors. Most of us don’t even know our neighbors’ names. Our socializing is primary on social media these days, instead of engaging in social gatherings, which would include church attendance.

It is a documented fact that church attendance is much lower than it was before the 2019 pandemic. Is it because society has shifted away from social gatherings or have other activities taken precedence over such things? Kids’ sports have increased in popularity and participation to the detriment and replacement of other family activities because it used to be that going to church together with the main family event of the week at least it was when I was a kid these are choices and our choices. Our actions make a difference in every life around us, but we must engage. There can be no excuse for this choice. There is no justification for disengagement in any of our lives.

Justifying Our Attitudes

Another area where we justify ourselves is in our attitudes, which includes the attitudes we have toward God, toward ourselves, and toward others. Something that I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten older is that many of the things that used to be considered taboo and unacceptable have gained acceptance and veneration in today’s society. There has been a huge shift in our attitudes, both in the world and in the church. I make this statement not based on any empirical data or meta-analysis of research. I make that statement based solely on the fact that I don’t recognize the world that we live in. It’s nothing like the world that I grew up in, and I grew up during the riots in the 1960s and the cultural revolution of the 1970s, but I have seen a rise in the exercise and acceptance of selfishness, of self-centeredness, and self-importance.

Selfishness

The focus on personal pursuits and personal interest is evident in almost every sector of our society from shopping habits that lead to overspending, to the decline of small dollar donation to organizations to help others, and our lack of concern for the downtrodden.  Our focus, whether it’s due to economic uncertainty, job instability, or the lack of social or societal connections, are focused on maintaining and supporting those things important to us and to our immediate family. The Word says in Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or being conceited. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interest but each of you to the interest of the others.” There can be no excuse for this kind of thing in our lives. There is no justification for selfishness in the lives of believers.

Lack of compassion

 Another attitude that we try to justify is a lack of compassion for those around us. Why do I bring this up? Is there any truth to it? Let me ask this question: how concerned are we with the needs of the less fortunate? How comfortable are we touching the “less than clean?” How willing are we to get out of our comfort zone or to go out of our way to meet their needs? It’s easy to throw money in the cup, although we do so with suspicion. We wonder what they will do with the money, but their need is likely deeper than a lack of money.

What does the Word say about this? If we look in I John 3:17, we hear John say, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” Then we want to limit our compassion to our brothers and sisters – those in the faith, or perhaps only those in our fellowship, or maybe only those in our family. Our compassion must go beyond that because in Deuteronomy 15:11 it says, “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be open handed toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” We could easily change the word “Israelites” to “Americans” without damaging the intent or significantly changing the intent of the command. There can be no excuse for this kind of attitude. There is no justification for not showing compassion to those in need.

Prejudice

Another attitude that we need to look at this morning is the prejudice that we hold in our heart, and don’t even pretend that it isn’t there. We are tempted to think about prejudice from a historical perspective, focusing on certain people groups in certain time periods. Prejudice is a sense of discomfort around anyone different from us. I understand this because it is something that I do. We want to excuse it as a normal reaction, as an involuntary response, or as an ancient reaction of self-protection. The bottom line is fear which truly has no place in a believers life.

We see in I John 4:19-21 these words that speak to the problem of prejudice: “We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God hates her brother or sister is a liar for whoever does not love their brother and sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen, and he has given us this command Anyone who loves God us also love their brother and sister.”  

We are commanded to love. Love is an active compassion, even if their skin is a different tone from ours, or if they come from a different socioeconomic group from ours, or if they grew up in a place far different from the place where we grew up. We make comments like, “Oh, they’re from out of town, not from around here. What can you expect?” That’s a type of prejudice, folks, and there can be no excuse for it in our lives. There is no justification for the personal prejudice that we hold.

Justifying Our Sins

A third area of our lives that we desperately try to justify is our sins. I’m not talking about egregious sins like murder, embezzlement, or cheating on your spouse. There is no way we would, or should even try, to justify those sins. But we do justify things like judging others, gossiping, cheating, speeding, lying, stealing…oh, the list goes on and on, doesn’t it?

In addition to those things, we try to justify our addictions. We tell ourselves that we aren’t really addicted. We just like doing those things, but if you can’t go more than a few hours or a few days without participating or longing to participate in the activity, you’re likely addicted to it. As parents, as teachers, or as people of influence in our community, we warn our kids about the dangers of alcohol, smoking, and miss using drugs. The damage that these substances inflict on the body are well documented, and yet there are many individuals who fall prey to them every day. They become addicted, even though they felt that they would never do so.

Most of us do not have a problem in this area – except for maybe caffeine, but that one’s okay. Right? But how about some of the other addictions that are out there? What about the things known as behavioral addictions like gambling pornography, food, the Internet, mobile devices and shopping? I can almost hear you thinking now, “Wait a second! You’re getting awfully personal now.” I’m talking to myself as well, but the fact of the matter is that when a person does these things in excess and can’t stop, it has become an addiction. But that’s okay. I can justify it. Can’t I?

No, not really. There can be no excuse for you for me or for any other believer. There is no justification for these kinds of addictions in the life of a believer. An addiction means that you can’t control it. It controls you, and it could very well be a stronghold in your life that needs addressed.

Isolationism

The last sin that we will touch on this morning is isolationism. This goes hand-in-hand with the disengagement we talked about earlier, but this goes a bit deeper because it is rooted in protectionism and fear. Every one of us here this morning love the Word of God. We hold near and dear. We value the Word. We believe the Word, but do we share the Word? Do we take the gospel to the world, or are we hiding behind the blinds inside our homes or inside our places of worship? Are we reaching out or protecting our ourselves? Do we risk sharing our faith, or we or are we hiding our light under a bushel as Jesus said? Are we joining with others in our faith community, or have we fallen out of the fire onto the hearth, preferring to live our lives to live our faith by ourselves? And we all understand how that works out. Let me remind you: it doesn’t work.

The Word says in Proverbs 18:1, in the Voice translation, “Whoever pulls away from others to focus solely on his own desire disregards any sense of sound judgment.” This verse is a warning against a self-centered attitude that rejects wise advice and being part of a faith community. God designed us for personal connections and relationships.

An isolated individual is unwilling to listen to anyone else. They tend to develop a very narrow perspective on life, and that can lead to quarrelsomeness and a rejection of what is holy and upright. And none of us want to go there. There can be no excuse for this kind of behavior. There is no justification for isolating ourselves from my brothers and sisters, and there’s no justification for isolating ourselves in the world around us. We might insulate ourselves against the world’s ideals perhaps, but isolating ourselves and being disengaged is not an option.

Justified by Christ

 We have not been called to justify ourselves. We have not been commanded to justify ourselves. There’s only one who can do that. We have been justified by Christ. Notice this is past tense. It is finished just like Jesus proclaimed on the cross. In becoming sin on the cross, Jesus can now declare us just right in his eyes, and it is through faith in his name and in his work on the cross that we are justified. We see this in Romans 4:25 where Paul writes, “He (Jesus) was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

We have been made right. How can we be “right” when we’ve been wrong so often? It’s simply because of grace. Paul writes in Romans 3:23-24, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and we all and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ.” 

Jesus freely justified us by his grace, and it is by that same grace that we have been made new creations and part of a new creation. It says in II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come the old has gone. The new is here!” That means that every part of the old creation has passed away, and all things have become new, especially our hearts. New creations have new hearts – hearts that are untainted by the old creation, hearts untainted by sin, hearts untainted by the world.

This is promised Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” We have seen this and experienced this in the death in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and through our acceptance of Christ as our Savior. The masks that we have been wearing are part of the old creation.

In the past, we have put on the mask of obedience to try to justify and hide our willful and wrong actions. We’re only fooling ourselves. Take it off. We have put on the mask of kindness to try to justify and cover our wrong attitudes. People can see through it anyway. And we have pulled out our mask of self-righteousness to justify and excuse our sin. Just take it off because as hard as we may try and as convincing as we think we might be, Jesus can see behind any mask that we might choose to put on.

It is time to take off whatever mask that we have chosen to put on. It is time that we put on Christ. There’s no way that we can justify ourselves before God, and it’s time that we stop trying to justify ourselves before man. We are and can only ever be justified in Christ, and that is not a scary thing. That is a glorious thing, indeed.

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®

Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ^TM

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, The Voice Bible

Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc.

The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society

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