A Novelty
I recently consolidated five email addresses into one personal and one business address. This was a tough decision, as I had one email address since before Al Gore created the Internet and having an email address was still a novelty some said would never take off.
You may not remember such a time.
This was the age before the “dot coms”. Pornography was regulated to the seedy building on the other side of town or behind the blocker boards the convenience stores would put over the magazines so we couldn’t peek on the cover. Blogs were still just swampy areas with mosquitoes and grass. Bulletin boards required a pushpin instead of a user pin. Twitter was a bird singing in the morning, and my space was an area where I could store my personal belongings without someone carting them off. A newsgroup had an anchor, a reporter, a sports announcer, and a weatherman. And, email was still a novelty some said would never take off.
You may not remember such a time.
This was the age when laptops were for bouncing babies or balancing books; when balancing books were done with a pencil and paper; when paper was thermal, lined, or unlined; a printer was a dot matrix; and a laser jet was a science fiction vehicle. And, email was still a novelty some said would never take off.
You may not remember such a time.
This was an age when a car phone was a telephone in the shape of a car, which actually plugged into the wall inside a house. The idea of a mobile telephone was one with a twenty-foot cord. When you made a telephone call, you could push buttons on some of the newer telephones or dialed a rotary wheel on the “normal” ones. You could get your voice mail on the answering machine, but you had to rewind the cassette tape first. And, email was still a novelty some said would never take off.
You may not remember such a time.
This was an age when a flat screen was something you put in the window during the summer, plasma was in your blood not the living room, and the digital display was made up of little cards flipping over in your alarm clock to show you the time. Your music still came on a vinyl disk called a record, you could still get 8-tracks at the discount stores, and a CD was something you got at the bank. If you used a computer, it was at work and required floppy disks; if it had a mouse, it was something running around inside it and not a good thing at all; and a screen saver was a person turning the computer off at night so the image wouldn’t burn. And, email was still a novelty some said would never take off.
You may not remember such a time.
I find it easy to comment about the technology changes within a two-decade span, as I have always been immersed in technology of one form or another. I find it harder to comment about sin, even though I have been immersed in sin for an even longer period of time. Why the difference? Oh, I’m sure the answer is the similar for all of us and we’ll find it centered somewhere on shame and embarrassment, preferring to think we are perfect, or living in denial. Yet until we fully recognize the sin in our lives, we fail to realize our need for Jesus Christ.
If I am too embarrassed by my sin, or if I think my sin is too shameful to even confess, I am missing the truth in Scripture, where it clearly tells me in Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” Jesus takes away the shame and any embarrassment, and in my confession, it loses power over me.
As for thinking I am perfect, Paul addresses this in Romans 3:23, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Paul is clear in stating, “all have sinned”. He did not say, “all have sinned except Glenn Sasscer,” or “all have sinned except those in Ohio”, or “all have sinned except those reading this article”…
Scripture is clear to expose the sin in all, revealing our great need for Jesus Christ.
And, as for denial, we find 1 John 1:8-10, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
Why am I so quick to bring these reasons out in this article? I used to be too ashamed to confess I was or am a sinner. No, I am not proud of it, nor do I boast about being a sinner for the sake of amusement, delight, or glory. I am finding the revelation of how much I need Christ is only appreciated when I confess my most shameful acts, most devious thoughts, and my darkest evil intentions, and in some amazing way I cannot describe, the shame loses power over me in the confession. The darkness within us wants to hide, grow, and reign in power over us, but by bringing the sin to light, the darkness vanishes. Sin is like a drug, and until you recognize your addiction to it, sin has control over you.
I used to be ashamed and embarrassment, preferring to think I was perfect, and I lived in denial about my sinful nature. This was an age when I thought I was in control and lived for myself, but little did I realize my addiction to sin was in control and I had no freedom. Only when I confessed my sin did I realize how much I was imprisoned by it, and how much I needed Jesus Christ to release me.
In some strange way, I am grateful for sin, for I may have never realized how much I need Jesus Christ. Jesus would have still been a novelty some said would never take off, but you may not remember such a time.
When being a Christian is tough, are you tough enough?
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Glenn Sasscer
www.glennsasscer.com
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