False Martyrs
As we begin a New Year we’re usually accustomed to think about making changes, new beginnings, fine-tuning, organizing, mostly positive things. But I’d like to take a moment to challenge you with something as you begin 2026. We’re comfortable making assessments about our physical health or our hobbies, but what about our spiritual health? We can feel when something is physically wrong with our bodies, but how would you know if something is wrong spiritually? Maybe as I say that, you can feel a jolt of emotion. An unrest in your soul. I find that when we go through challenging times we can have a tendency to ‘feel’ more than we ‘think.’ We can feel the sadness of depression, the rapid heart beat of anxiety, the dread of a bad circumstance. But I suspect that we don’t often search for its source. In fact, sometimes our emotions are so divorced from our thoughts that we don’t even know why we feel the way we do. That’s been my experience as I’ve counseled people throughout the years. And unfortunately, much of our so-called ‘science’ has only muddied the water even more by focusing on brain chemicals, past trauma, and disorders. There may even be some truth to some of those things! However, I’m also certain that most people have not been asked this important question - Is God chastening me?
That’s the language that the author of Hebrews uses. It says in Hebrews chapter 12 that there are circumstances that Christians experience that are actually a result of God’s discipline in their lives. And the passage is not focused on self-discipline, or some sort of training. It’s consequential discipline. There is pain that we endure as Christians as a result of living in a fallen world. Some of you have experienced terrible pain in your lives that is not tied to your own choices. But listen to what the writer of Hebrews says - “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” This is such a regular or common part of a Christian’s life later on he even says, “what son is there whom a father does not chasten?” If you have children you know that discipline is not needed every once in a while. It’s needed far more often than that. When children are young it can be needed by the hour, can it not!? And yet, if someone asked us whether the pain we may be experiencing right now is God’s discipline in our lives we might be offended!
Maybe we’ve read of Job’s friends a little too much and don’t want to make the mistake of presumption. Well that could certainly be true. I would never want to presume that a difficult circumstance in someone else’s life is a result of their own sin. But in your own heart, are you willing to ask yourself that question? - “Is the pain that I’m experiencing a result of some sin in my life?” David asked that question. And He asked that question to the Person who could give him the most honest and accurate answer - “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” -Psalm 139:23-24 You know what that tells me? - I can’t always be trusted to see my heart clearly. First, because I’m not always equipped to understand what’s going on there. And second, because I might even deceive myself into thinking that I couldn’t possibly be at fault. When we do that, we become what I call a “false-martyr.” We might recognize God’s sovereign control in our lives and even believe that God is allowing the painful circumstance. But it is crushing to our pride to believe that God might actually be chastening us because of some sin in our own lives. Instead of becoming frustrated, depressed, or carrying a mindset that you just need to suffer for God, why not start by examining yourself, asking God to search your heart, and seeking holiness above all else?
My goal is not to discourage you today. There are Christians who wrongly assume that they have sinned in some way when that is not true. But I have heard so little of the discipline of God in a Christian’s life that it leads me to believe that we are not even asking the question - “God, is there any wicked way in me?”
As you begin 2026 I’d just like to challenge you with this - If you’re going through a hardship and you don’t know why, would you start by looking at your own heart? I need to do the same thing myself. Because of my own hardheadedness it can take me a few days to realize that my frustrations or my heaviness of heart might just need an examination - An exam from the Great Physician. The One who can correctly diagnose the condition of my heart and offer the treatment I need - Discipline from a loving God so that my heart might be turned back to Him. May we be a people that are sensitive to the state of our hearts and willing to receive the correction that we so often desperately need.
