killing the invisible lion

"David, when he was fighting with the lion, seized it by the throat and killed it immediately. If we take ourselves by the throat and by the belly, with the help of God, we shall overcome the invisible lion."

Abba Poemen

"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."

Romans 13:14

I hate sin.
I’m not completely free from it, but I hate it.
I’ve seen sin destroy relationships, rob men of dignity, infuse paralyzing levels of shame, and rob men of agency.
I hate sin.

I also hate how the modern church treats sin. In our desire to be merciful and kind, we have ended up tolerating sin that we should be putting to death. Much of this has happened because of the radical redefinition of sin in our time. Sin is not seen as a threat that comes to destroy, but as an inconvenience we have to manage.

But you cannot manage sin. Sin is a predator. You see this in God's warning to Cain in Genesis 4.

"Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it."

Tim Keller noted, "The Hebrew word for 'crouching' solicits the image of wild beasts like leopards and tigers, usually large cats."

Sin desires to "have you." It wants to master you, control you, then devour you.

Brian Hedges wrote…

"We may think we have evil under control, that we have tamed sin, rendering it harmless enough to share a peaceful, mutual coexistence. But sin will never be domesticated. It is wolf, not dog; piranha, not goldfish. Evil is untamable. It is our enemy, opposed to us in every way. At every moment, sin is wired to destroy."

What have you been tolerating?
What have you been accepting?
Where have you been medicating or pacifying instead of fighting?
___________________________________

Paul urged the Romans to "make no provision for the flesh." This means don’t give space, opportunity, or support to something you know will destroy your soul. Don’t feed it, plan for it, or keep the door cracked open so it can get in. Provision means to provide for, even if it’s in the smallest way possible. You have to go to war with your sin, not make peace with it.

In the Christian life, this is officially called mortification. Mortification is a word we don’t use much in the modern church (I gave a whole sermon on it that you can listen to here), but the Desert Fathers knew about the need to kill all our sin.

A story is told about St. Anthony: 

"A brother renounced the world and gave his goods to the poor, but he kept back a little for his personal expenses. He went to see Abba Anthony. When he told him this, the old man said to him, "If you want to be a monk, go to the village, buy some meat, cover your naked body with it, and come here like that." The brother did so, and the dogs and birds tore at his flesh. When he came back, the old man asked him whether he had followed his advice. He showed him his wounded body, and Saint Anthony said, "Those who renounce the world but want to keep something for themselves are torn this way by the demons who make war on them."

Sin wants to make war on you. The flesh wants to sabotage you. Don’t tolerate what you should decimate. Hold nothing back.

Paul told the Colossians to "put to death whatever belonged to their earthly nature."

The Apostle Peter urged the disciples, "as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul."

John Owen famously said, "To kill a man, or any other living thing, is to take away the principle of all his strength, vigor, and power, so that he cannot act or exert, or put forth any proper actions of his own. Be killing sin or sin will be killing you."

This is not some kind of self-hatred or morbid obsession with what’s wrong; it’s a form of love. Hannah More reminds us, "Mortification is not self-hatred but an embrace of God’s love that purges impurity." St Elizabeth Ann Seton said, "Self-denial is an act of holy love, detaching from vanity to attach to eternity."

I love that—shifting our attachment from vanity to eternity.

So, where do you need to grab the invisible lion of sin by the throat that is crouching and seeking to destroy you?

Name it honestly.
Confront it violently.
Kill it mercilessly.
Replace it passionately.

You are not destined to make peace with sin and give in to the cycle of shame.
Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

Let the inner lion out to kill the invisible lion.

Here to fight alongside you.

Cheers.

Jon.
___________________________________

Discussion Questions:

1. Romans 13:14 says to "make no provision for the flesh." Where are you still making small provisions, excuses, or allowances? Are there any loopholes in sin you have left open?

2. Brian Hedges said that "sin is wolf, not dog." What sin have you treated like a pet, something you believe you can control, and what damage has that mindset caused?

3. St. Anthony’s story shows that whatever you keep back becomes the place you get torn apart. What part of your life are you still keeping for yourself instead of surrendering to God?

4. Peter said sinful desires wage war against your soul. If your life is a battleground, where is the enemy currently advancing, and where are you retreating?

5. If you had to name one sin that you need to confront violently, kill mercilessly, and replace passionately, what is it, and what is one thing you can do right now to fight it?