Yesterday at work, I had the absolutely miserable task of cleaning the lobby at McDonald's. To most of you, this doesn't mean much. But let me tell you, it was horrible. My duty was to patrol the lobby, the area where people sit and eat. I repeatedly walked around the lobby while checking if the garbages were full, wiping down tables, gathering trays, sweeping, and cleaning the bathroom. It was a continual state of deja vu. "This table is dirty. Didn't I just wash this table?" Yes, yes I did. "The soda fountain is out of ice. Didn't I just fill it?" Yes, yes I did. The tasks were monotonous, and I was utterly alone. The only company I had was the Top 40 radio playing in the background. It became my best friend (and was actually kind of fun to sing along to quietly). But I don't want the radio to be my best friend. No one does. And not only that, but our grumpy owners were in the store for the day and one of them corrected me four or five times on how to do things. It seemed like they were watching my every move.
Basically, by "absolutely miserable," I mean "kind of annoying." But it was more dramatic to say absolutely miserable, and I wanted to hook your attention.
But as I was doing the lobby, my least favorite thing to do was sweep because my arms got kind of tired holding the broom and the dustpan for so long. As I walked around, I would look far under benches to the never-explored corners of the McDonald's lobby floor. It was kind of gross back there, and there was definitely garbage that needed to be swept up. But these areas were the easiest to pass up and skip. It was so much easier to clean the areas where people walk frequently, knowing that it would give the appearance of a completely clean restaurant. But it was really just a facade. The corners and under the benches were filthy, but I figured if no one knew, it wouldn't hurt them. And I think every person that has cleaned the lobby for the past six months has thought the same thing, so the dust and trash continue to build. If it stayed the same for years, mold would probably begin to grow and creep into the walls, endangering the entire infrastructure of the building. It was easy to ignore the dirty parts of the restaurant knowing that it would never be seen. It was even easier to only clean the areas where everyone could see that I had done my job well.
I think in a lot of ways this reflects my attitude toward sin in my life, and I think a lot of people also have this view. It's not that I'm not vulnerable or that I'm not willing to open up about sin in my life, but when it comes to actually taking action against sin, it is easy to be passive against those that seem like they will be hard to remove. It is easy to motivate myself to clean up the ones that are easily visible or ones that I know people will ask about. This is such a small view of sin. This view implies that God only wants us to be fighting sin if it is convenient. It implies that the only sin that matters are those that other people see, when really God sees how sin can take over our entire heart.
But sin is a big deal. Sin is an offense against God. It is a slap to the face. It is saying "You are not enough to satisfy me." It is saying "You love me more than I can imagine, but I don't really care."And there is a reason Paul uses armor as a metaphor against guarding from sin and the attacks of the enemy in Ephesians. Because we are in a constant battle of sin trying to tell us that we need not go to God for all of our love and satisfaction. And it is when we believe these lies that our fellowship with God suffers. And we believe these lies more than we can ever imagine. So let's fight for a better understanding of sin. Let's radically fight sin in our life, even when it won't be easily seen by others. Let's remember that God sees it all. Let's remember that no sin is too big for God to forgive.
And let's celebrate this incredible forgiveness and love we have received.
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for the saints." Ephesians 6:14-18
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