What You Say Is What You Get

“but we have renounced the hidden things because of shame” 2 Corinthians 4:2

Renounced – Christians are not the silent majority.  In fact, if you are in the silent majority, you are either woefully deficient in your understanding of Christ’s commands or you are living on the wrong side of the God’s fence.  Christians are the vocal minority!  They have always been the vocal minority because Christians recognize that renunciation means speaking out against friendship with this world.

The Greek word, apeipon, literally means, “to speak from (against)”.  It is a strong word.  It implies active, direct, deliberate vocal effort to oppose, reject and disown.  These are fighting words.  And for the Christian, they are backed up with action.

Have you renounced your past hidden shameful things?  If you have, you are at war with them.  You are in a battle of the will.  You must choose every day to fight.  Words without action is not renunciation.

Every Twelve Step member knows that the first step toward recovery is admission.  The secret must come out.  The power must be broken.  Why is admission so important?  Because the core of admission is renunciation.  When I admit that I am no longer in control of my life, I am renouncing my need to be in charge.  I am rejecting the false idol of the perfect self image.  I disown my desire for ego inflation.  I am rejecting my old life.  The Twelve Step member who does not admit from the heart will fail.  There is no rescue without renunciation.

In Christian circles, we call admission by another name: confession.  The Big C.  Confession is essential for precisely the same reasons.  At its core is renunciation.  Without confession there is no forgiveness and without forgiveness there is no transformation.

Confession, admission, renunciation all lead to victory, but not without effort.  Renouncing means that you enter into the fight.  Life is not going to be easy.  The easy way is the way of accepting all those hidden things.  But the easy way means defeat and no victory was ever won without struggle.  The Christian minority is in a life-altering, earth-changing war for the kingdom.  We fight not with flesh and blood.  And we don’t fight with the weapons of this world.  We renounce!  Take up the battle cry today!