Pastor Troy Murphy recently visited a leprosy hospital in Nepal as part of an American Leprosy Mission trip. While there, he noticed striking similarities between the physical disease of leprosy and the spiritual disease of complacency that afflicts many believers.
That inspired our January series at Community Church entitled “Comfortably Numb: The Cure for Spiritual Leprosy."
Here are some key points from Troy’s series kickoff message on Sunday, January 7:
*Two things about leprosy stood out to Troy on his visit.
1-You can have leprosy and not know it, which can cause damage down the road.
2- You can have leprosy and be so fearful of the cultural impact that you say nothing.
*In the same way we can suffer from spiritual leprosy in our every-day walk.
1-We might be unaware of our lethargic spiritual condition, which can have some lasting negative impacts.
2-We might not let people know we are Christ followers for fear of the cultural impact.
*Leprosy can start as a skin patch that you don’t even feel — it becomes numb and you aren’t even aware of it. In the same way, we can become numb to the effects sin has on our lives. Comfortably numb means a spiritual disease of complacency that affects our heart.
*A.W. Tozer said: Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. We could miss out on opportunities God has for us if we’re spiritually asleep.
*Many Christians today are fearful of admitting they have a sin problem. They become people who justify their sin. We must understand the gravity and weight of sin. Otherwise, why do we need Jesus? He simply becomes a great moral person instead of our savior.
*Sin means to miss the mark of what God created you to be. It’s rebellion toward God. Sin is an attitude of the heart, when you consciously turn away from following and surrendering to the one who gave you grace. It isn’t about a list of rights and wrongs, and comparing our behavior to others. Sin is a condition of the heart.
*Tim Keller said we’re more sinful than we ever dared believe and at the same time loved more than we ever dared hope.
*It’s important to know the story of sin and brokenness. God brings the law in the Old Testament to expose the sin of the Israelites. It was impossible for religious high priests to be perfect — whether you did one thing or a hundred things wrong, you were unclean. You had to bring a sacrifice. God required your best animal, not the one that was old and had a limp. It foretells the story of Jesus, who served as the perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins.
*Where did sin come from? Romans 5:12 explains that sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. Since that time in the garden, men and women have a distorted view of what’s right. We are fallen and broken. How we think and believe isn’t right. We’re not OK — we make choices to manipulate in order to get what we want, and our emotions can become very destructive.
*The good news is that In our brokenness God offers redemption. Jesus becomes the great part of the story. It’s not religion; it’s not earning favor in our moral code — that means nothing in the kingdom of God. What means everything is having the covering of Jesus, who sacrificed himself and took the punishment for our sins.
*God offers his grace to everyone, no matter what the ‘scorecard’ of our lives reads. When you accept God’s grace through his son Jesus, you enter into his kingdom and are promised eternal life.
*There is still an impact of sin in our lives because we are flawed. It says in the Bible that creation itself groans for one day to be made right. We’re born into a world with diseases and dysfunction and struggle, the result of man’s rebellion against God. This is not what God intended. We will never be free from the effects of sin on this earth. But we are forgiven and redeemed through trusting in Jesus.
*God gives us transformative power through his Holy Spirit, the Bible and other believers. All three of those things can speak into our lives and help us live up to God’s calling for us.
*Some suppress the truth about how they are to live because they are afraid of what it will cost. Many get comfortable with God, limiting how he can impact their life. It’s akin to having a spiritual skin patch of leprosy. Here are some signs of spiritual leprosy:
-Ignoring the truth of God.
We stop giving praise and glory to the one who deserves it. It is so easy for us to say, “Look what we did.” We need to acknowledge that God is great, and we are not. We can find God’s truth in the scriptures. The Bible is the book God left us. It’s still true. It’s God’s special revelation that gives us direction.
-Distorting the truth of God
Modern-day America worships things other than God, whether it’s money or status or power. As our belief in self rises we become more numb to the truth. We should strive to lose faith in ourselves and increase faith in God. The power in us comes from Christ alone.
*Where do we start to put ourselves in position to be transformed? The words of Jesus in Luke 18: 9-14 says it starts with a humble observation of ourselves. No matter how long you’ve been a believer, you must come to Christ feeling the weight and impact of sin. We need Jesus. Without him we are hopelessly lost.
*We need to have the courage to step forward and acknowledge we have a problem. Let go of fear and begin to address where we need to let God back into our lives. Jesus is the answer to spiritual leprosy.
Discussion questions
Where have you become complacent in your spiritual life?
What is one step you can take to allow God to have more impact in your life?
In light of Luke 18: 9-14, what does a humble assessment of your life look like?
