PREPARED BY

KEN GEHRELS

PASTOR

CALVIN CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH

NEPEAN, ONTARIO

INTRODUCTION - control over machinery

Can you remember what it was like to get your driver's license? The lessons, the practice, the look of terror on the face of the driving instructor, the look of quiet regret on the face of your parent when you proudly waved the newly-obtained license under their nose? Finally you had gained control over this great 1000 kg monster called an automobile. Finally you had it all figured out which peddle to push, and when; which direction to turn the wheel in the corner, and how far; how to get this beast to back up in a straight line, or worse yet to parallel park; which of all those gleaming buttons turned on the windshield wipers and which one was for the headlights.

Ah, if you're looking forward to that day in the next few years, you've got quite the experience coming up. And for that matter, so do your folks! If they weren't grey before, they sure will be after.

Control!

You can drive!

You are BOSS over that mechanical wonder! It does what you want and when you want it to do it.... well, at least most of the time. Won't it be great?

The struggle for control - in our modern and technologically advanced society there are so incredibly many things with which we struggle, the automobile being only one. The computer, fax machine, microwave ovens, cell phones, remote control VCR's & CD players, Digitally-controlled machinery in the plant - and big things, like trying to figure out how to set the time on those crazy $2.99 digital watches from Bi-Way.

It's almost overwhelming, to the point where sometimes I dare say we feel like giving up. Right?

I THE STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OVER SELF

A. The Complexity Of The Human Person

And yet, if you sit gazing at one of those mammoth remote control boxes that does everything but make your toast in the morning, remember that in complexity it is absolutely NOTHING like the human person.

Machinery may be complex, cars may be difficult to control, but we people are FAR more intricate and detailed and full of subtle twists which can go in any way than anything humanity may have invented - FAR more complex, FAR more difficult to control.

We have relationships with different people - family and friends and classmates and co-workers - each slightly different and each with different potentials. We have different likes and dislikes as far as hobbies go; different talents; different backgrounds; different ambitions; different possessions; different opportunities; different temperaments and personalities.

B. The Call To Keep Control

Think about that - each one of us with SO very, very many different aspects. And that, placed within a world that is constantly moving and changing and offering us constant opportunities to go with it.

Which would be so easy to do.

Chase a dream here, an impulse there.

Why not?

The doors stand open! Be bold, be brave, be rash.

All of which might give a charge and a thrill and some real colour to life.

But it certainly wouldn't make for great productivity, either for ourselves or for the God who made us and will one day call us to account.

Consider it strictly from a practical standpoint. All this potential in our lives is like water rushing down a steep rapids - roaring, surging, foaming - raw, untapped power.

Good for little in it's present state.

But when a dam is constructed and the bulk of the water channelled through a turbine connected to a generator, vast quantities of hydro-electric power are produced for use in society.

That's why the book of Proverbs speaks on several occasions about holding back, restraining rashness, controlling ourselves, damming back and steering all our raw potential and energy into constrictive areas. For example:

"Enthusiasm without knowledge is not good; impatience will get you into trouble." (19.2)

"There is more hope for the stupid fool than for someone who speaks rashly, without thinking." (29.20)

That is also what the Apostle Paul speaks of when he says that he struggles hard towards self-control, in the ways he deals with others and in the way he cares for himself.

"Becoming a slave" for the sake of others;

going into strict training as an athlete.

And this is one of the tasks of the Holy Spirit. He seeks to help you and I construct the necessary dams and tunnels in our lives so that we can properly harness all the latent potential energy he has blessed us with.

He gives us the wisdom and ability that help us coordinate all the different tasks needed to make our lives move ahead smoothly, like an automobile without much bucking and squealing of tires and grinding of gears and stalling.

The fruit of the Spirit is.... self-control.

II THE SELF-CONTROL WE SEEK

A. Self-Control vs Restraining Activity

What precisely do we mean by self-control?

I control my dog with a leash or a chain. When we go for a walk or to the campsite she is on the leash. Controlled. Her freedom is restricted, and no matter how much howling or barking occurs, no matter what her impulses may tell her, she is forced to obey me and stay put, or in step as the case may be.

Is that the sort of self-control we need? Take self-control over eating, for example [R.Roberts Strengths of a Christian p.33]. I could control gluttonous urges by placing a large chain and padlock around the fridge and giving the key to my wife with absolute instructions never to tell me where the key is. I could blockade my eating behaviour.

If I tended to be a speeder, I could have the mechanic install a governor on the motor, preventing it from going over a certain speed, putting a leash of sorts on the car.

If I get into trouble with my girlfriend after being alone with her more than a certain amount of time, I could simply avoid such situations or set an alarm clock.

Perhaps some of these things may be helpful from time to time. But are they all there is to it in the matter of self-control?

The word Paul used here in Greek is enkrateia, which contains a root word meaning "power."

Self-control is to gain POWER over one's life.

For me to allow my impulses and desires to run uninhibited is to have lost power over them.

Lusts of various sorts are in control.

But to simply box myself in, to chain the fridge or such like, gives me no extra control. I simply have added another layer of control over myself, namely the chain and the padlock.

I sink, in fact, further into slavery.

B. Self-Control as a Process

Self-control - gaining power over all the different forces and desires and potentials found within.

It becomes then, something far greater than merely a simple act of RESTRICTING activity, like placing the leash on the dog or a chain on the fridge.

It becomes a struggle right to the deepest corners of the heart and mind, so that what lies BEHIND the activities I could so thoughtlessly and easily engage in would become changed - the MOTIVES for my rash acts.

"For from within, out of the heart of a person, come evil thoughts" said Jesus (Mk 7.21).

Is it words that I have difficulty in controlling?

"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (mt 12.34) said Jesus. Tape over the mouth wouldn't be self-control. But struggling with the motivations for that kind of language, the thoughts that propel the words - THAT leads to self-control.

Self-control is not a one-time act. It is an on-going process, like athletic training. Stop the exercise and those iron pecs will begin to sag, the bulging biceps will begin to droop.

Strict training - it was good for the Apostle Paul, it CERTAINLY is good for you and me. It is good whether we are 8, 18 or 80, man or woman, boy or girl.

III STEPS TO SELF-CONTROL

A. The Object Of Self-Control

The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. What part of the "self" ought we to seek to control? Well, take a look in Galatians 5 at the range of things which Christians are exhorted to leave behind. It is interesting how broad the range of categories is. 5 of them refer to physical activity, 10 of them refer to inner attitudes, thought patterns and conditions of the heart.

So it is that Paul says in 1Cor 9.25 "Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training." The word "strict" there refers not so much to harshness as to an all-round, wholistic type of training. The athlete's training affects every part of his or her life.

So also the Christian athlete - her physical endeavours of food and drink and work and sex; but also the attitudes of the mind towards other people, towards possessions, ambitions for careers, attitudes in times of conflict.....

We as believers must remember that. So often it is easy to become sidetracked by 1 particular area. We become fixated on our lack of progress in holiness in our language or financial management or temper. We begin to pump all our energy and time into trying to correct that problem.

And it seems as if the more we think about it the worse it becomes. Which in fact is often the case. We are focussed too narrowly and end up concentrating on the very thing we are seeking to avoid. And as soon as that happens, what better opportunity for the devil to step in with a seductively well-oiled temptation or two?

Strict training.... training all round.

Spiritual self-control, gaining power over ourselves, winning the war within against:

Unruly Impulse - "gluttonous urge to take one more piece of cake, or the angry impulse to strike a child." [Roberts Strengths Of A Christian p.32]

Harmful Feelings - "twinges of envy or impatience, contempt or revulsion, which are at odd with our more considered sense of how we ought to regard other people." [ibid]

Passionate urges - "a compulsion like gambling, or an erotic captivation that must not be allowed to take its course." [ibid]

B. Total Renunciation Or Cut-Backs

One other note of caution. Exercising self-control does NOT mean adopting a slash and burn policy towards various areas of life.

When there is fiscal mismanagement within a plant it doesn't mean that the whole facility has to be shut-down. Some cut-backs and changes in procedure and management style often might do the trick.

When the casserole turns out too bland and lifeless, it doesn't necessarily mean that the whole recipe has to be discarded. Perhaps the addition of a whole chile or two might fire things up.

The fact that we people naturally have some struggles in keeping self-control over certain activities of the body and thoughts of the mind, DOES NOT MEAN that all human activities are wrong.

Unfortunately, there always seem to be some Christians down through the centuries who take Paul's picture of training the body as a command to pummel their body, to beat it up and abuse it, to knock it out. They condemn certain bodily activities completely as sinful and adopt stringent practices.

Sex becomes dirty; a good meal becomes gluttonous; enjoying leisure becomes sloth; and self-control means having none of those in one's life.

Renounce them.

It's interesting to note, then, that the only time the Bible speaks of renouncing something is when that particular activity or thought pattern stands in the way of service to God, when something gets between a person and following Jesus Christ.

I think, for example, of the rich young ruler in Mat 19 whose riches prevented him from serving Christ with his whole heart. The Lord told him,

"Go sell all you have, give it to the poor and come follow me."

C. Spiritually Focussed Self Control

Which brings us right to the last point. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. There are many people, many non-Christians, who seek to exercise self-control for various reasons: cut the grocery bill, avoid embarrassment, become a better salesperson, be fit for a job opportunity, or just to impress others [Roberts Strengths Of A Christian p.38].

We seek something different. We seek self-control of a spiritual sort, self-control directed by God's Spirit. It is self-control that aims to break down any barriers to effective service of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; any barriers that hinder the Kingdom of God from becoming visible in the way we live.

The Christian's struggle for self-mastery has a standard that many people might find quite foolish. "For in the struggles with self, Christians seek first not to get ahead in the world or to win the world's praise but to become persons fit to live transparently - openly and honestly - to themselves and in the view of the all-seeing secret eye of the Holy One" [Roberts Strengths Of A Christian p.39].

CONCLUSION

And it is in that direction that the Holy Spirit steers us.

He is the driving instructor, we are the student.

We are behind the wheel, but he keeps a set of pedals on his side to make sure we don't destroy ourselves.

He guides, provides learning opportunities, sometimes through heart-stopping close calls and sometimes through embarrassing moments.

He encourages and energizes.

Growing within us the fruit of self-control.

To the glory of God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, AMEN.