The Sin Of Being Right
- Being right about someone else's sin does not automatically make us right before God.
- Simeon and Levi had every reason to be outraged by what Shechem had done to their sister Dinah. What happened to her was wicked, disgraceful, and deserving of justice. However, this is where things get dangerous.
- When someone wrongs us, or someone we love, we can become so consumed with the wrong that has been done that we stop examining the rightness of our own response.
- We begin to believe that because our cause is just, our actions must be justified.
- We convince ourselves that our anger gives us permission, our pain gives us authority, and our desire for justice excuses whatever we do to get it.
- Our text shows two of God's men take a legitimate grievance and use it to excuse deception, violence, and revenge.
- You can be right and wrong at the same time. You can stand for a righteous cause while pursuing it in an unrighteous way.
- You can be so focused on the sin of someone else that you become blind to the sin taking root in vour own heart.
Holy Smoke And Mirrors
- Simeon and Levi took the holy sign of circumcision, the mark of God's covenant, and turned it into a weapon of deception.
- They used the appearance of religious agreement to weaken the men of Shechem, all while hiding their true motive: revenge.
- This is not an isolated pattern in history.
- Many religious leaders have invoked the name of God to justify wars, blessed hatred in the name of faith, and used Scripture to manipulate people into serving their own agendas.
- Instead of truly seeking God's will, they were using what belonged to God to accomplish what they wanted. That is the danger of weaponizing worship.
- When we use the holy to justify our own desires we aren't serving God... we're serving ourselves.
- Vengeance belongs to the Lord. — Romans 12:19
- Our calling is to trust Him for justice. We are not to put ourselves on His throne and take His place.
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