SPD or LPD?

"Let love be genuine..."  - Romans 12:9

When the BTK serial killer was finally captured earlier this year people in Wichita, Kansas first breathed a sigh of relief and then drew in a gasp of shock and surprise. The man who had left a sadistic trail of torture and murder for over two decades turned out to be the most average, normal neighbor anyone could imagine. No one suspected Dennis Rader of being anything other than an ordinary guy. He was quiet, well-mannered, usually pleasant, a Boy Scout leader and a loyal Lutheran church member who never caused any trouble.

When interviewed by the court-ordered psychiatrist, the psychotic nature of Rader's personality became obvious. In measured tones he calmly described the heinous plots and thoughts that became his reason to live.  But it’s hard not to escape the fact that he was reasonable, average, and normal to all those around him.

Modern psychology has increased our understanding of Personality Disorder.  The most acute and intense forms of personality disorder can so fragment and fracture a person’s psyche that often individuals become completely dissociated from their actions. Social rules, ethical mandates, and moral values simply don't apply to these compartmentalized bits of personhood. It’s insidious.

But on a larger scale, I believe that all of us live, perhaps not with a personality disorder that would be diagnosed in the psychiatrist’s office, but with a spiritual personality disorder that is biblically and divinely diagnosed. We could call it “Sin Personality Disorder” or “SPD.”   It’s the goal of SPD to fracture and fragment our lives and our relationships any way it can.  It attacks ordinary and average people and no one is excluded, not even those believers who sit in churches on a regular basis.  In fact, if we take the New Testament seriously, the power of sin works especially hard on those who are believers.  “Discipline yourselves, keep alert.  Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour,” says 1 Peter 5:8 – a letter written to believers and circulated among the many young congregations of the Mediterranean world.  Sin can fragment us to the point we can be one person in one place and a completely different person in another place.  It can fracture us so much so that we often expend a great deal of effort justifying and rationalizing our sinful actions and behavior as acceptable and normal. It’s insidious.

Dennis Rader was a respectable member of a Lutheran Christian congregation and a faithful scout leader.  We are shocked that so many could have been so deceived and so misled for so long after he had committed so many heinous crimes.

This morning I am looking out on average, ordinary people of another Lutheran Christian congregation.  I do not believe there are any serial killers in this room today.  But I do believe that we who are gathered here all live with the spiritual personality disorder called SPD – and it is serious business – at least as far as God is concerned.  It is serious business with God because SPD fractures us, our relationships and the world in such a way that things are not shaped according to God’s intentions and design. 

The same person sitting here this morning praying will leave this place and the before the morning has elapsed might succumb to gossip or envy.

The same person who will take the bread and wine of God’s grace today, tomorrow might participate in ruthless and dishonest business practices. 

The same person who calmly sips coffee in the Fellowship Hall this morning might yield to road rage in traffic tomorrow morning.

A person conversing in the lobby this morning might later this week cheat on his/her spouse or engage in physically or emotionally abusive behavior.

A brother or sister who slaps you on the back with affirmation when you're looking might stab you in the back when you're not.

In this time of escalating gas prices there was a special piece on the news yesterday about people stealing gasoline from filling stations by driving away and not paying.  Who are these people?  Most of them are driving nice cars or late model SUV’S.  A significant number of them display patriotic bumper stickers, flags or Christian symbols, but the retailer’s video recording equipment doesn’t lie.  They fill their tanks, get in their cars and drive away.  Hardened criminals?  Hardly!  Ordinary folks! 

A week or so ago I watched a person in a car, heavily plastered with fish symbols and crosses, illegally park in a handicapped parking space at the health club.  The person bounded out of the car and into the club dressed for exercise.  Apparently this Christian athlete didn't want to walk any distance to get into the exercise rooms!

It's hard to get through any day without noticing SPD taking all sorts of varied forms of expression from simple arrogance and inconsiderate behavior to identity theft, toxic waste dumping, substance abuse, internet-porn addictions, spousal and child abuse, infidelity and much more.

Most of these everyday expressions of SPD may not be labeled as a malevolent evil, but the spiritual, emotional and personal havoc SPD can spread is tragic and monumental.

In today’s epistle scripture from Romans the apostle Paul lays out for his readers another type of personality disorder, an opposite personality disorder.  If you have your bulletin or Bible pick it up and take a look. 

            ⁹Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.¹²Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. ¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. ¹⁸If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ ²⁰No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  - Romans 12:9-21

 I don’t know about you, but it seems to me this is a description of totally abnormal and irregular behavior, maybe even insane behavior!  And it probably is.  Like the other we can name this personality disorder as well. We can name this one “LPD” – “Love Personality Disorder.” And, I believe it is God’s deepest desire that every person on this planet will be afflicted with this personality disorder.  Let’s take a moment to touch on a few of the characteristics of LPD as Paul lays it out.

 “Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.”  Can you imagine what it would be like in this fellowship, or in the fellowship of your marriage and family; or in the fellowship of your workplace; or in the fellowship of broader Christianity; or in the fellowship of the global human family if we tried not to defeat one another with power, status or wealth but were outdoing one another by showing honor and respect for each other?

 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”  It is a powerful temptation to gloss over or be indifferent the needs and feelings of others.  “I do not want to get involved,” is often our excuse.  But imagine the impact that just the people in this room might have if between now and next Sunday we were to each step out of our self-preoccupation and live with a conscious, heightened sensitivity to the needs and feelings of those with whom we come into contact – so much so we would extend unprecedented compassion and consideration of the feelings of others. 

 “…do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.”  I frequently hear people, Christian and otherwise, spouting off authoritatively and arrogantly about all kinds of things, especially people who they deem to be the lowly of this world.  And then I look at Jesus who didn’t spout off at all about the lowly, but rather personally got to know them.  The next time you are tempted to pigeon-hole someone(s) or offer a simplistic answer regarding someone, first go out of your way and personally get to know the person or people you are talking about. Why?  Because that’s exactly what Jesus did.

 “If at all possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all… if your enemies are hungry feed them; if they are thirsty give them something to drink.”  We live in a world that is  much better at making war than cultivating peace. It’s at this point we might say, “Up to now  I can sort of go along with this, but now Paul’s gone too far.  This is totally unrealistic in our kind of world.”  The point is that our kind of world is not dissimilar from the world of those first century Christians to whom this was first written.  They often found themselves caught between a rock and hard place, on the receiving end of scorn and persecution from both the Roman State and Jewish orthodoxy. Yet this is Paul’s directive to them, “Feed (your enemies) and give them something to drink?” 

 Years ago, a man once told me in a Bible study, on this very chapter in Romans, that he could demonstrate and convince me why this kind of lifestyle was totally ridiculous and should not be taken seriously.  I reminded him that it wasn’t me he had to convince, but ultimately he would have to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and convince him - hanging and dying on His cross for the SPD that corrupts us all. 

 Paul’s description of the attitude and behavior reflected in these verses is nuts and is crazy. It does much of the time go against our natural sensibilities; and we might say, even is a bit psychotic.  But if it is, it’s a psychosis that originates in the heart of God and through Jesus Christ God desires to implant it in every heart in every person on the planet. 

 The bottom line is just this: LPD is what is offered at this table today in the bread and wine - Love Personality Disorder.  It’s a disorder that can transform us, and heal us, and bring hope to a world that is trapped in SPD.  Are we going to live Paul’s mandate out perfectly?  Of course not!  Are we going to fail and fall short?  Of course we will! 

 But I do know this personally and first hand: Once we have experienced only but a taste of the Love Personality Disorder of God, the old way of Sin Personality Disorder will finally be exposed for the sham it really is – and we will keep coming back for more LPD; keeping coming back to the cross of our Lord  for forgiveness where we have failed; keep coming back to the cross of our Lord to be empowered to live Christ’s kind life in the world; keep coming back to our crucified and risen savior for "genuine" love.