The word extraction means the action of taking out something, especially by using effort or force. I experienced this today when I went to the dentist. The process used fit this definition perfectly. While it was a painful process and will be a lengthy process and recovery, extractions were made to make things better. If you have tumors inside your body, they are extracted to make you healthier. Without the process of extractions, many things would continue to deteriorate and die. Sometimes, the part needing to be extracted can live in its own little world, and by itself, it may never be a problem, but usually, it begins to affect those things around it. This is the case with many things in our Christian lives. We all have things about us that need to be examined and extracted to make us a healthier and more productive Christian. Some things need to be removed to enhance our testimony so that we will not be a stumbling block to anyone else. However, we as Christians have been so influenced by the world that we have adopted its philosophy in the areas of denying ourselves something that may be ok but not profitable for our spiritual growth. We tend to take the road that says it is my life and nobody’s business.
In the Bible, there are many things that God teaches us are wrong for a Christian. For instance, the Bible is clear that we are not to lie. Exodus 20:16 says, “Thou shall not bear false witness.” However, we have lied when we fail to tell the whole truth because it might reveal something negative about ourselves. Many Christians even distinguish between lies as “a big or a little white lie.”
What about our entertainment? Do we justify watching those who are committing adultery on TV as ok because they are acting? The seventh commandment says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” You may say, “I have no problem with that.” But have you considered the verses in Romans 1 where Paul mentions a long list of sins, of which adultery is one, and the last verse teaches us that we are just as guilty of those sins if we take pleasure in those that do them? In Matthew 5:28, Jesus speaks about those who broke commandments and shows how we can break them without lifting a finger. “But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
Romans 1:32 “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
I could make a long list of things we need to examine in our lives and extract so that we would be pleasing to God. But you must examine your own heart in light of the word. Before the dentist extracted what was left of my tooth, he first examined it. This would tell him that every piece of it needed to be extracted. If he had left some bone fragments, it could have caused infection and pain later. Sin is the same way. It never seems to be a big deal the first time we lie or lust, but it is. The first leads to more if we do not extract and eradicate it. We cannot please a Holy God when our thinking and actions are tainted with sin.
Let’s take it a little further. Just as Paul did in I Corinthians 8:9-13, “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world stands, lest I make my brother to offend.”
Paul was not concerned about his liberty. He was more concerned about others becoming Christians and growing in Christ. He was willing to forgo any pleasure that was ok to be a good example to others around him. He wanted to remove anything that could be misconstrued as sin. Why was this his attitude? Because he loved Jesus! This truth caused him to love the things Jesus loved: people. God wants no one to perish, and we should be willing to make whatever changes in our lives are needed to win and disciple others.
Paul lived his life from an eternal perspective, as we should. In the next chapter, he continues this theme.
1 Corinthians 9:19-27 “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
Now, it is our turn to examine and extract. I said our turn because I include myself. This process should be part of our lives as long as we live. We will not reach perfection until we see Jesus, and while here, we must be busy about being the light and salt of the earth. We can help others to come to Christ by laying down our selfish desires and our feeling of deserving to live how we choose.
