Rehoboth Lutheran Church Devotionals, Rehoboth, PA

A couple nights ago I woke up to discover I had forgotten to turn off the television and a horrible movie was on called "Chopping Mall". It was one of those terrible 1980's flicks that tried to scare you but wound up causing laughter at the cheesiness of the special effects (which were not that special!). The basic plot was a group of people find themselves trapped in a shopping mall after closing and the robot security guards try to hunt them down. Of course something goes wrong with the central computer and the robots wind up on a killing rampage (hence the name of the movie). It was like watching a car crash- you just had to look, no matter how horrible it was- and the ultimate moment came when one woman began to hysterically yell at the 4 remaining victims, only to find remorse and say "I'm sorry, I guess I am just not used to being trapped in a shopping mall in the middle of the night with killer robots." At which point the others look at her sympathetically and give her comfort. When those words left her mouth, I found myself laughing so hard I actually fell on the floor! After all, who IS used to being trapped in a shopping mall with killer robots? Could someone truly get USED to this? It was the most outrageous statement, yet it was delivered in such a way that it would be something anyone would say.
One of the best definitions I have ever heard for what it is to be dysfunctional is when the abnormal becomes the normal. When experiences that other people simply do not have become a part of daily life and become expected, dysfunctionalism is at its greatest. For example, the average person is not put in jail, but for some families going to the police station to bail out a loved one is just seen as routine. That is not "normal", that is not the usual daily happenings of most people, and when it does become "normal", it is a sign of the dysfunctional.
One of the realities of sin is it moves us continually into the realm of the dysfunctional. Going against God's will can often become "routine", and the sins that are not "normal" can appear so very easily. How often have you heard someone say "Everyone goes a little over the speed limit," or "everyone cheats a little...”? How often do we justify our bad decisions by saying "A lot of people do it."? It is a very easy thing to do, a very easy copout, and very quickly we can develop a dysfunctional spiritual life. When lying become usual, when adultery becomes accepted, when stealing becomes a way of life, we have entered into a dysfunctional relationship with God and need to seek spiritual therapy through prayer and confession to seek forgiveness and reconciliation.
It is through our confession of sins and the unconditional Grace and forgiveness of Christ that we can move out of the trap of the dysfunctional and into a new relationship with the one who gives us the greatest of gifts. It is through the death and resurrection of Christ that we are given a new beginning each and every day, to move away from the things that make us abnormal and into a new life in the kingdom of heaven. It is time to examine ourselves, to expose our dysfunctionalism so that we may enter into a healthy, functional relationship with Christ.

-Pastor Scott