"If I walk away from God, I'm capable of anything."

For the last few weeks, I've been listening to a lot of Mark Driscoll. Before anyone out there gets all bent out of shape, let me say that I know he is very controversial. Although, I don't agree with everything he says, I agree with most of what I hear. True, I mainly listen to his sermons on marriage, relationships, and sexuality, but I really, really agree with most of what he says on those topics.

Currently, I'm listening to an excellent sermon series entitled "The Peasant Princess" on the Song of Songs. Before you go downloading the podcasts on my recommendation, fair warning that Mark Driscoll is not one of those "Song of Songs is a metaphor between Christ and the Church." Uh-uh. Driscoll believes Song of Songs is a beautiful, passionate, at times explicit, love song about God's heart and intent for human marriage.

The sermon I listened to yesterday was filled with lots of great stuff, including some things that I nervously shared with my husband :) But what struck me the most was Driscoll's comment on Solomon. Driscoll began the whole series explaining that the Songs were written by King Solomon. Early in his days, God told Solomon that he could ask him for one thing and Solomon asked for wisdom. God granted him much wisdom. To this day, we benefit from his wisdom through the great gifts of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs.

Songs is beautiful, idealistic, and hopeful. As a married woman, I read these poems and listen to these related sermons and I pray that I could live my life well, that I could love my husband well. And then Driscoll turned away from preaching directly from the Songs text. He then addressed the question that so many have asked about Solomon. How could this great man turn so bad? Or more specifically, how could the man of Song of Songs, who so loved his wife that it continues to be the standard for all married couples, fall so far? At some point, the Bible will speak of Solomon's 700 wives and 300 concubines. Wait what happened?

"If I walk away from God, I am capable of anything."

Solomon walked away from God. He walked so far away that the impossible seemed to have happened. One of the points Driscoll wanted to make is that no one is immune from sin and the devastation that it brings. So, often, people today says things like "I would never do that." Or "how barbaric were those people." One specific example he used was that Solomon actually built a temple for one of the gods worshipped by one of his wives. This particular god demanded the sacrifice of a child. Driscoll said that some today would say "how barbaric." He then pointed out that more children are sacrificed today than in that time. It's just labeled as choice. Now, I'm not trying to get into that particular argument here. The point Driscoll is making and I agree is that we are broken, twisted people capable of doing things we would never do under "normal circumstances."

And that's what I want to hold in my heart from yesterday's sermon. If I walk away from God, I am capable of anything.