Making Good From the Bad

Humility, Justification, Righteousness

Illustration

As you get older, one thing you quickly learn is how expensive food can be, especially as your family grows. And around the same time, you probably experience the significant amount of time it takes to plan and prepare a meal (if you haven’t experienced this, now is the time to thank your spouse).

But one food item that’s well worth the preparation time is a slab of tenderloin beef. If you’ve never seen a whole tenderloin before, it’s about a 2-foot log of red meat. Sorry if you’re vegetarian, but it’s a majestic sight to behold.

When you prepare a tenderloin, there are three parts to focus on. First, there’s the excellent chunk of red meat, but there’s also something called the “silverskin,” and the silverskin runs along the whole top of the tenderloin. If you’ve eaten a steak, you’ve probably run into those bites that are tough and almost impossible to chew. And when you take a closer look at those chewy bites, they’re silver in color and shiny.

That’s the silverskin, and it’s a connective tissue that doesn’t break down when you cook it. Because it doesn’t break down, you want to remove it before cooking the tenderloin to prevent those chewy bites.

And the last part of the tenderloin that you need to prepare is called “the chain.” And the chain is a strip of meat that runs down the entire tenderloin. There’s good meat in the chain, but there’s also fat and connective tissue similar to the silverskin. The chain is OK to eat – and some people like it. Overall, it’s questionable.

But the chain tastes much better if you throw it into a pan with some butter, broth, and spices to turn it into a sauce to serve with the tenderloin. With some work, you can turn the “questionable” stuff into “really, really good” stuff.

So you’ve got your three parts: the good meat, the bad silverskin, and the “almost good” chain that needs some work. You’ve got to cut off the bad and throw it away. Then, take the stuff that needs refining and work on it off to the side to make it better. When that’s finished, you have a great piece of tenderloin that has all the imperfections trimmed off. It’s presentable, and it’s delicious.

But until you do the work, and until you trim off all the bad stuff, you’re left with meat that has imperfections. The silverskin and chain run down the entire tenderloin, so they have a chance to ruin each bite.

There are many parallels here between preparing this food and our own lives, especially a Christian life striving to live out our Biblical mandate to be more and more like Jesus each day.

Whether you’re a meat-eater or not, everyone knows the feeling of having to evaluate themselves and compartmentalize the good, bad, and “needs work.” But to live the way that Jesus expects us to, we need to do more than compartmentalize. We need to act and cut away the silverskin in our lives and work on those chain areas to turn them into something good and usable.

This is where you come in!The rest of your sermon goes here.

Application

When we think about our symbolic silverskin and chain, we must realize that this is a lifelong process of refining ourselves to be the people that God wants us to be. It’s a back-and-forth battle that happens inside us where we’re constantly being prepared by God yet fighting our sinful desires.

Because if we’re not actively cutting off our silverskin, God may, and He’ll do it however He wants. Sometimes our pride runs so deep that it takes many deep and painful cuts to get through it. Asking God to humble yourself is a dangerous prayer because it involves cutting things off.

If you look back to your Sunday School or VeggieTales days, you may remember stories of Daniel and King Nebuchadnezzar. One day, these two are talking, and Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar to break off his sins. Daniel doesn’t say, “Gently remove your sins.” He says, “BREAK THEM OFF.”

There will be steps forward and steps back, and that’s OK – as long as we’re ultimately moving forward. That’s what the chain in a tenderloin is for; take it for what’s good, set it off to the side, and make it better over time. Preparation takes time. God expects us to be on a forward trajectory. He expects us to repent and break off our sin and to be cutting off that unsavory silverskin.

When you take a bite of food, and it’s chewy or unsavory, it becomes an opportunity for you to check your heart and to ask, “Am I breaking off my sin today, and am I shaving off that silverskin? Are my actions today reflecting that I’m a follower of Jesus?”

When you chop off silverskin, it doesn’t happen in one cut. Sometimes you get a lot of it in one swipe, but it usually takes many small and careful cuts to get it all. Keep chopping. Keep preparing your life by cutting off the bad – breaking off your sin – and keep working on the stuff that’s “almost there” so that you keep moving forward towards becoming more like Jesus each day.

Application Questions

1. What is an area of sin or “silverskin” in your life that you need to cut off?
2. Who is someone who can keep you accountable in removing sin areas in your life? (E.g., a spouse, family member, church elder or pastor, close friend, etc.)
3. What “silverskin” have you already shaved off in your life? What/who helped you accomplish that?
4. No past sin or “silverskin” is too deep for Jesus’ forgiveness. Do you know Him? Have you surrendered your life to Jesus? How can our church help you in that journey?

Applicable Verses

• 1 Corinthians 1:30
• 2 Peter 3:9
• Daniel 4:27
• Luke 24:47
• Romans 5:1

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