Are you the rebel or the earner?

My pastor was teaching us the other day in the Old Testament. He gave this summary statement for the OT (paraphrased from my note taking): "The OT is the story of God's covenant people failing to live up to God's covenant standards". And then he gave us two ways that the people failed: through rebellion and through religion.

Through Rebellion:

• They just flat out disobeyed. Sometimes we know the rules or what is expected and we just choose to do the opposite.

Through Religion:

• They just thought they were good enough to earn it on their own. They underestimated their sin and overestimated their power to overcome sin.

Its the same today. Typically we fall into one of the two categories. It may not always be the same one, but we probably tend to struggle in the same way. I tend to be the earner. If you know me you knew I would say that. In fact, as Casey was preaching mr.pate nudged me when he described the earner. I am a rule follower (I literally read all of the rules that come with games). I am a "goody-goody". And sadly I must say that most of the time this is probably because I want to control my world.

Here is the kicker- rebels know they are rebels, but religious people live in denial and with the pride that they are doing everything perfectly. Its deceptive. Its sly. And it sounds like alot of the church today. Sad times.

So which type of person are you? A rebel or a self righteous earner? Do tell and explain...