Touré Roberts - When Your Best Doesn't Seem Good Enough

The theme for today, if you would, revolves around the title «When Your Best Doesn’t Seem Good Enough.» This is inspired by the story of Cain and Abel. The backdrop is that this occurs after Adam and Eve have had their struggles in the garden. You know the story; God elevated them and instructed them to have dominion over all the beasts of the field and everything. There was one particular beast that God made, wiser and more cunning than any other beast of the field, and this was, of course, the serpent. The serpent was so fascinating that it actually walked. Did you know that? In the beginning, the serpent walked upright; it wasn’t this image of a slithery creature. Can you imagine how interesting that must have been? Seriously, when you see snakes moving on the ground, that’s not how they started. They originally walked upright, and part of the curse you have to study, when you get the chance, was that God said, «Now you will eat the dust; you will slide around.» Isn’t that something? I was thinking about that, asking why God intended this curse for him to be on the ground. I think it was a precursor to where the enemy’s position should be—on the ground beneath our feet. Anyway, you know the story: the serpent beguiled Adam and Eve; they got tricked and ultimately were expelled from the garden. This is when they began their new life outside of the garden, and this is where we find ourselves.

In chapter 4, verse 1, it begins like this: «Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.» This is her son, and she said, «I have acquired a man from the Lord.» So, Cain was the firstborn child of Adam and Eve after the mistake that occurred in the garden. What I like about this story is that it is the first account of human dysfunction. What we see in the story is the very first instance of human dysfunction. I like to study dysfunction. You might ask, «Pastor, aren’t there more glorious things you could study?» Certainly, but I find dysfunction intriguing because I know somewhere within myself I have some. Hello, somebody! The challenge with dysfunction is being unaware that you have it. So, if you know that you are susceptible and likely possess some degree of dysfunction, I study dysfunction to become functional. Are you tracking with me? You can’t ignore dysfunction. I’m intrigued by this story because it is the first account of human dysfunction. So, let’s take a look: Adam and Eve unite, and they have their firstborn son, whom they name Cain. Verse 2 states, «Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel.» So, Cain was the firstborn, and Abel was the secondborn. It says, «Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.»

In verse 3, it says, «And in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.» First of all, that all seems fine. He is the firstborn, tilling the ground, and he feels gratitude towards God. He thinks, «Oh my goodness, I’ll bring God an offering.» He’s tilling the ground, and some fruit has come forth, so it seems like a really good idea to bring God this offering. He decides to do it, so he brings God an offering from the fruit of the ground. Then, in verse 4, it says, «Abel, this is the younger brother, also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.» So, Cain brings an offering based on his environment, while Abel brings an offering as well. They both present offerings: Cain his first, Abel his second, and suddenly things start getting tricky. It says, «And the Lord respected Abel and his offering.» In verse 5, it continues, «But He did not respect Cain and his offering.»

Now, I’ll be honest with you. If I can keep it real, there are times when I read things in the scripture and think they’re just not fair. What’s wrong with Cain’s offering? Have you ever read something and thought, «That’s not fair; why did you do that?» You could try to get all cute and theological and say it’s because Abel brought the fat, and blah blah blah, but stop. They both made good gestures, you know what I mean? Observe this unsolicited good gesture because there was no reading at the time telling them they were supposed to bring offerings to God. So, Cain had good intentions. Have you ever done something with the best of intentions that ultimately turned out wrong—totally wrong? You know, out of the goodness of your heart, you offered something; you yielded something; you did something, and not only did it go wrong…