I received a crushing revelation this week. I found out I am not perfect. Those of you who know me very well understand that is not an easy thing for me to admit. I have always known it, but I usually do my very best to keep most of the things secret that might give me away. This week, however, a crushing reminder that I have done things in the past I ought not to have done came on stage and I had to work through how I felt about that. I am possibly more than a little embarrassed looking back at some of the things I have thought, said, and acted out in some cases. No, I am not going to confess them here. That has already been done and I do not do them any longer. In case that was not quite clear, the point is not that I have sinned. The point is those sins are in the past. It is kind of like being on the right side of, "Don't ask, don't tell."
One of the things I already knew is that people's memories are much longer than God's. This is especially true of those who would make themselves our enemies. The clear teaching of scripture is that our response to our sin should be to confess it, repent of it, and leave it at the cross of Jesus. Do not ask me about, or wait for me to confess, any of those things. It is an insult to the blood of Jesus and to His completed work in our lives to rehearse our forgiven sins.
There are those who think it a noble endeavor to discuss their past sins as a way of giving glory to God for what He has done. I think the theological word for that is translated "baloney." We give God glory by living a life that is pleasing to Him. That is what grace is all about. God gives us the ability, in spite of ourselves, to live the life He wants us to live, free from the sins of our past.
I once made the mistake of telling my daughter about what a great work God had done in the life of a man I was introducing to her. I mentioned, without detail, that he had been anything but a Christian when I had first met him years before. He took me aside and told me, not so politely, that he did not need to have me remind anyone of his past. That was a decade ago and writing this, I now understand the truth of what he was telling me.
Before we leave this subject, it is also an insult--on multiple levels--to rehearse the sins of anyone else. Our primary commandment as New Testament believers is to love God. (Matthew 22:37) The second commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39) Love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8) All have sinned.(Romans 3:23) There are no sins that are worse than any others. Once we have confessed (told God we understand) our sins and repented (turned away from them) God forgets them (Hebrews 8:12)
Yes, I am crushed, just as all the other grapes in the Master's vineyard--crushed that the fragrance and the flavor of new wine might flow forth to a world that so desperately needs it. I am not perfect, but I am doing my best. I trust you are too. God bless!
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About you not being perfect, we all already knew that (tongue in cheek of course).
ReplyDeleteHere’s the thing. We all go through each day knowing we are not perfect, yet wanting everyone around us to think that we are. Those of us who understand grace know that it is what perfects us, not anything within ourselves. Those who don’t understand grace walk around wanting to show everyone how imperfect everyone else is so they can feel better about themselves. There’s a phrase for this: Misery loves company.
Rehearsing other people’s sins is dangerous territory – it’s where a person starts to believe their job is judge, and God’s word is pretty clear when we fall into this practice, we will each be judged by the rule with which we judge others. I think that’s in Matthew 7. It is not my job to judge you, nor is it yours to judge me. If we could learn just how true that statement is, and live accordingly, the Kingdom of God would be so much stronger and better here on this earth. This is probably the biggest way our flesh gets in the way of God’s Kingdom coming on a daily basis. Instead of loving and supporting our brothers and sisters, we question them and look for where they might be wrong. That is wholly God’s job. Someone once told me, “If you have a problem with something I do, take it up with God because He’s the only one who can change it.” I believe that. If I have a problem with someone’s behavior, I must take it up with the One who has the real power to change it. Why stir up problems when God says He will work ALL things out for the good of those who love Him? It sounds pretty all-inclusive to me.
Satan uses the people around us to question our faith, His Word, and His promises to us. If some arbitrary stranger off the street made a comment to us, we wouldn’t give it the time of day. My father used to tell me, before he left this world, “The only person in this life who will ever hurt you is a friend, because you’ll never let an enemy get that close to you.” I find no fault in those words. Only now, I pray for those friends. Through one man all sin was redeemed, we all know that to be Jesus. Through another man, I found Christ. That man is not perfect. That man is not beyond reproach. That man is not many things. But he was one thing to me. A doorman. He opened the door to the Word and explained it to me. Do I love him for it, absolutely. Would I drink his bathwater, absolutely not. One of the best things I’ve learned is that God makes perfect our imperfection. I wouldn’t change my life at all. I’ve lived most of my life never having regret. I can’t say that anymore. My one regret that I now have is that I wasted so much of my life not knowing God. And for that I’ll always thank and treasure you.
ReplyDeleteYour friend, brother, and son,
And I don’t care who knows. This is my opinion. And it is not wrong.
The devout, spiritual, contemplating Christian, that I am sometimes told I am, can only respond to this particular writing through the lens of unadulterated scripture. In short,right on.
ReplyDeleteRick