I did not grow up Catholic, but I can only imagine the awkwardness that must surround the whole experience of confession. Revealing your hidden sins to a man you may or may not know very well, and then being instructed on what your penance is, may be a valuable spiritual exercise for some, but probably was not exactly what James had in mind when he wrote “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). When I read that verse, it seems to me that James was encouraging the Christians reading his letter to make confessing their sins to each other a regular part of their spiritual life, not to save their confession for the spiritual leader in their midst, because the simple acts of confession and prayer were powerfully effective.

I have been struck once again this past week at the power of confession, and particularly at the truth found in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Most of us, if we know Jesus, understand the first part of this statement to be true, that God forgives sins when we confess them (to confess means to agree with God’s judgment on our sin, that what we have done is wrong). However, I’ve been encouraged recently by the second part of that statement, that when we confess our sins, God purifies us from all unrighteousness. My experience with confessing my sins to other people has been that when I overcome my embarrassment, lay down my pride, and admit my struggles or failings, immediately there is a power that is broken. As I “walk in the light as he is in the light,” as John writes in 1:7, the blood of Jesus purifies me from my sin. What I mean is that I find my desire for God renewed, and my desire to sin greatly reduced if not done away with completely. It’s as if God has indeed purified my heart by breaking the power that sin held over my heart and giving me a greater desire for Him and to live for His glory and honor.

What this means, I believe, is that one of the greatest weapons in our battle against sin and Satan is confessing to one another and praying for each other. Instead of trying to fight on your own, why don’t you lay down your pride and admit your struggles to a brother or sister in Christ? I can almost guarantee you that your brother or sister will not look down on you, but will be honored that you trusted them enough to share your burden with them and will gladly pray for you. And if you find yourself walking in the darkness, hiding your sins and struggles, step out into the light by confessing to someone else. Not only does God freely and graciously forgive, but He will also purify you from all unrighteousness as you admit your need for His help.

So what are you waiting for? Begin to walk in the light right now, and experience the purifying power of the Lord. And if you don’t have anyone to whom you can confess, I would encourage you to come out to either the men’s Fight Club (Wednesdays from 7-8:30 at NewLife) or the women’s Fight Club (1st & 3rd Thursdays from 7-8:30), as these gatherings are specifically designed to provide you with men and women who will support you in the challenges you are facing.

 What I’m going to share below is graphic and beyond words in its horror. I don’t share it to be sensationalistic, but to ask a simple question: What do you do with this? How do you personally handle the knowledge that there is this kind of evil in the world? How does it affect your thinking, your actions, and your faith? Please consider, and share your thoughts below.

 The following is taken from the Eternal Perspective Ministries blog, June 10th, 2011: http://www.epm.org/blog/2011/Jun/10/horrors-in-sudan. It is a report from one of their partner ministries, Make Way Partners, which works to end human trafficking and sexual slavery. One of the places Make Way Partners works is Sudan, with New Life ministry, a home to nearly 550 orphans. Apparently, Southern Sudan’s “Independence Day” is coming on July 9th, and as that day approaches, the Islamic government, which has seized control of northern Sudan, is furiously attacking Southern Sudan, using the Lord’s Resistance Army out of  Uganda to terrorize Southern Sudan. The director of New Life Ministries, Lual Atak, shares what happened in a village close to the orphanage. This is not for the faint of heart, but is the reality of what these children and people face daily:

 “It is really so very terrible! They gathered all the little children together and started killing their people right in front of their eyes. The children were so terrorized. The LRA then made the children begin killing their own parents. After the slaughter, the boys were forced to carry large metal barrels, and the girls were forced to fetch water to fill the barrels. They then had to build fires around the barrels. While the water began to boil, the children were forced to hack up their parents and fellows bodies and throw their dismembered parts in the boiling water. After sometime, the children were forced to eat their own parents and fellows flesh…once the LRA knew the children were so traumatized they would do anything, kill anyone, and not try to run away, they left the village with their new soldiers and sex slaves.”

I’ll ask you again. What do you do with what you have just read? How do you personally handle the knowledge that there is this kind of evil in the world? How does it affect your thinking, your actions, and your faith? If you consider yourself a Christian, what do you believe is the right Christian response, both in thought and deed, to the evil of the world? Please consider, and share your thoughts below.

Reaction to this story has been mostly predictable – the pastor is being overly dramatic.  After all, Facebook is just one of many means of communicating with the world.  Should fear of having an affair cause us to give up all other means of communication as well – our phones, our email, even letters?  Why not just go all the way and disconnect ourselves from the outside world completely?  After all, we may have an affair at work, so why take the risk of getting a job?  Plus, Facebook is like most everything else in life – along with the benefits, there are risks.  Should we just stay away from Facebook out of fear of what might happen?

Well, maybe.

First of all, consider how strongly Jesus spoke regarding the intolerance we should have for sin in our lives: “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell” (Matthew 5:29-30).  Jesus is not being literal here – otherwise the whole church would be blind – but He is using strong language in order to make a point about the wisdom involved in taking drastic measures with those things that lead us into sin, instead of tolerating them as they slowly lead us into destruction.

Secondly, Facebook (and the Internet in general) offers something that many other means of communication do not, something that provides a fertile ground for sin to develop – anonymity.  It is much easier to fall into temptation and end up doing things that you will one day regret if you do things in secret with no one knowing.  Facebook offers people the opportunity to follow the lives of other people, to some extent, to spy on them from afar (“Facestalking”), without the object of your interest or anyone else knowing.

I believe that the solution is not necessarily to delete your Facebook account, if you have one, but rather to live in the light.  Consider Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:11-17:

“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: ‘Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Be very careful, then, how you live– not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

Expose the darkness.  Live in the light, resisting the temptation to do things in secret, so that you will not be foolish and unwise, Paul says.  With that in mind, consider taking the following steps:

(1) Accountability – Make sure there is someone – a spouse, a friend, a mentor, a parent – to whom you are accountable about your time spent on the Internet.  Nowadays, with Internet filters, accountability software, and the ability to search someone’s browsing history, it should be easy to set up online accountability – if you are willing to live in the light.  Find someone to whom you can be honest.  If you are married, being transparent with your spouse should be a given, including sharing your password, and if you are hesitant, you are probably hiding something that you need to expose to the light of day.

(2) Confession – Do you find yourself viewing people or things on Facebook, or the Internet, that you know that if your spouse, your parents, your friends, or even Jesus walked into the room, you would change the screen as quickly as possible?  If so, then chances are it’s something you shouldn’t be viewing.  Confess those things to your spouse or to someone you trust, and ask them to hold you accountable.  If you have ex-flames on Facebook, or if there are people to whom you find yourself attracted, confess that to your spouse or to an accountability partner so that you do not nurture that temptation and allow that attraction to grow.  You will be amazed at how the power of temptation can be broken when you bring it into the light.

(3) Fasting - Take regular fasts from Facebook, or from the Internet if you can.  Would you believe that Facebook now has 500 million active users, who collectively spend 700 billion minutes on Facebook every month?  A recent study of media habits found that about 1/3 of women between 18 and 34 check Facebook before they even go to the bathroom in the morning, 21% check it in the middle of the night, and half of them admit that they are addicted to it.  For most of us who use Facebook, the minutes spent online come at the expense of face-to-face relationships.  One of the wisest things you can do is to plan regular times of fasting from Facebook, the Internet, or anything else that you fear may be becoming an addiction for you.

Walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7), by practicing accountability, confession, and fasting, and you will find that God is able to break the power of temptation in your life, no matter what it may be.  And when He does that, you will find that you can enjoy the benefits of Facebook or other things in your life without living in fear.

 Needless to say, I was mortified, and never sucked my thumb again.

 Why do I tell you that depressing memory?  Because I’ve been reflecting lately on discipline, one of those character traits that most of us wish we had more of in our life.  I think of discipline as the ability to consistently do the things we want to do and to avoid those things we don’t want to do.  The disciplined individual is the one who knows what he or she wants and is able to live according to that vision, not being sidetracked by things that do not help him or her achieve that vision.  As badly as my heart yearns to be a man of discipline who lives according to his values, I have found it to be a slippery pursuit.  As Paul classically put it:

Romans 7:15,17,19 – I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do– this I keep on doing… So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 

 Amen, Paul.  That passage has given me lots of comfort in my struggles, as I know that even the great apostles had a hard time staying disciplined.  Maybe you’ve tried for years to lose weight, to exercise, or to spend less money.  Or maybe you have attempted over and over to stop dangerous addictions like smoking, drinking, or pornography.  I don’t know where you have struggled with discipline, but I wanted to share with you a quote from Henry Cloud and John Townsend’s book “How People Grow” that was a simple yet meaningful way of putting the solution for me:

“Self-discipline is always the fruit of ‘other-discipline.’  Some people get disciplined by other people early in life and then internalize it into their character; then they possess it themselves.  Other people don’t get disciplined early in life, and they don’t ever have self-discipline until they get it from others and internalize it for themselves.”

If you have tried and failed at self-discipline, then humble yourself and find some “other-discipline.”  As in my embarrassing thumb-sucking example, it often takes exposing our struggle to the discipline of others in order to help us break our unhealthy habits.  The best thing you can do, if you are struggling with self-discipline, is to reach out for help from someone who can help keep you accountable until that discipline becomes your own.  Or, find a group of people that can provide you support and accountability, like the men’s Fight Club that meets on Wednesday nights at NewLife.  Talk together about how these friends can help bring discipline into your life – what questions they can ask you on a regular basis, how they can encourage you, where they need to call you out on things that are unhealthy for you.  Set up a plan for bringing “other-discipline” into your life before things get any worse. 

Don’t keep wasting your time and energy on things which lead to death.  Give your life for those things that really matter.  Discipline is difficult, but essential to your personal growth and fulfillment.  Listen and take to heart these great words from the writer of Hebrews:

Hebrews 12:1-11 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?  If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.  Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!  Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

This morning, The Hartford Courant had yet another story about the ongoing debacle of priests with a history of pedophilia.  The story was concerning the Diocese of Norwich and its attempts to keep secret hundreds of documents pertaining to Thomas Shea, a retired priest accused of molesting as many as 16 girls at 11 different parishes over his 40 year career.  The potential scandal in this case is that one of the letters was sent to Joseph Ratzinger, the man who is now Pope, when he was the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, the office that decides whether accused priests should have trials that could lead to them being defrocked.  Regardless of what is in those documents, the fact remains that this whole scandal is a black eye not just on the Catholic Church but on the very name of Jesus.

James, in the third chapter of his letter, writes that not many should presume to be teachers, because they will be judged more strictly (James 3:1).  In Ezekiel 34:2, God says “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?”  The warning is clear to anyone who desires to become a leader, teacher, or pastor of people in God’s church – don’t do it out of selfish reasons, be it prestige, honor, monetary reasons, or anything else.  And once you are in a position of leadership, your responsibility is to serve and care for others as a shepherd cares for his sheep.  Leaders in the church can be sure that if they misuse their position, they will be judged more strictly, for when others are harmed through their teaching or actions, leaders can not only hurt many people, but can also reflect poorly on the God they serve and do damage to the kingdom of God.

Certainly, we serve a God of great grace, a God whose forgiveness and restoration can extend not only to the victims of child molesting priests, but also to the child molesting priests themselves.  We should never become so self-righteous and judgmental that we forget that we are all sinners saved by grace, all capable of unspeakable acts of wickedness if placed in the right circumstances.  We are all desperately in need of God’s grace and mercy, and just as God used the murderer Paul to spread the gospel around the world, God is able to redeem even the most hopeless situation.  But do not presume on the grace of God by acting in sin because you believe that you can just ask forgiveness tomorrow for whatever you do wrong today.  The harmful effects on others and on the name of Jesus are worse than any fleeting pleasure you might receive.

I am curious whether the ongoing child molestation scandal in the Catholic church has had an impact on you or on those you love.  Has it affected your faith in God at all?  Has it damaged your trust in church leadership?  If you have any thoughts or experiences to share, please leave a comment below.

This past Sunday, I preached on one of the most stunning passages in the whole Bible, the story of how King David, the man after God’s own heart, slept with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his best friends, and then had his friend killed to cover it up.  That passage, in 2 Samuel 11, begins famously with these words:  “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army… But David remained in Jerusalem.”  As the narrator makes clear, if David were only where he should have been, none of this would have happened.  But instead, we find David arising from a late afternoon nap, wandering up to the roof of his palace, and seeing Bathsheba bathing naked nearby.  One thing leads to another, and soon David has broken almost half of the Ten Commandments in an incredibly thoughtless escapade.

As the aforementioned Indigo Girls’ lyrics put it, even a raging river begins as a little stream.

My yard, like many yards in New England, can often get filled up with acorns from the oak trees that populate my property.  I have spent many seasons of my life collecting bushels full of acorns that have fallen around the yard.  It is staggering to believe that each little acorn has the capacity to grow into another giant oak tree.  But even though picking up acorns can be tiresome work, think of how much easier it is to collect acorns than to cut down a forest of oak trees.  Likewise, think how much easier it would have been for David to stop looking at the naked Bathsheba than to deal with the mess that would soon be created by adultery, murder, and the attempted cover-up.

Every raging river begins as a narrow stream.  Every oak tree began as a tiny acorn.  And every mess we find ourselves in begins with one bad decision, one poorly chosen word or action.  How much easier would it be to collect the acorn than to chop down the oak tree?  How much easier would it be to cross the narrow stream than to ford the raging river?

In each of our lives, there are problems and struggles that right now are the size of an acorn or a stream.  They may not seem like big deals at their present size, but left unattended and not dealt with, they will soon become a mighty oak tree, rooted strongly in the soil of our lives, or a raging river, out of control and unable to be tamed.  The misunderstanding between friends that eventually becomes an irreparable rift.  The occasional drink that threatens over time to become a full-blown addiction.  The simple drifting away from God that one day can become complete indifference or rebellion.

David learned the hard way that it is much easier to deal with sin before it becomes an irreparable mess.  Whatever you are facing, deal with it now, before the stream becomes a raging river, before the acorn becomes an oak tree.  Confess your sin.  Make the relationship right.  Tackle the habit head-on.  Do it now, before it destroys your life.

No Longer a Slave to Sin

“…knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” Romans 6:6 (NKJV)

Back some time ago after I was saved by the grace of God, I was given a revelation of truth.  I remember at the time having been disgusted with myself over something I had done.  I don’t remember what I had done, but I know it didn’t honor the Lord.  I remember telling God I was sorry, but I also remember stopping and pondering (for quite some time) how in the world Jesus could have been sinless.  I knew He was sinless because the Bible tells me so; yet, I started to think deeply and wonder how that could have been.

My reason for thinking so deeply and wondering was because I know ME and how difficult it is to always choose to honor the Lord.  After all, I have some flaws that are so much a part of me.  Just to name two – I am a “worrier,” and to compound this flaw, I am a “venter.”  I vent when I worry, and it’s usually not too pretty.

On that particular day, I asked the Lord how – when I struggle daily with sin – how He could have remained sin-free for His whole life on this earth.  I even started to think of my kids and how quickly sin seems to roll off their tongues and through their bodies.  I especially wondered how Jesus could have remained sin-free during His childhood. I knew Jesus was fully man and fully God when He came to the earth. So, it seemed to me that as fully man, He would have been prone to the same nasty sins to which the rest of us “fully humans” are prone.  I wondered how He could possibly have had the strength to resist sin for His entire life.

Now, I knew Jesus didn’t sin because I know the Bible is true; and the Bible says Jesus was the final and perfect sacrifice because He was without sin – He was the unblemished Lamb.  I wasn’t questioning the truth; rather, I was just asking God to reveal to me the “how” behind the truth.

In the midst of my deep thought, the Lord revealed to me that “being sinful” does not make a person a human.  After all, Adam and Eve were fully human and they were not created with sin.  They were, however, created to have free-will… to be able to choose.  It was because of Adam’s exercise of his free-will against God that the rest of us “fully humans” have inherited a sin nature through Adam.  That is why the rest of us naturally sin.  We are slaves to sin because we have inherited a sin nature through Adam. 

Regarding Jesus, being born with a sin nature or not being born with a sin nature would not make or break the full humanity of Christ. Rather, being born of a (fully human) woman, Mary, and being born with the ability to exercise free-will did make Jesus fully human.  When I realized this truth it started to become clear to me how Jesus could have lived a sin-free life.

First, I realized Jesus did not have to contend with a sinful nature in order to wisely exercise His free-will.  Now, when that first level of understanding entered my mind, I thought it must have been easy for Jesus to not sin.  He didn’t have to struggle with a sin nature like the rest of us “fully humans.”  God quickly nipped that thought in the bud when He reminded me that choosing to always obey God, even without a sin nature to contend with, is not necessarily an easy choice.  All I had to do was think back to Adam and Eve.  They were not created with a sin nature, yet they still chose to disobey God.

After that level of understanding regarding Jesus’ sin-free life, I came to understand the next level – the way Jesus was able to always choose to obey His Father was by staying in close communion with Him.  Jesus always sought the will of His Father.  By staying in close communion with His Father, He was strengthened to hear and understand His Father’s will and to obey His Father’s will…always.

It was after those two levels of understanding that I was able to see how this all applies to my own life and my own walk with the Lord.  First, when Jesus – the unblemished Lamb – died on the cross and then rose again to live forevermore, He broke the curse of sin.  Sin’s curse is two-fold:  it is our master, and the wage it pays to its slaves (us) is death.  Yet, when Christ died and rose again, He paid the wage of sin – death – on behalf of all of us.  Only He could pay that wage on our behalf because He, being without sin, did not deserve to pay that wage.  Yet, because He loves us so much, He chose to do that for us.

When we believe Jesus died for us and rose again, and we accept His gift of payment for our sins through His death and resurrection, we receive a gift of grace.  We receive the break of the bondage of sin.  We are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness.  We are no longer bound to our old master – sin.  We are now bound to our new master – righteousness through Christ.  That is an incredibly freeing revelation.  Before giving my life to Christ, I was a slave to sin.  Now, even though I must still contend with my sinful nature, I am no longer a slave to that sinful nature.  Now, through Christ, I can choose righteousness. 

So, how do I choose to turn away from my old sin nature (which is no longer my master) and instead choose righteousness (which is my new master)?  I do so by staying in close communion with God.  Thankfully, Christ did not leave us alone to accomplish that task.  He sent us His Holy Spirit to be our Helper.

What an awesome revelation that is – to no longer be a slave to sin but a slave to righteousness!  Thank You, Jesus, for willingly and obediently going to the cross and suffering and dying for us and rising again, so that the curse of sin could be broken!   

“When a man is revengeful, it is amazing how cunning he is to find opportunities to strike out.  When enmity thoroughly possesses his soul and pours its venom into his very blood, he will become exceedingly crafty in the means he uses to provoke and injure his adversary” [Charles Spurgeon (19th century British preacher), Spiritual Warfare in a Believer’s Life].

Ahhh, vengeance.  How true are Spurgeon’s words, that we are never more cunning and crafty as when we wish to inflict pain on someone.  We can come up with the most biting lines and the sneakiest ways to damage someone’s reputation.  We can damage them with ice-cold snubs and stares or red-hot words of anger and violence. 

Is it any wonder, in light of this, that Satan is first introduced in the Bible in this way:  “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?’” (Genesis 3:1).  Or that Paul, when pleading for a church he had founded to stay connected to Jesus, said “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2-3).  We are never more cunning and crafty as when we wish to inflict pain on someone, and no one wishes to inflict pain on you like that ancient enemy of God, Satan. 

What do I mean by cunning and crafty?  I mean that he is an expert at finding your weakness and exploiting it.  Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:14 that “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light,” and Peter warns us in 1 Peter 5:8 to “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  As a fallen angel, Satan has mental abilities far beyond those of any human, and although He can not harm God, you can be sure he will do everything in his power to destroy those whom God loves.

Are you prone to depression and bouts of melancholy?  You can be sure that the enemy will choose those times to attack you with doubts of God’s goodness or power in your life.  You will find yourself tempted to give up on God, give up on church, under the impression that life would be better if you never gave God another thought.  Are you someone who enjoys life and doesn’t let the struggles get you down?  You can be sure that Satan will try to puff you up with pride and self-reliance, convincing you that you’ll be fine without spending time in God’s presence.  You will find yourself tempted to look down on those who always seem to be struggling with the trials of life. 

Are you not sure that you are a valuable person?  Satan will use someone, if possible even a church leader, to convince you that you are worthless.  Do you fear conflict?  Satan will cripple your effectiveness by bringing you into an argument that must be painfully worked through in order to bring peace.  Do you struggle with the same sins, over and over?  Rest assured that Satan will find a way to tempt you – in the car or in a crowd, at your job or in your bed.  He is crafty and cunning and is full of hatred for the people of God.

But – and this is a big one – he is a liar ["When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44)].  And – this is an even bigger one – he is powerless to stand against Jesus and His blood which was shed on the cross for you ["For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony" (Revelation 12:10-11)].  So take heart, little one – “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

If you love God, you will be attacked.  If a church wants to be God’s people, they will be subject to all kinds of cunning and crafty attacks that threaten to divide and destroy them.  But listen again to the words of Charles Spurgeon:

“The sheep are never so safe from the wolf as when they are near the shepherd.  We shall never be so secure from the arrows of Satan as when we have our head lying on the Savior’s bosom.  Believer, walk according to His example, live daily in His fellowship, trust always in His blood, and in this way you shall be more than a conqueror over the subtlety and craft of Satan himself.”

One reason we may not stay close to the shepherd in prayer and Bible study and obedience is that we forget there is a wolf out there who is after us.  But if we recognize what is threatening us, then we would cling to Jesus and rely on his power and his truth to protect us.  As Jesus answered the enemy with “It is written,” we would be wise to do the same:

To the one who is depressed and melancholy, I say:  “It is written, ‘He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint’”  (Isaiah 40:29-31).

To the one who is enjoying life to the point of self-reliance, I say: “It is written, ‘So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!’ (1 Corinthians 10:12)

To the one who is not sure of her value, I say:  “It is written, ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’” (Romans 5:8).

To the one who fears conflict, I say:  “It is written, ‘in God I trust; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?’” (Psalm 56:11).

And to the one struggling with the same sins over and over, I say:  “It is written, ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin’” (John 8:11).

There is a wolf out there, but there is a shepherd who is more powerful.  Recognize your enemy for who he is and stay near your Savior, Jesus Christ.

My initial reaction, to be honest, was to laugh.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I certainly wasn’t laughing at the fact that Eliot Spitzer, Governor of New York, got caught soliciting a prostitute, or at the tragic effect this will have on his family and the state of New York.  I was laughing at the way the Courant put it:  “Experts Struggle to Understand Spitzer’s Alleged Romp with Call Girl.”  I guess that as a follower of Jesus and a believer in the God of the Bible, I have no struggle understanding how a man could seek out the services of a “call girl.”  More than that, I know that it is only by the grace of God that it is not MY picture on the front page instead of that of Governor Spitzer.  No – my reaction of laughter was not at Spitzer’s tragic mistake, but at the thought of “experts” trying to understand how anyone could desire to have sex with a call girl.

It’s called sin, ladies and gentlemen.  It’s a wrecked relationship with God, others, and the created order that causes us to do some really stupid, destructive things.  And try as some might to relegate that word to another, less enlightened era, sin has a way of rearing its ugly head again and again and causing many a person to become front page news.

The Apostle Paul was one of the leading figures in the early church, and was responsible for writing at least twelve of the books of the New Testament.  In his letter to the church in Rome, in Romans chapter 7, he writes words that surely Governor Spitzer would shout “Amen” to (regardless of his religion):

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.  I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do… I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do– this I keep on doing…  So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 

At Governor Spitzer’s press conference, he said “I have acted in a way that violates my… or any… sense of right and wrong,” and “I failed to live up to the standard I expect from myself.”  To which I say, “Welcome to the club.”  Paul knew it to be true, and I know it as well – I know what is right and what is wrong, but even though I have the desire to do what is good, I cannot carry it out (Romans 7:18).  Paul and the Governor both testify to the reality that there is something fundamentally wrong with us, something that entices us to act in ways that we know will eventually destroy us, our relationship with God, and our relationships with the ones we love.

The core message of the Christian gospel is that we are sinners saved by grace.  What that means is that I know in my very essence, I am a contradiction:  a person made in the image of God, with the capacity for incredible acts of goodness, creativity, and love, but also a person who is fallen, full of sin, capable of unspeakable wickedness and evil.  I am under no pretenses as to what I am capable of.  I know that, if I am honest, I am capable of what Governor Spitzer did, and much worse.  I have the capacity for murder, for rape, for theft, for a self-centeredness that would consume everything and everyone in my path. 

Honestly, I think The Hartford Courant should have read this way:  “Experts Struggle to Understand Why More People Don’t Have Romps with Call Girls.”  Really, with the way we are in our heart, it’s a wonder there aren’t more pastors, politicians, and the like falling into “moral failure.”  I would bet that the reasons there aren’t more moral failures are more likely fear-based – fear of getting caught, fear of getting a disease, or fear of damaging one’s reputation – than they are out of a desire for purity.

We are sinners, but the transforming beauty of the gospel is that we are sinners saved by grace.  We are not saved because of our goodness or our morality, but because Jesus came as a Savior – God coming to us – to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.  He came to live the life we should have lived, and to die the death we should have died, so that all who repent and turn from their sin to Jesus will be saved from the consequences of sin and set free from slavery to sin.  This truth is at the same time incredibly humbling and uplifting.  On the one hand, I know I am so full of sin, so thoroughly incapable of saving myself, that I have no hope apart from Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection paying the penalty for my sin and freeing me from bondage to it.  On the other hand, I know that I am loved so deeply that Jesus did it willingly, went through the agony of the cross to bring me forgiveness and new life.  I am no better than anyone else, yet I am loved so deeply, down to the root of my most hidden sin, that my very identity and motivation for living has been radically transformed. 

The gospel means that I can read about Eliot Spitzer with complete humility, knowing that not only am I just like him, but I am capable of much worse than what he did.  I know that I have no cause for laughing condescendingly at his mistakes, because I know that often it is only fear that holds me back from doing the very same thing, not my morality or a desire for purity.  It also means that I can read his story with incredible hope, knowing that this fall does not have to be the last word for him or his family.  As Paul put it at the end of that section in Romans 7:  “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God– through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25)  I thank God for how He daily rescues me, and pray that He might do the same for Eliot Spitzer and his family.

I knew this was an awful situation, whether or not the allegations would prove true.  If it were true, it would be another sorry example of a prominent Christian leader having a significant moral failure.  If it were false, then it would highlight how one accusation, even if false, can taint not only a person but his entire ministry for the rest of his life.  As it stands today, it seems clear that a significant portion of the accusations leveled against Haggard are true, and he has been officially fired from his pastorate and lost his position with the NAE. 

A month ago, I preached from Daniel 9, where Daniel speaks to the Lord about the failings of the people of Israel and their consequent enslavement by the Babylonians.  Daniel, one of the most righteous men in all of the Bible, had every right to separate himself from his immoral brothers and sisters and point an accusing finger at them.  But instead, he identified with them, and used the word “we” again and again as he prayed for God’s mercy and redemption, so that God’s name might be honored.  Daniel knew that the failings of the Israelites hurt him, because it harmed God’s name.  My point was that it is all too common to hear Christians rail against “the church” or different strains of Christianity, separating themselves and standing in judgment on the sins and failures of Catholics, Pentecostals, modern Christians, the emerging church, and just about every other type of Christianity you can think of.  But all the while they miss something that is so crucial – they are also the church.   There is no us vs. them; there is only we.  When one part of the church fails, we all fail, because God’s name is harmed.  I can’t say that loudly enough – when Catholic priests molest children, or churches leave the teachings of historic Christianity, or a small church dies, or a pastor commits adultery with a male escort – we all fail, because God’s name is harmed.

That is why any sort of self-righteous response to Ted Haggard’s moral failure is stupid and selfish.  That sort of response is not concerned with God’s honor, as Daniel was, but with personal honor, with tearing someone else down out of a sense of superiority.  It is easy to look at Pastor Haggard’s hypocrisy, his pride, his deception, and somehow think we are better and above that.  But we are not, and if we are concerned about God’s honor, we will weep along with him, his family, and his church for the harm that has been caused to God’s honor (I strongly encourage you to read Pastor Haggard’s statement to his church, as well as his wife’s statement on their church’s website, http://www.newlifechurch.org/)

Besides mourning for the harm that has been caused to God’s name, I would also encourage you to take note of the importance of accountability in the life of a believer.  Nobody is so righteous that they are not tempted (even Jesus was tempted, according to Hebrews 4:15 and Luke 4) – for some it is sexual, for others it is drugs or alcohol, for others it is food, or violence, or any number of other things.  The Bible encourages us to confess our sins to each other (James 5:16), because when sin is named and brought into the open, there is a power over it that is broken.  Pastor Haggard’s letter to his church confessed “when I stopped communicating about my problems, the darkness increased and finally dominated me.”  When I began in ministry in 1998, I decided to meet regularly with a friend of mine for this very purpose, to be sure that there was someone to whom I was always accountable to for how I was living.  I shudder to think where I might be if I was secretive about my struggles, and I am eternally grateful that God has used my friend to remind me of the power of bringing secret things out in the open. 

This has been a sober essay, because I am sad at how God’s name has been harmed yet again by the failings of a Christian leader.  Please learn from this about the deceptive power of sin, but more importantly about the greater power of confession and accountability.  Find someone with whom you can be completely honest about the darkest secrets in your life.  You will probably fear how the other person will react.  My experience has shown me that the other person will be honored that you trusted them enough to confide in them, and they will commit to praying for you and helping you understand the grace and forgiveness that is over you.

One final thought:  Pastor Haggard wrote in his letter that “the public person I was wasn’t a lie; it was just incomplete,” and his wife wrote “for those of you who have been concerned that my marriage was so perfect that I could not possibly relate to the women who are experiencing great difficulties, know that this will never again be the case.”  I have always wanted my legacy as a pastor to be that I made God accessible to people.  I want people to look at me and essentially say, “You know, Eric’s just as much a screw-up as I am, but I can tell that God loves him and is using him in great ways.”  I have no desire to seem perfect or inaccessible, because I know I am not.  Instead, I would much rather have people learn from watching me that God loves to use imperfect people, those who are honest about their failings and humble in spirit.  If God can continue to love me and use me despite my many failings, I know he will do the same for you.  I believe that God will be teaching Ted and Gayle Haggard lessons like these in the upcoming years.  Pray that this may be the case in their life, so that God’s name may again be honored.