Written by Richard Baird a Church and Culture consultant at dia-LOGOS.
Another scandal has arisen within Christendom and particularly the ‘evangelical world’ with a well-known writer whom I love confessing to an extra-marital affair. His confession, repentance and subsequent action do appear to be following a Biblical pattern.[i]
This is not an article about harping on self-righteously
about the shocking sin of another believer, because that helps no-one.
Rather, it’s just me encouraging you to remember that none of us are immune to the so-called ‘big sins.’ Recognising our own human frailty, what can we implement in our lives so as to best equip us to ‘lead a life worthy of the calling we have received (Eph 4:1).’
Let’s begin with the most basic fact: we are sinners.
Without getting into a theological squabble, I believe that
when we give our lives to Christ, we transition from sinner to saint in status,
and that we become ‘saints made by grace.’
We’re no longer sinners who sometimes gets things right (we can’t) but
saints who have a tendency to get it wrong (which we do very well). It is in this sense that we have to
acknowledge that even though our sinful nature has been crucified with Christ
(Romans 6:6), we still have the capacity within us to sin. To think differently is to be out of touch
with both Scripture and reality.
As the French thinker named Joseph de Maistre said, "I do not know what the heart of a rascal may be; I know what is in the heart of an honest man; it is horrible." Or as the nineteenth-century Christian leader Alexander Whyte said to a woman who showered praise on his life, "Madam, if you knew the man I really was, you would spit in my face."[ii]
It comes back to the concept that is mulling in my own heart that I previously wrote about: that we are sacred spaces. The reality is that we can put into place all sorts of ground rules and guard rails and fences to prevent going off the proverbial rails, but if we want to sin we will find ways to circumvent those boundaries and sin: such is the nature of our hearts. The truth of being a sacred space needs to grip our hearts so much that to contemplate sin would be unthinkable. How tragic that just one moment of indiscretion can undo years of built-up integrity.
I’m so grateful for Jesus.
Remember that ‘woman-caught-in-adultery’ incident (John 8:1-11)? The
teachers wanted to trap Jesus to see if He would endorse the law of Moses to
stone the woman. What does Jesus do? He
simply bends down and starts to write on the ground with His finger (my working
theory is that He was writing the commandments like He did for Moses) and after
the guys keep pestering He simply iconically says “If any of you is without
sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8v7).
I know my heart, so I’m not going to cast stones.
I am not immune to ‘big sins.’
I have fences in place.
But I know my heart.
Let’s encourage one another to keep our eyes on our
beautiful Lord (Hebrews 12:2-3).
Let’s encourage one another to focus on the good and
beautiful (Phil 4:8).
Let’s be sacred spaces.
And let us lift up the fallen to the throne of grace so that
all may receive grace and mercy, because our High Priest is amazing (Hebrews
4:14-16).