I Am So Embarrassed: I Have Sinned

Life is filled with many wonderful blessings. Being able to have friends and family with whom we can share our joys and successes is one of the truly special blessings of life. We are also blessed with having a Christian family with whom we can celebrate the great things of life. Being a part of the church family provides us with people to share in our lives in the good times but also in the difficult times. We need each other. We need to encouragement and support during tough times. We need the prayers and tears during rough times. We need a shoulder to cry on when we are hurting. As brethren who walk in the light as He is in the light, we share in fellowship with one another and with God (1 John 1:5-9). 

It goes without saying that we all make mistakes (Rom. 3:10,23). We stumble and fall and end up with the bruises, cuts and scrapes to prove our humanity. When we have behaved in such a way that is a sin against God and our fellow men, it brings with it heartache and pain. It often brings with it feelings of embarrassment and shame. We feel like we have let down those who we care about. As a result, we may have the desire to run and hide from our mistakes or our responsibilities. We may feel like avoiding the people closest to us. We may want to abandon our friends, family and our church family. Running will not solve any problems. We must stand strong.

Of course when we are confronted with sin in our lives, we must respond as David did in the face of Nathan’s charge, “You are the man,” saying “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Sam. 12:7-13). Our first obligation is to make things right with God. We must repent of our sins knowing that God is merciful and just and will cleanse us from our sins (1 John 1:7-9). We can seek the prayers of the church. We can seek the help and support of those who love us and what the best from us. Our first step in overcoming the feeling of embarrassment is repentance.

There are examples in Scripture of those who have run from their problems and responsibilities, such as Jonah. One example of embarrassment that we can point to in the New Testament is the denial of Christ by the apostle Peter. After denying the Lord three times on the night of the arrest and trial of Jesus, Peter heard the rooster crow, just as Jesus had prophesied. Peter remembered those words and it dawned on him what he had done. “So he went out and wept bitterly” (Matt. 26:75).

While Peter felt the pain of his denial and the embarrassment at his own weakness, he did not allow his mistake to keep him from being with the only people who could really understand what he was going through. When we stumble and fall, the temptation may be to run, but what we really need is our brethren who can understand us and help us. Too many times when someone has made a mistake, they leave a congregation, family or friends in their embarrassment, when it is those closest to you who know how hard the Christian life is, who have made mistakes themselves, who can help us overcome the mistakes and who will welcome us with open arms.

Peter hadn’t gone far. He was with John when Mary Magdalene told them the tomb was empty. The two apostles ran to the tomb to see the evidence for himself (John 20:1ff). Not long after, Peter was with several disciples and they went fishing. The Lord appeared on the bank and when Peter realized who He was, he jumped out of the boat and swam to Jesus (John 21:7). After eating breakfast, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Jesus made it clear that Peter had a job to do. He was to preach and teach the gospel to save the souls of man (John 21:15-19). Even though Peter had denied the Lord in the courtyard, Jesus now said to him, “Follow Me.”

Just a few days later in Jerusalem, on the first Pentecost after the resurrection, the apostles would preach the gospel. We have recorded for us in the pages of the New Testament Peter’s sermon, as the church was established and about 3,000 souls were saved (Acts 2). Peter was a transformed man. Yes, he had stumbled. Yes, he was probably hurt and embarrassed. But rather than run and hide, rather than avoiding those who really love him, rather than giving up, Peter became a great preacher of the gospel and an example for all.

When we stumble and fall it is painful to those whom we have hurt and it is painful to us as we feel the embarrassment and the agony of letting others down (Cf. Ps. 51). Let us not compound the problem by running away or giving up. Repent of sin and turn to those who can help you: your Christian family.

 

Everything Happens For A Reason part 2

Life can be very difficult. We can be doing everything “right” and yet find out that everything worked out so wrong. We can treat others well and be treated very poorly. We can love opening our hearts and lives and share our deepest feelings with others only to have the reject us. We can obey all the laws of the land and still be hurt when someone else disobeys the law bringing harm on others. There are just so many things that are out of our control as difficult as that might be for us to accept.

So then what are we to do? Are we to follow the worldly idea that “everything happens for a reason” even though as we showed in last week’s article, the statement doesn't hold water? We must realize that sometimes we suffer because of our own decisions or the decisions of others. We also suffer because of the actions and decisions of those who have lived before us. The sin of Adam and Eve as well as the sins of the world that lead to the flood in the days of Noah has changed the climate of the world forever bringing with it the consequences of those sins such as physical ailments like heat stroke, hypothermia, and disease. The actions and decisions of those before us have made the nations we live in what it is today. We have many blessings because of those decisions and there are many sad conditions because of those decisions. For example, I am at this moment typing on a laptop while listening to bluegrass music on my Roku box while checking the email on my computer and having Facebook open for social interaction. This morning I have talked to people via email, Facebook, my cell phone and a cordless phone. Additionally, I drove my daughter to school in my pickup truck where we were protected from the elements. We started out in our warm home where we had cold milk on our processed cereal after taking a hot shower and putting on clean clothes. I could go on but I hope you see my point: we are truly blessed by the decisions of those who have gone before us. I have not created any of those blessings that I enjoyed this morning (although I have milked my fair share of cows and I can play bluegrass mandolin and do so from time to time but not at the level of Sam Bush or Mike Compton whom I am able to listen to this morning). I am thankful for those who have gone before me for these blessings.

However, the actions and decisions of others from the past have also brought hardship in our lives. I do not want to repeat the statistics shared weeks ago but let me mention quickly that the decisions of those in the past to legalize abortion killing babies by the millions is a tragedy upon this nation. The negative consequences of the removal of prayer from schools can be seen in statistics on all kinds of evil behavior amongst our young people. If you were to buy certain products at a department store today, such as spray paint, medicines, certain chemicals or ammunition, you would be asked your age because of abuses that had to be regulated in part by determining quantities and age limits for the item to be purchased. Again, we could go on. The point is that God is not micromanaging every aspect of our lives. He created us as creatures of choice and sometimes we do not choose wisely.

What then are we to do when we face obstacles and heartache? For one, if we are the cause of the problem, we need to repent of our sins and make things right as best we can (Luke 13:3). Second, if someone else has caused a problem with us, we should have the courage and love for their souls to go talk to them about the issue (Matt. 18:15-18). Third, if it is something out of our control, then cast your cares upon God for He cares for you (1 Pet. 5:7). Get the burden off of your chest and go to the source of help and strength (Heb. 4:13-16). Fourth, put your faith in God and live according to His ways (Heb. 11; esp. v.6). Fifth, realize that there are some things you cannot change but that as much as is possible with you, you will live a peaceful life that brings God glory and others to Christ (Rom. 12:18). Sixth, let your light shine so that you can be a source of strength and health in the lives of others (Matt. 5:16). When others are suffering they need someone who will be there for them as a shoulder to cry on (Rom. 12:15) but more than that, they need someone who would point them to Jesus so they can find the real help for the hurts in their life (John 1:29,39,46; Matt. 11:28-30).

If we will seek God’s help when we stumble, if we will help others to understand how they hurt us, if we will work together to handle the issues of life and if we will walk in faith and trust with Christ, we can overcome the world (1 John 4:4; 5:4,5).

 

Everything Happens for a Reason?

Over the last few days and weeks, I have heard the expression repeated often which says “Everything happens for a reason.” I know it is a popular statement. I know people use it thinking that they are providing comfort to those hurting. I know that it is cliché for “it will be ok.” Even so, when the person speaking is implying that God is micro managing each person’s life and that the negative action or event is something done by God on purpose for a specific reason in the future, it is false doctrine and should be avoided by Christians.

Let’s think about this in to worldly terms. Do you really think God is micro managing the rapist and that the victim is being violated because of some master plan? Do you really think those 20 babies who were murdered in Newtown were shot to death because of some good thing God is working in their lives or the lives of their families? I could go on and show the foolishness of this argument but these two examples should suffice. As a result of this false belief some within the church have made for themselves a built in excuse: it’s not my fault...God did it. Adam tried that excuse in Genesis 3 and it doesn’t hold water.

It is no wonder that so many people reject believing in God, or believing the Bible, or becoming a Christian, when it is quite obvious that God is not behind the sinful ways of man. This very morning, I listened to a man say that he left the denomination he was a part of because he felt lied to all his life by the phrase “everything happens for a reason.” He said that the young people growing up in that group were not faithful to God because this philosophy that is drilled in to them removes any responsibility they have for their own actions. So he began to seek the truth on the subject. Those who push this foolishness do not understand passages like James 1:13-15: “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God;” for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” God is not causing people to commit rape or murder or any sin!

The issue that brings people to make this statement or those like it is that it is difficult to understand why there is pain, suffering, injury, death, agony, heartache, and sickness in the world. Like Gideon in Judges 6:13, we want to know why these things are happening. Rather than deal with the real issues of sin and the consequences of our behavior, we have come up with a way to rationalize the difficult things in our lives.

The truth is that there are reasons why bad things happen and it is not God’s fault. When things were done according to God’s way, this world was very good (Gen. 1:31). When man tried to do things his own way, it lead to death because we don’t always know or do what is right (Prov. 14:12; Jer. 10:23). Even so, God created us with the ability to choose the course of action we take in life (Duet. 30:19; Josh. 24:15). Because we have the right to choose, we also bring with those choices the consequences for those actions. When a drunk driver takes the life of an innocent family, it wasn’t God but the sin of a man that caused the problem. When 20 precious babies were murdered, it wasn’t God’s plan but man’s evil actions and the devastating results. When someone is diagnosed with cancer it wasn’t God but sin that brought disease into the world. When a good business manager fails even though he did everything “right” it isn’t God’s fault. Let us remember that time and chance happen to us all (Eccl. 9:11). Sometimes bad things happen because we made bad choices. Sometimes it was the bad choices of others, even people who lived long before us. But please, let us not blame God.

An often quoted passage misused frequently to promote this philosophy is Romans 8:28. The passage doesn’t mean everything is going to work out in this life. The context is that everything will work out with salvation of the soul as no matter what happens in life, we can be faithful and nothing can keep us from the love of Christ if we will hold fast. The author of the passage spent years in prison and was executed for preaching the gospel of Christ. Did it work out for him? Yes! Oh, not in worldly terms (Phil. 1:21,22), but in spiritual terms (2 Tim. 4:6-8). Let us live like Paul so that regardless what may happen in our lives we can be content and productive in Christ (Phil. 4:9-13).

Living for Christ

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He gave His life so that I might live. As a Christian, who has put on Christ (Gal. 3:27) and who has been added to the church by the Lord (Acts 2:47), I am a member of the family of God and an heir of His precious promises (Gal. 3:26-4:7). As such, my life must be lived for Christ.

To live for Christ, we must change our past behaviors and spend each day following the doctrine of Christ laid out for us in the pages of the New Testament. I love the way Peter describes this change, found in 1 Peter 4:1-4: “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our pasts lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles — when we walked in licentiousness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.”

As he begins this discussion, Peter says to live for Christ, we must arm ourselves with the mind of Christ. To have the mind of Christ means we will submit to God’s will first in our lives. It means we will work to seek and save the lost. It means we will have the heart of a servant to help those who are in need. It means daily living in a way that is pleasing in the sight of God.

Peter then tells us that with the mind of Christ, we will change our behavior. We will no longer follow the lusts of this world (Cf. 1 John 2:15-17). Instead, we will cease sinning and live the rest of our time for the will of God. We sometimes sing the song, “This World Is Not My Home.” However, too many times we live like this world is what really matters in life. As people with the mind of Christ, Christians must do the will of God rather than love the world which is passing away. With the mind of Christ, our thoughts and actions change. As he continues in verses 5 and 6, Peter tells us the importance of this change. We will give an accounting for our lives before God so we must live according to God’s will.

The change that we make in our lives upon becoming a Christian is something that is noticeable to the world. It is interesting that Peter would tell us that we have spent enough time living like the world. We have made plenty of mistakes. We have sinned against God in worldly living. So stop acting like the world. He then tells us that the world will think we are strange because we don’t continue in worldly living. The ESV & NAS say that the world is surprised that you don’t continue to act like they do. People may be shocked that we would change our lives and they may think we are peculiar because we don’t participate in the sinful ways of this world, but that is what is required when we stop living for ourselves and begin to live for Christ. They can speak evil about us, they talk about us behind our backs, they can make fun of us, and they can mock and ridicule us all they want. That is to be expected. The world persecuted Christ and they will persecute His followers (John 15:20). We must have the strength of character to stand up for the Lord regardless of what others may say. We wear His name. Act like it!

The Lord has done so much for us, we should want to live for Him. Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Christ gave Himself for us and now, we who have obeyed the gospel, have a new purpose: to give ourselves for Him.

We cannot let the world and its lusts or the worldly and their attitudes keep us from faithful living. Jesus said, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). Most of us have done things we are ashamed of and it is hard to bear. I don’t even want to think about Christ being ashamed of me. We must learn to repent of our sins, change our behavior and live for Christ.

Simple question: are you living for Christ each day of your life? If not, why not? Repent and live for Him each day. Let us have the courage to stand for Christ daily.