On blind spots and pot shots

Blind spots can certainly steer us in the wrong direction sometimes.

Immediately after church, I climbed into my car, revved up the engine, and cruised down the parking lot row. There, I waited for a turn to merge into the exiting traffic.

One car zipped past me. Then two, three, four, and five cars slipped right by. Not one driver seemed to notice my vehicle, idling and awaiting an entry. None appeared to notice the growing line of cars behind me, either.

I craned my neck to see if there might be some sort of blind spot, like a bush or a shrub or some other visual obstruction that prevented so many drivers from seeing fellow congregants’ cars in queue for turns. Nope, the parking lot was actually graded and bare, midway through a complete construction overhaul. There was nothing to block anyone’s view.

“C’mon, folks,” I thought. “Didn’t the pastoral prayer just mention loving fellowship, hospitality, and kindness for one another?”

Then I felt a sudden jolt in my spirit. Seriously, it hit me like an electric shock.

Looks like I had a blind spot of my own.

That’s sort of how it happens, when God prepares to point out areas where we need to grow and stretch and maybe just get out of His way in our lives. At least, that’s how He often works such lessons in me.

First, He catches me becoming irked about someone else’s behavior or attitude. Then He gently nudges me to reveal how I somehow am doing something all-too-similar.

I’m pretty sure that’s a telltale sign of God’s grace.

He could just let me go along my not-so-merry way, practicing my own variety of double standard until I’m somehow busted out in the open and totally humiliated for it. Or even if that doesn’t happen, He could allow me to veer way off course, missing a ministry opportunity or even falling into some real trouble.

Then He could say, “See? You were annoyed that so-and-so wouldn’t let you into the exiting traffic line after Sunday’s service, but you didn’t even notice that overtired mom standing behind you in line with her antsy kids at the post office. You could have let her go first. Now what do you have to say for yourself?”

Or the Lord might ask, “Remember how you bristled over being ignored when you tried to merge into the church traffic? How do you think I felt when you couldn’t seem to find time to meet with Me this morning? How’s that working for you today, trying to do it all on your own?”

Only God doesn’t usually work that way – at least, not if we’re willing to listen to His gentler reminders.

Our gracious God often offers us quiet guidance. If we heed His alert and repent, allowing Him to change our hearts (again), it’s all good. If we don’t, He may turn up the heat.

Maybe it’s time to look in my own mirror again, before polishing my side-view or rear-view one. It might be time for another adjustment.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5, NIV)

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What if we had to wear our sins like labels?

It’s hard to graduate from high school without reading The Scarlet Letter. Many have seen movie adaptations of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel. That’s the story in which Hester Prynne was made to wear a bright red “A” on the front of her clothing to display her sin of adultery. (Her partner in crime, so to speak, had not been found out, so he was not subject to the same public shaming.) As if Hester’s protruding pregnant belly did not sufficiently telegraph her condition, the dreaded scarlet letter made her situation clear to all.

All around her, the presumably pious turned up their noses at Hester, pointing their fingers and wagging their tongues at her visible sinfulness.

It’s easy to hear such a story without personalizing it. We can skim along, swiftly turning the pages and thinking we are altogether different. We like to think we are worlds apart from Hester and the haughty townspeople.

But we’re not. Maybe we carry less obvious sins. But any one of us could wear a letter or two.  How about “E” for envy? “G” for greed?  “P” for pride?

What if we all wore our sins for all to see?

Thank God we do not. In His mercy, He does not expose us in such a way. At least, He usually doesn’t. Most often, He draws us back with kindness. If we don't respond to that, He follows up with  loving discipline, aiming to restore us to walking with Him.

And we are relieved that our sins have not been broadcast.

But we wonder about the really wicked people. We recoil from those who do the most dastardly deeds and seem to get away with their crimes. Why is hypocrisy so often kept covered? Why doesn’t God expose sinners for who they really are?

Ouch. Maybe that’s all of us –to some degree.

God doesn’t measure righteousness in degrees. Either we’re righteous, or we’re not. And we’re not – not on our own.

Although we may seek a semblance of comfort in keeping certain sins private, the Bible clearly says no sin is hidden from God. He is fully aware of everything we do, every word we speak, and every thought we roll about in our minds. He knows our attitudes, whether or not they come out in our actions.

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (Proverbs 28:13, NIV)

In vain, we try to stash our rebellions, refusing to confess them to the Almighty. Because of His absolute righteousness, sin cannot fellowship with Him. We may fool ourselves, and we may even fool one another, but we’re not fooling God.

 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes. (Jeremiah 16:17, NIV)

We’ve gotta have grace.

Truth does come out in time – in God’s time.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8, NIV)

Why does God seem to allow sin to be secret, even for a time?

Maybe He refrains from trumpeting our sins all about because He graciously awaits our turning to Him. And it’s a fair bet He doesn’t want to give sin any extra airtime.

But I am pretty sure the Lord knows us all well enough to know that we’d likely judge one another even more harshly, if we all wore our most secret sins like nametags. Then we’d have to wear extra name tags that read:

“holier-than-thou hypocrite”

“Pharisee wannabee”

 “pretender at perfection”

“self-appointed judge”

and the like.

The world would run out of nametags.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9, NIV)

Glory to God, who tears up the nametags of sin, when we come to Him. He writes His own Name on our hearts (see Hebrews 8:10) and writes our names in His heavenly Book of Life (see Revelation 13:9). And He calls us by much better names that those dirty old sin labels. He calls each of us:

blood-bought

child of the living God

healed

joint heir with Christ

loved

precious

ransomed

redeemed

restored

saved

and so much more.

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And forgive us our debts.

How is a debt marked? Maybe it’s an IOU, a loan document, a marker, or a payment book. Perhaps an item of value is held as collateral.

Sometimes a debtor signs a promissory note.

But what happens when a debt is canceled? How about when an important obligation is paid in full? The lien is destroyed. The mortgage papers are burned.

When I think about what Jesus did for me, covering the cost of my sin and purchasing my everlasting redemption, I think maybe my whole life ought to look like a promissory note. The debt is paid, but my attitude should demonstrate the gratitude He merits.

Often, that response is way past due.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 

When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Psalm 32:1-5, KJV

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

Psalm 51:1-4, KJV

If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

Psalm 13:3-4, KJV

What mercy, love, and grace from our great God.

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