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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Can we better ourselves?

I’m pretty sure we cannot better ourselves. Not really. But I’m so glad we don’t have to. It’s just not our job.

Here’s what set me to thinking on this today. I saw one of those motivational posts online, with this statement:  “The only thing I’m committed to right now is bettering myself.”

Sounds noble. But I beg to differ.

First, the whole commitment-phobia thing has taken on a life of its own in today’s world. Do promises count anymore?

But the larger issue, at least for the person of faith, is a matter of perspective. Who makes us better? Is this a question of mustering up enough gumption (or guilt) to make new goals or resolutions? Do we simply do more good, aim for higher achievements, or work on improved fitness (physical, mental, emotional, or whatever)? Do we sign up for more education, training, or volunteer work?

What does better even mean?

Last night, in our small-group Bible study, the leader raised a related question. “Do you think you have grown towards more sanctification in the past year?”

OK, let’s unpack that question for a moment. He explained what he meant, which was essentially asking if we’d grown closer to God and more Christ-like in the last 12 months.

Almost immediately, someone jumped in and talked about his regular quiet times with God and how much he enjoyed his prayer and devotional pursuits. Another spoke of greater involvement in church ministries. A third pointed to new friendships with solid believers.

I sort of wriggled in my chair. Then I couldn’t stay quiet anymore. I said I thought this was a much harder question to answer than it appeared, primarily because I have found the process to grow ever tougher with time, as one walks with Jesus.

What did I mean? It feels like the Lord takes us deeper over time, working through tougher issues in our hearts and digging out painful areas of attitudes, memories, relationships, and other roadblocks to our growth in Him. Those things are considerably more difficult to measure than our Christianese to-do lists. Sure, we have been taught about the importance of Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and solid teaching. We know those activities help us to grow spiritually.

But tracking that growth can be tough. And celebrating milestones in our Christian walks may become more challenging, especially as God grants us more realistic insights into our own heart conditions and how far He has yet to take us.

So this morning, as I read the online comment about bettering oneself, I cringed. I am fairly certain that all genuine bettering isn’t gonna come from me, no matter how many noble efforts I might try.

Thank God He has promised to do the work in us, if we are willing.

“For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose” (Philippians 2:13, NIV).

So have it, Holy Spirit. Make me better. Better yet, Lord, make me like You.

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God Forgives = #29 of 30 Days of God's Promises

I’m a day late with this daily blog series. Honestly, I’m not even sure which day I missed.

Here it is, the last day of November, and I have two posts yet to make to finish the project. I’ll catch up and post twice today. And my dear readers will likely be gracious about this lapse, I’d bet.

That’s what brethren do – grant one another grace.

Or at least, that’s what we aim to do.

It’s pretty easy for us to be gracious about little details. But what happens when we slip up in bigger, more hurtful ways? 

How about when we step into areas of behavior that really stir folks up?

Yesterday, as I ran a couple of quick errands, I saw a guy with a tee shirt bearing this message:

Don’t judge me,

just because I sin

in a different way

than you do.

Ouch.

We do that, don’t we?

Why do we like to think some sins are way worse than others? We tend to be more offended by certain sorts of transgressions, but we may be inclined to let others slip. We stare at some slip-ups, but we look the other way at others.

Isn’t sin always sin?

Thank God that our gracious Lord offers freedom from every flavor of foulness.

All of us could stand condemned before the holy Jehovah, but none of us needs to.

He is the Answer. His own life-payment fit the bill forever.

And there is not more condemnation for those who are His. All we have to do is accept His invitation.

No condemnation.

Oh, how He is worthy of our praise.

So there is now no condemnation

for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

For the power of the life-giving Spirit

(and this power is mine through Christ Jesus)

has freed me

from the vicious cycle

of sin and death.

(Romans 8:1-2, TLB)

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