Trailing Sins

1 Timothy 5:24         “The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.”

It’s seemingly the public figures - those who have openly made mistakes - who are pierced with judgmental glares proclaiming their fall from grace. And it is us, the now un-silent majority that have ripped from them all privacy and discretion and tossed their image and reputation to a place of unrecoverable solitude. 

Tiger Woods is a perfect example. We have exalted him among men and written volumes of his greatness - all the while assuming that his personal life mirrored the near perfection displayed on the golf course. In evangelical circles, Ted Haggard has the burden of bearing the ridicule of Christians and non-Christians alike. Once thought to be an immovable spiritual rock, his fortitude was but a pebble easily tossed aside. 

These are examples of men who have reached a place of judgment ahead of them. But are they so different than the rest of us? Are they so different than those of us whose sins remain covered by darkness and whose proclamations have yet to be spoken? Why are we so quick to denounce them publicly when inside our souls we are gripping our God given grace ever so tightly? Are we not, by grace, on equal plane with all men? Are we all not moments away from reaching our place of judgment?

Before we join the masses and condemning such men and women, lets take a moment and reflect on where we were when Christ found us. Lets take a minute and drop the stones so gently held in our hands and mirror the One who extended to us grace and peace when we did not deserve it. 

Instead of speaking death, lets speak life and become the answer to the problem and not just another voice describing so eloquently, yet so destructively, the problem.

Comments

[Krystal Schoch]

Very very true. Stacy just reminded me a few weeks ago (When I was struggling with past sins)of this subject.

"My grace is enough for you. Love God"

Randy gave me a book on "Prayers that heal the heart" and one of the first chapters spoke on personal grace and extending grace to others. I find that the areas I struggle with accepting grace are the areas where I extend it to others the least.. and I tend to find it hard to extend grace to people in areas where I have been hurt in the past(especially people who I am very close to such as parents/siblings.) Another weakness I've found in me is that I tend to project inaccurate judgements onto people in my life based on past hurts/experiences.

"Do not judge, so you won't be judged. For with the judgement you use, you will be judged.." Matthew 7:1-2

The fleshly struggle.

Speaking words of life, meditating on the good instead of the bad (Philippines 4:8) is my new personal goal. Not letting my irrational fears and false judgements project themselves onto people who don't deserve them and refraining from joining in with the urge to condemn those who we feel do.

Great post. I wouldn't want my personal struggles to be broadcast to the public. And the thought of being judged solely on my weaknesses and mistakes makes me cringe.

[AmyVia]

Well said.

I love what you said about equality. We are no better than those whose whose personal lives are ripped apart in the media. We may make more or less money and all that, but we are all simply human.