The Sounds of Silence: Sin

“Sin takes you farther than you want to go. It keeps you longer than you want to stay. And costs you more than you want to pay.”

I have no idea who it was that initially came up with that but it couldn’t be truer. In his book, The Winning Attitude, John Maxwell calls sin “the most disappointing thing in the world.”

I think Adam and Eve would have agreed.

That crafty serpent told Eve her “eyes would be opened” and they certainly were. Unfortunately, the pretty little promise that was so appealing quickly lost its charm when they got a lot more “knowledge” than they wanted.

The scenario went from Genesis 2:25, when “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” to the awful moment in Genesis 3:7, when “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”

Having shared a beautiful openness and intimacy with God, sin left them hiding among the trees when they heard Him coming, afraid because they were naked - ashamed for the first time.

Innocence undone can’t be restored. Sin changes us, and we live with the results of our decisions.

It's the one thing that is always within our control, never someone else’s fault, and unfailingly destroys our peace. Disgusted by our own spiritual and moral failure, it’s easy to wonder if we will ever be okay again.

Sin is one of the things we don’t want to talk about.

Even (and maybe especially) at “church” we feel the need to hide our own struggle and at least pretend to look the other way if we happen to see someone else’s.

Maybe we think if we ignore it long enough, the problem will go away.

Only it never does. And not talking makes things even worse.

“When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away ….”  (Psalm 32.3)

How ironic that sin should be a taboo subject in an environment that’s supposed to be about grace and restoration.

After all, what’s the point of belonging to a “redemptive community” if we aren’t in the process of helping each other find redemption?

A redemptive community MUST BE a place where it’s alright not to be all right! 

Coming up, we will look at four ways to come alongside to help one another as we struggle with an issue we feel so alone with - yet we aren’t alone at all.

Until next time, Kim