By: C. Arrington
"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" (Matthew 7:3 NIV).
Recently celebrated cyclist Lance
Armstrong admitted he cheated to win. Although it's been a while since
allegations emerged, this was the first time he stopped denying the charges. I
read an account of the interview and then fumed about the bad example he set
for aspiring athletes, annoyed by his seeming lack of remorse.
And then, as is often His way, the Lord
whispered, "You're like Lance Armstrong."
"Me? No, I'm not!"
"Remember high school Latin
class?"
"Oh. That."
It began innocently, if cheating is ever
innocent. There were only four of us in the class and our teacher was old and
partially blind. One day we had a pop quiz and one of the girls slid her open
book into her desk and looked up the answers. Soon, the others were doing the
same. I resisted until a day when I hadn't studied the vocabulary. I was going
to fail the quiz. ... unless.
Everyone was doing it. Why shouldn't I?
Soon, an open book in my desk was commonplace. Then, prior to the exam, which
we all would exempt because of our high, ill-gotten grades, the one who began
the practice of cheating outed us all. I was embarrassed, ashamed, and mad. Why
had she exposed us without warning, without giving us a chance to stop? I'd
been caught, and my sin was out there for all to know.
"For you are the children of your
father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer
from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the
father of lies" John 8:44
Satan is a sly guy. He convinces us sin
is fine, as long as we don't get caught. He whispers, "Go ahead. You're
safe. No one will find out." So we reason there is nothing wrong with your
tiny sins—jumping a turnstile, running a red light, fabricating reasons for
incomplete tasks, blaming others for mistakes, twisting the truth slightly. But
don't be deceived by the father of lies. Sin is sin and all sin is equal. There
is no grading scale—no this-sin-is-less-bad-than-another. Every sin has the
same effect—separation from God.
Aren't we all like Lance Armstrong? We
cheat and expect not to get caught. We look at others, measure our sin against
theirs, and think what I'm doing isn't as bad. Perhaps the greatest deception
of sin is the lies we tell ourselves to justify our actions and attitudes, and
the only way to avoid deceiving ourselves is to actively work to stay off the
slippery slope of lies. You see, sin has a snowball effect. Once you lie, to
yourself or someone else, you usually have to tell another lie to cover the
first one.
My grandfather was a wise man. One of
his life precepts was: "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember
what you said." In other words, if you lie, you have to remember the lie
so you can make sure you re-create it later. Most of us aren't smart enough to
juggle that many lies for very long. So why try?
Start today. Make a conscious effort to
change the things in your life that you consider "tiny" sins. Ask God
to help you. One of the first steps in overcoming sin is admitting what you're
doing is sin and that it's wrong. Then repent, which means to go in the
opposite direction, making an intentional about-face.
While we may be indignant about the sin
of others, we're all just as tarnished as a cheating multi-medal-winning
cyclist. Admit it, and then move forward with honesty, believing you can change
through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit within. God doesn't expect us
to be perfect, but He does expect us to make an effort to be more like Him.
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