Special Saturday Edition
Ethan Barton, Pastoral Resident, Tallowood Baptist Church
A man after God’s own heart. Mighty king of Israel. The Lord’s anointed. How could someone as righteous as David fall so far? Worse yet, how could he refuse so bluntly to admit his own sin, and yet prescribe death for what he thinks is another man’s sin?
Even David is hardly any better off than any of us. We’re all extremely talented at this one thing: maximizing the problems of other people while minimizing our own. Here’s an example: what’s wrong with America today? It’s those other people, right? But how many of us would actually admit that the evils we’re guilty of are just as bad as theirs? We are often so ready to judge the sins we see while trying to justify the sins we commit.
David gave no hesitation before demanding punishment for what he heard. Meanwhile he was sitting on the secret of a man he had murdered so he could cover up his own adultery and then take the man’s wife, even though he was already blessed with all he could ask for. His angry answer reeked with irony. I wonder if he had connected the dots during Nathan’s story, but was hoping his secrecy would save him?
If we are to serve and follow the God of justice, we must embrace justice upon our own sins, even more than we embrace it upon others. Pastor Brooks has shared with me that if he were ever to fall that far into sin, he wouldn’t even feel able to face his church or preach again. For any Christ-following leader in that scenario, when sin is unconfessed and minimized, discretion becomes askew, relationships become paranoid, and leadership becomes hypocritical. That’s a recipe for disaster in a church.
Sin is a big deal. Every bit of it. But Christ has offered us freedom from it. If we wholeheartedly confess, he is faithful to forgive. Let’s boldly declare our own sin as boldly as we declare the savior who has washed it white! We are the man in Nathan’s story, who deserves nothing short of death—and yet Jesus has given us life. So may we not be afraid to confess!
