2010 – April 22 – Shame By Association

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 61, 62, 64, and 69 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 69: 5 – 6 … NIV 5 You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you. 6 May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me, O Lord, the LORD Almighty; may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me, O God of Israel.

My Journal for Today: Arguably, reading today’s highlight passage, we may be seeing one of the character examples of why God saw David as “… a man after God’s own heart.” In this passage, though I could not uncover exactly the time it was written, David clearly acknowledges that he has weaknesses and can be a man of “folly” or “foolishness,” which was certainly later born out in his life by the encounter with Bathsheba. But here, he recognizes the truth that no sin or foolish decision or action is hidden from God; and also, that our sinful choices can – an often do – affect others.

Here David is praying ardently that whatever his sins are, … whatever his bad decisions might be, that those sin choices or poor decisions will not bring shame on others. On a number of occasions in the past decade, we’ve seen very prominent Christian figures being uncovered in patterns of deviant sexual sin, which has brought public “shame” upon the name of Christ in the public arena. It’s what Dr. Smith describes today as the “domino theory,” which is often applied in science, business, or politics; and we can easily imagine a serpentine row of dominos falling because one is dislodged to topple the next one beside it. And that happens in life, and in Christendom, when even one public Christian leader is uncovered doing something foolish or sinful in the public eyes. As the dominos fall, it is thought by non-Christians, “Well, they all must be like that if their leaders are like that.”

We have to ask ourselves what Dr. Smith hits at with his devotional today; and the question is What choice or public decision I make would bring shame or disgrace to my family or allow others, especially those who don’t know Christ at all, to see my Lord in a darkened way?

Most certainly Christ undertook the shame of all mankind when He was publicly and unjustly mocked, ridiculed, and hung on that tree on Calvary. But He did that so that I could have the saving and enabling grace (i.e., power) to resist sinful, even foolish, choices and to avoid bringing shame on His name or others who love me or look up to me.

Oh, how I pray that God’s mercy and grace will allow me to avoid having shame brought upon any who look to me as husband, parent, or “Christian” leader. I certainly recognize, as did David, that I’m one choice away from doing great harm or shame upon the Name of Christ or upon my family. So, I must be ever vigilant, recognizing my folly is before me; and I MUST draw upon the power of Christ Himself to help me to discern evil and to make Godly choices which reflect glory upon His Name.

My Prayer for Today: LORD, help me to be Your light and to avoid darkness in my life. Amen

2009 - Day 20 - Guilty

January 20, 2009 … Swindoll’s Topic for Today: Guilty

Passage of the Day: Genesis 42: 21 – 24 … 21 Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.” 23 But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. 24 And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

My Journal for Today: “We are truly guilty,…” were the words of Joseph’s brothers as they were confronted with the reality of their past actions when they were merely reminded of their deed by the questions from this young Prime Minister. And yet they didn’t know that their brother stood right before them; and Joseph could understand their Hebrew words, though he cunningly used an interpreter to give the brothers the impression that he didn’t speak their language. And the reactions of the brothers were emotionally wrenching, or maybe uplifting to Joseph, who had to leave their presence because he became so emotional hearing them admit their guilt.

We don’t know exactly what the tears from Joseph represented. It could have been joy in finding the family he had lost; or it could have been tears of empathy, because Joseph knew exactly what it felt like to be in the custody of a power over their life. But we do know that Joseph had to turn or walk away from his brothers to hide his emotions. And we also know, from the unfolding of the story to come that Joseph’s emotions were devoid of any bitterness toward the brothers – a most super-natural response, for sure!

Now, we see a carefully enacted ploy develop to move his brothers to go back to Canaan and bring his father and younger brother, Benjamin to him. But no matter what their sentence from Egypt, through Joseph, the past guilt of these men had caught up to them. As Swindoll very perceptively writes, “… when God comes to tap on stooped shoulders and to break a guilty heart, He does not stop with a slight nudge or mild reproach.” And that is why believers, who live by the truth of 1st John 1: 9 (as I pointed out yesterday), must keep short accounts of sin, coming to God’s throne of grace for cleansing from confession any time sin is perpetrated, comes to one’s consciousness, and is acknowledged by the guilty party.

However, we can be so stupid at times as Christians, holding on to guilt and shame, when it is needlessly retained. How intelligent is it to hold on to a burning ember when we only need discard it and receive the balm of healing from a merciful and graceful God Who promises us complete cleansing and healing from His blood? That’s just dumb [!]; and as my wife often says, “There’s no real cure for dumb.” But so often we can be so dumb as followers of Christ; can’t we?

I hope we can be smarter than the brothers of Joseph, who held on to their guilt for over two decades. But as they confronted the Prime Minister of Egypt, who unbeknownst to them was their brother, little did they know that they were going to have to pay the piper … and the piper was Joseph, … the one whom they had wronged; and this was about to become apparent to them. Stay tuned! The plot thickens; and the truth is more wondrous than any novel.

My Prayer Today: Lord, help me to be always open and real with You, holding on to no shame and seeking Your mercy. Amen