“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). How often have you seen these words of Paul quoted or heard the preacher or the Bible class teacher use them? How often does it really sink in that you and I are truly sinful creatures? We have offended God, refused Him, wantonly displayed our hatred for Him or have simply been negligent with regard to His will.
I think most people quote the passage, but very few really absorb the message. I am certainly no proponent of some irresistible genomic propensity to sin that is passed from one generation to the next as one might pass along a learning disability, mental disorder or heart problem. Yet, it seems clear enough to me that mankind has sought and created a sinful baseline of behavior, digressing from truth overtly and often, there to meet our fellow men. It may not be genetic, but it is the natural thing. Don’t believe me? Well, then you simply have not been around enough people or have not observed them with much thoughtfulness or done any real prolonged sort of self-examination. Even the best and most respectable among us are sinners. I do think, however, that at some point we reach a line in the sand, a landmark or a place where we are called to make a critical decision about sin. In this place we are met with an appraisal that can take a number of forms, but can be reduced to one simple idea – will I get better with God or will I get better at sin. You must choose.
Plenty of folks – no, most folks – choose the latter. That is the whole “strait and narrow” concept at play. The simple fact of the matter is that most people do not choose to get better with God. They instead decide somewhere and in some way that they, perhaps by longstanding practice, will get better at sin, which often looks like the former. Think of it in terms of specific sins.
For instance, think of it in terms of lying. When one of my students lies to me, it is usually pretty obvious because he or she is just not very good at it. I know my students well enough to pick up the small changes in their behavior, tone and wording that indicate they are being deceptive. Even among the drama-filled middle school age kids, it is a relatively easy chore. Adults, of course, are a lot more difficult to discern. Why? Well, some have chosen to get better at sin. So good are they at things like deception that they even convince themselves that what they believe, say or do is true to reality, despite even the most obvious of contradictions. All too often we “are the man” and do little more than deny the lie.
Not you? Couldn’t be? I am sure David thought that as well. How could David, knowing full well his own history and the fact that he had sinned, listen to Nathan’s story of a poor man robbed of his lamb by the rich man and not know that the rich robber in the story was him? David knew he had sinned. Why else would he try to cover it up? He knew that he had sinned and rather than choosing to get better with God, he chose to become a better sinner.
The “best” sinners among us have the appearance of righteous men, but are full of rot and refuse. When we choose to refine our sin ability, then we steadily move toward self-deception and denial. I have seen good men – great men – speak lies and deceptions without batting an eye because secretly they have fostered and grown that sin in their lives, refusing to let it go, as if it were some security blanket.
Fortunately for all of us we can always turn back and choose to let God heal us. He is loving and merciful, and He wants us to get better. Granted, it means you will still have to deal with your sin, which will get harder and harder each day as you persist in it and become more adept at it, whatever it may be. In this day, let it go and let God help you – before it is too late!
