Recently a very well known Christian leader was caught in sin and scandal exploded everywhere across American television.
The Ripples of Scandal
When any Christian of great influence proves to be human, there is always a huge effect on the Body. But should there be? The degree to which we are shocked and affected by such events shows how weak our faith is and how little we know about the true Gospel.
God is never scandalized. He sees the inside of all of our hearts constantly and He knows that we are all pretty much in the same boat. That is why Jesus died for us. When the Body of Christ is rocked so hard by the "fall" of one person, it just shows that we don't realize our whole race "fell" in the garden. In the flesh we are all fallen. Although different sins have different consequences here on earth, to God sin is sin.
Testimony 1 - Don's Story
Until the early Eighties I was addicted to pornography. I would confess my sin to God every time I yielded to it. Eventually, I realized my helplessness and began to confess the problem to various elders and pastors that I knew, asking for help and prayer. It was a big surprise to discover that most of them had the same problem, and none of them had any answers!
Eventually, I found a counseling/prayer center that spoke the real Gospel to me. They told me that my heavenly Father already accepted me and loved me-- sin and all. I was instantly freed from the addiction - permanently. I knew I was loved and accepted by my Father no matter what. The fear of rejection and judgment that gave the addiction its power and control was gone. He loves me! Unconditionally!"
Testimony 2 - Wendy's Story
I had a different story than Don. I was pretty much a goody-two-shoes. I placed great importance on leaders and I had an abiding feeling that they stood between me and God as a sort of buffer. I skated along feeling like I did not need to bear the responsibility of my life because there would always be more knowledgeable people than me to tell me what to do.
When leaders failed, I was shocked and judgmental because my well being depended on their ability to be "holy". I had set humans in God's shoes. I didn't know it then, but I had actually done this to protect myself from the real God! I believe many Christians do this. My heart may have been harder toward God than Don's heart was.
The False Gospel
Although our testimonies come from different positions, they have something in common. Both of us believed we had to please God through our behavior. In my story (Wendy's) I believed I had pleased Him through my imagined relative sinlessness... I became prideful about it. Pride is probably the most destructive sin there is. I believed I had a relationship with God that I simply didn't have.
Don believed he had to win an impossible battle in his flesh in order to have a friendship with God. He believed he had failed God and felt ashamed when he prayed. This cut into his relationship with God.
The True Gospel
The simple truth is that God loves us infinitely already. His love is steadfast and unchanging in spite of our sin. This truth is what undoes the power of sin! Most churches do not grasp this very basic fact about the atonement which Jesus provided. He died for us and paid for our sins as a gift, not as something we have to pay dues for to maintain.
Sin hurts us and those around us. God is very glad when we leave sin behind because it's destructive, and God loves to see us abundantly blessed. But leaving sin doesn't increase God's love for us. This is the essence of the Good News. When Don discovered this, he was instantly set free from a strongly addictive sin. When I discovered this, my false pride was dashed to pieces and I felt like a great big fool. But my load was lightened, false religion fell off like scales, and joy flooded my life. This is a truth that is true for everyone in the Body whether they are famous or not.
It's All About The Message
Our faith is not based on human performance so that we should be scandalized when a Christian who is well known fails. In the flesh, we are all still in sin. But we carry a treasure in our earthen vessels-- God's Spirit, Who lives in every believer. His Message is one of forgiveness, grace, love, and restoration. This Message brings hope to all humankind in our darkest hours.
God gives gifts to all of us in the Body so that we can encourage each other and so that we can share His message with the world. But if we build our lives on Christian speakers, leaders, authors, singers and preachers, then we will have a life that wavers. Each of us needs to invest in our own friendship with God. He is unwavering, and when our lives are built on His grace then we are unwavering, too.
A Magnificent Salvation
Even as we share His Good News with each other and with the world, we are going to make mistakes. Some of our mistakes can be easily hidden and some have devastating results. But when we fall and break, that is when God's grace is strongest. We can no longer judge others and we can't even judge ourselves. The Cross levels the playing field and saves all of us. What a wonderful thing Jesus has done!