My wife was telling me it was an affair with a woman before I could admit it! She called it from the first day! I just could not bring myself to accept it! But, then, there it was.
The governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford, was first "missing!" Then, no, he is hiking on the Appalachian Trail; no, he is away writing; no, he is getting some much needed rest from the recent show-down with the legislature; no, he is on an exotic adventure! YES! That was indeed correct. Only the exotic turned out to be quite erotic (proven by emails between him and his lover) and in Argentina! Mark Sanford had been thrown out of the house by his wife and had run to Argentina!
Now, I am not taking shots at him! It is sad to see such a public figure, one who had a bright political career ahead of him, and one who had, by all accounts, a great wife and family - squander it all for an illicit relationship! His total disregard for his family is staggering! His disregard for the state of South Carolina is also troubling - being the chief executive of the state and being totally unreachable for days! None of this bodes well for him. He has been "outed!" He has lost the respect of his family, his peers, and his state! AND - he did it all!
Okay! What is the point? Sin, left to flourish in our lives, will lead us down the most amazing, dangerous, and self-destructive paths. And most of the time, we will end up being "outed" to those around us for what we are!
However, we have all been caught! Just as fully as Mark Sanford! You see, we look at him and his public humiliation and talk about how foolish he must have been. Yet, Mark Sanford was caught long before his public disgrace. We seem to forget that all our own sin, including lustful thoughts, hateful thoughts, malicious thoughts - our gossip, our lies, our biting words designed to hurt others - our actions or lack thereof - has already exposed us and we have been caught. NONE OF OUR SIN ESCAPES THE GAZE OF OUR LORD!
Mark Sanford had a public humiliation! Yet, all of us stand before God fully exposed - right down to the thoughts and intents of our hearts. The sad thing is that we fear what Mark Sanford has experienced, a public outing of our sin, far more than we fear God!
Before we become too emboldened to criticize the governor for his now public sins, we should remember that our sin has been exposed by Christ and the cross of Calvary! How we need to repent and turn from every sin - before, as the scriptures say - our sins "find us out!" 23 "But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out. Numbers 32:23
When God says, "YOU MAY BE SURE" - then you can count on it!
Ouch!! My toes are smarting! How true, and thanks for the reminder that long before my sins become public God has already seen them. If I affect no one else, I've already broken God's heart by MY choice.
Posted by: Lynn Grier | June 25, 2009 at 08:55 AM
Excellent post and reminder for all of us not to mess up.
Tommy Snyder
Posted by: Tommy Snyder | June 25, 2009 at 12:02 PM
Very true, very convicting words - thanks.
Posted by: Tammy | June 25, 2009 at 10:16 PM