progressingpeople

The Lance Armstrong (et al) Fiasco ad nauseum – A Biblical Evaluation that Pierces the Heart

Another celebrity takes a nose dive. Yawn. All who rub their hands in glee and/or cluck in horror really do not know themselves. Arthur Conan Doyle once played a practical joke, the story goes, and sent ten prominent British people a telegram with the words, “All is known.” By the next morning six of them had fled across the channel to France. Acknowledge, then, that a shadowy figure stares from your mirror when you focus with complete honesty on your own sins.

More interesting is the debate about whether the confession had any substance to it. Substance in two ways: did it actually reveal information we are curious about, that is to say, did it satisfy our need to gloat; was it actually a ruse to manipulate, that is to say, is the confessor sincere enough for my satisfaction.

Sin arouses anger. The closer I am to the perpetrator, the deeper the pain and as a result, the more intense the anger. Celebrities going awry arouse the desire for juicy details and the puckering of lips in prim self righteousness. A spouse being unfaithful is a different reality. Here the anger lies marinating in the brine of pain and mistrust; then it stews as a brew of stinking resentment.

Tormenting questions haunt the wronged person: “Why did you do this? Was the confession driven by genuine remorse or was it a matter of saving face because the sin came to the light of day? How do I know you are not going to do it again?” The confession is suspect. “Sorry” seldom quells the disquiet.

These questions linger even if forgiveness is extended. Some may find it impossible to move on, and the bible sanctions divorce when adultery is involved.

The bible explores these themes of our sin and confession in Psalm 130 (ESV):

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
²     O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

³ If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
⁶ my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
⁸ And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

The Psalmist had to wait for the Lord, not in casual nonchalance, but with the intensity of watchmen straining against the inclination to doze off through the night hours. The forgiveness is withheld for a good reason, v 4 states, “that you (Lord) may be feared.” Sin involves irreverence toward the person wronged. The perpetrator is magnified through gratification.

The Psalmist then proceeds to the core of the issue in v7 and v8, namely redemption. Now the confession moves beyond admitting my sins, to turning away and discovering the remedy for the sin; and forgiveness moves beyond merely hiding the volcano of irritation that yet tends to spew poisonous gas and ash, and even, on occasion, spill molten lava.

The way of the Lord is to hold out on intimacy, to distance and isolate, until the perpetrator understands the fearful consequences of disloyalty. When the isolation registers, the heart begins to tremble and then pine. Now there is a cry out of the depths.  Now redemption is offered, not just forgiveness, but all things made new. A fresh start, as darkness yields to the dawn. Redemption involves a new creation, where the former things have passed away.

The Lord shows us the way of life and offers the energy to walk the way:

• His love is not fickle but steadfast (v 7);
• His redemption is not meted out in a miserly fashion, it is plentiful (v 7);
• He redeems, not just the isolated sin and its terrible consequences, but untangles the entire iniquitous snarl-up, weaving a thing of beauty in its place (v 8).

The dynamics are complex because even the simplest relationships are layered with complexity; the solution is both easy and impossible. The sin is a symptom of a crippling disease. Symptomatic confession leaves the heart unaltered. It is the disease that must be treated. The cure is manifested daily in actual behavior. Now no records of the wrong are kept. (V 3  If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?)

Divine intervention is needed to move beyond shallow confession that is mere manipulation.

Divine intervention is required to extend steadfast love that leads to manifold redemption.

Insightful confession and creative forgiveness are necessary for redemption, and both come from God, who is never tight fisted.

“O Israel! Put your hope in the Lord.”