Friday, August 22, 2008
Secret Sin
If sin is indeed a state and not an action then it is worthwhile to examine our actions in the minutest detail to see what they reveal about our state? Like the pride of the Pharisees revealed their true state, despite their overt appearance of compliance with the requirements of the Law, so those of us that are long-time, well-behaved Christians may have revealed to us some astonishing facts.
Consider this post by Jim Broyles at CGO. After describing his perpetual lateness in college, we writes:
You want to know the truth - this peeve of mine runs so deep that I have even experienced it at a United States Presidential candidate - seriously. When Mitt Romney was running he had an event in Burbank that I actually hustled through a client in San Jose, and did not invite a friend to lunch in the area that I usually do, just to catch an earlier plane to make the event. Mitt was about a half-hour late. I had met Governor Romney on several other occasions prior to this, so after the event, I walked out without even saying hello or shaking his hand. Didn't he know (of course not!) I had struggled to make this event? - I had work to do, and he had cost me a half-hour!
Which is the real point to all of this - my peevishness at lateness reveals my sinful state just as much as the lateness itself reveals a selfishness on the part of the late person. There is a whole lot of pride involved in being THAT offended by lateness.
There is a phrase I hear thrown around sometimes - "Secret Sin." It comes up when someone wants to admit they have a problem without giving us the details - in other words it comes up in the context of a pseudo-confession. Most times I hear it, it is sexual in nature.
But I think it should be about something else - not the sins we are too embarrassed to reveal to the world, but the sins we are too afraid to reveal to ourselves. I for example, hide, or make secret, my pride behind the "abuse of my time" thing in my punctuality peeve.
What's your secret sin?
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Consider this post by Jim Broyles at CGO. After describing his perpetual lateness in college, we writes:
Epiphany: There isn’t just a lot I had heard taught in Bible studies or on Sunday mornings about punctuality, though there is much to say on God’s timing. Sure, I had heard about “respecting the time of others,” but that phrase had always been vague to me. I was pretty free with my time, so I wasn’t offended if people postponed or cancelled at the last minute. Time was a gift of God, owned by no one.This piece originally caught my eye because punctuality is a pet peeve of mine. I work like a dog to always be on time. Raised in the era before cell phones, it is not an option to me to call someone and say "I'm running late." I feel insulted when people are late because from my perspective it says either "My time is more important than your time," or "I just don't care about you enough to make the effort to be on time."
A closer look at my heart revealed something else about my idea about time. I, for one, disliked being alone. My freshman year, I walked around with the phone glued to my ear, liked finding people I knew in the library, and always made sure I sat next to someone I knew in each class. I honestly felt self-conscious or that others would think I wasn’t well-liked or had many friends if I was sitting alone. For me, to show up on time, or even early, meant that I would probably be waiting in a public place by myself for my friend; therefore I made certain that I showed up a little late, and as soon as I hung up the phone when I got to the restaurant I was shaking the hand of my buddy who was waiting, shrugging off his inconvenience. This was a deeper issue of rest and confidence in my identity – that I wasn’t just a first impression, sitting alone without any company, but I was God’s precious child, a beneficiary to Christ’s work, and I should beam with His love confidently, especially when it means by myself.
You want to know the truth - this peeve of mine runs so deep that I have even experienced it at a United States Presidential candidate - seriously. When Mitt Romney was running he had an event in Burbank that I actually hustled through a client in San Jose, and did not invite a friend to lunch in the area that I usually do, just to catch an earlier plane to make the event. Mitt was about a half-hour late. I had met Governor Romney on several other occasions prior to this, so after the event, I walked out without even saying hello or shaking his hand. Didn't he know (of course not!) I had struggled to make this event? - I had work to do, and he had cost me a half-hour!
Which is the real point to all of this - my peevishness at lateness reveals my sinful state just as much as the lateness itself reveals a selfishness on the part of the late person. There is a whole lot of pride involved in being THAT offended by lateness.
There is a phrase I hear thrown around sometimes - "Secret Sin." It comes up when someone wants to admit they have a problem without giving us the details - in other words it comes up in the context of a pseudo-confession. Most times I hear it, it is sexual in nature.
But I think it should be about something else - not the sins we are too embarrassed to reveal to the world, but the sins we are too afraid to reveal to ourselves. I for example, hide, or make secret, my pride behind the "abuse of my time" thing in my punctuality peeve.
What's your secret sin?
Technorati Tags:sin, confession, secrets
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