Black Bear on the Loose
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 11:31PM 
Occasionally we get reports here in Richmond about black bears on the loose somewhere in our suburbs, or even in the city proper. Just this weekend, a local news station showed video of a black bear cub trying to figure out how to get inside a supermarket in a nearby town. Witnesses said they'd just looked on in disbelief as the cub gave up and ran off. They laughed about having confused the young bear with a Rottweiler.
If you saw a black bear running through the parking lot when you stopped to shop at your local grocery store, what would you do? What if it were just a cub? As cute as a bear cub may be, it is still a bear--a dangerous animal with sharp teeth and claws--and it does not belong in the city.
Too many Christians react to our own sins the same way this weekend's surprised shoppers reacted to the bear cub.
"Oh, isn't it cute what I did?" "I sinned, isn't that funny?" "What I did wasn't that bad." "Hey, this might look bad, but I'm a good person." These are some of the thoughts and excuses that we offer.
There are no cute sins, or small ones. Every sin is dangerous, even the ones that don't feel as bad to us as the supposedly big ones of murder and adultery. Sin always becomes a barrier between the sinner and God until the sinner repents. Sin may be part of nature, but it doesn't belong in my life as a Christian.
If I commit a sin, I'm a sinner. Not cute, and not funny.
(Photograph by Amy Jacobs)
Reader Comments (4)
I agree with you entirely, so the question becomes how do we cultivate the same propensity we have to sin, (our taste for it) into an appetite for the things of God (holiness) Our culture definitely doesn't help us,but then who would expect it to? Even in our church's we overlook things like obesity, judgmental attitudes, gossip, oftentimes I hear the expression "well, that sort of thing just happens" referring to teenage pregnancy and the like. I'm praying for the church but at times I'm not sure what to pray for...that we might be confronted with our hypocrisy?
I love the analogy you use here. My one and only hope, is to live out Christ in me. When I sin, I don't hide it, lie or try to manipulate the reasons why I do it. As hard as it is, I own it, ask forgiveness, try to make amends and then focus on living forgiven. My prayer is that others will see Christ in me and want to live that way also.
altonwoods,
First, I appreciate your comment and hope you will come back.
I have found that negative prayer, such as "show ___ their hypocrisy", does nothing to draw me nearer to God, probably because He can't receive it.
The church is made up of individuals and we need to pray for individuals, including ourselves, to move deeper into the will of God by seeking and gaining a deeper understanding of His word. That understanding will convict each of us of anything we are doing that is out of agreement with our Lord.
Pray also that with understanding and conviction will come submission. When we are bowing to Jesus, we can't walk away.
I love your spirit of compassion and concern.
Audra,
I'm sure people do see the Christ in you. You've just inspired another post, by the way.