Caught

When I was a teen I lived in Mississippi in the country. I did crazy things like go snake hunting. And there were lots of snakes in Mississippi. If we weren’t hunting snakes we were probably hunting something else or fishing. We usually met somewhere and then road dirt bikes out into the woods or down to the river.

We would ride in shorts. That way we could really feel the burn when we accidentally let our legs bump against the muffler. We also never wore helmets. I know exactly what a windshield feels like when a bug splats against it. I also know what it feels like to have rain smack you in the face while going 60 mph.

Since I didn’t own a motorcycle or dirt bike, I was at the mercy of my friends to use theirs. The reason I didn’t own one is because my dad refused to let us ride them. He had a motorcycle as a teen and had broken almost every bone in his body due to multiple accidents. He was afraid we would be the same way if we were to ride.

So I secretly used my friends bikes. Sometimes I got to ride solo, but usually I rode behind someone. That is how it was when I went fishing with a friend one day. I held all the gear and rode on back while he drove his motorcycle down to the river.

On the way home, we attempted to ride up a dirt bank. We had almost reached the top when the bike went over our heads and we fell down hard. All of the gear I was carrying was splayed all around us. As I got up I noticed that a fish hook from one of the rods had gone deep into my left-hand pointer finger and came out about an inch further down.

If you have ever gone fishing, you know that there is a little barb at the end of the hook so that the fish gets stuck and cannot pull free. That is exactly how it works when it sticks in anything. There was no way I was going to get this hook out. We collected all of the stuff and went home a safer route, but the entire time I was thinking about my predicament.

Remember, I was not supposed to be riding a motorcycle. How could I explain my accident without admitting that I had been doing something I wasn’t supposed to do? The hook could not have gotten imbedded in my finger that way just by fishing. With that hook in my finger, I was literally caught.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation like that? You thought you were getting away with something, spinning a web of lies and deceit, when suddenly your whole world comes crashing down on top of you and you are caught.

As we finish our series, Life on the Edge, we take a look at what happens when we find ourselves caught in sin.

“No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a basket or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in may see its light. For nothing is concealed that won’t be revealed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known and come to light. (Luke 8:16,17)

Throughout the Bible light is used to refer to God, obedience, goodness, etc. Dark is used to refer to evil and sin. Here we see that a lamp is used to bring light. What good is a lamp if you light it and then hide it under something? Hiding light just creates shadows and darkness. Why would anyone do that?

Yet many people seem to prefer the darkness over the light because light exposes them to the truth. Ephesians 5:11 says, ”Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.” In Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” Lancelot uses the phrase “Truth will out.” The Bible puts it this way:

Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7)

God’s Word makes it clear that darkness is sin and that the Light drives out the darkness. Exposure to the Light then means that our sins will be discovered. We will be caught. What happens when we are caught?

The Bible says, ”If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Sometimes when we are caught we aren’t actually sorry about our sins, but rather sorry that we were caught. The phrase confess our sins means that we are actually repentant or sorry that we went against God’s will. We are sorry that we sinned. And the good news is that there is no limit to God’s forgiveness when we truly come to Him with honest repentance.

But many times the very people who have experienced God’s forgiveness are the ones that are the least forgiving of others. Jesus shed His blood because of your wrongs, but when someone does you wrong you want their blood? That is why so many people feel uncomfortable going to church. They see the church as a group of judgmental, hateful, hypocritical people. These attitudes within a church create an atmosphere of fear, shame, and guilt. People are afraid to admit that they made a mistake, so they simply continue to live in the darkness while pretending to be in the light.

There have been many big stories in the news of famous pastors who have been caught: some were caught cheating on their wives, some were caught stealing from their church, and some were caught being abusive with their power. While Jesus can forgive these men for all of their sins, many times the church is less forgiving than God when it comes to the sins of pastors or Christian leaders.

Many churches refuse to allow members to serve as leaders because of past sins that the church has determined are unforgiveable, such as divorce. It doesn’t matter to the church that God has forgiven and forgotten these sins. An old song by D.C. Talk shared about the concern of what will happen if a follower of Jesus stumbles or falls.

What if I stumble, what if I fall? What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all? Will the love continue when my walk becomes a crawl? What if I stumble, and what if I fall?

What do we do when someone in the church is caught in sin? The Bible instructs us in this as well. ”accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.” (Colossians 3:13) Our command to love others doesn’t end when they become a follower of Jesus. We must be just as compassionate following their failures as God was to us in ours.

My prayer is that Elevate Church will always be a place of love and acceptance. A place where you can feel safe in sharing with others your struggles in life. A place where you can be honest about your failures and not live in fear that others will shun you because of them.

I also pray that Elevate Church will be a place that shines the light of Jesus so bright that those who come in contact with us will find it impossible to hide in the darkness. That they will see their need for Jesus and for His forgiveness. That they will come willingly to Jesus because they are sorry for their sins, not sorry they were caught.

That fish hook made it impossible for me to hide the truth from my parents. I was caught and the deception was reeled in. I had to face the facts and come clean. We all must face our own hooks and lovingly use a few on our friends and family to lead them to Christ. After all, Jesus did say that we are to fish for men.