we can be reconciled more regularly. Sin has not lost its luster; leaders have lost their muster. And that is one very deadly combination. Even in a suffering economy, the wages of sin remain the same: death (see Rom 6:23).
So, why don’t leaders preach and teach more about sin? I believe it’s rooted in fear. Sometimes leaders are afraid that preaching sin will push people away or hurt their numbers or, worst yet, their collection. Experience shows, however, that if done correctly, the result is just the opposite. Did the woman at the well retreat in fear or advance for mercy? Humble souls are dying for someone to draw a line in the sand. To quote G. K. Chesterton, “Art, like morality, consists in drawing a line somewhere.”
Souls want truth; hearts are hard-wired for it. More to the point, everyone needs truth … especially the truth about hell, heaven, purgatory, and the lives that lead to all three. Modern minds aren’t stupid, nor should they be placated or pandered to. While always couched in compassion and mercy, God didn’t shy away from preaching on truth, sin, and consequence; He began in Eden and continues to speak truth throughout salvation history. Even Christ’s beloved Sermon on the Mount spoke more about hell and the consequence of sin than any of His other discourses or (far easier-to-remember) parables.
People have forgotten a fundamental truth about sin — namely, that God did not give Adam and Eve the right to decide subjectively what was good and evil; in His mercy, He gave them the right to choose between what is objectively good and evil. He was adamant. He was clear. He loved them (and us) enough not to leave anything in doubt. He explained the consequences (see Gn 2:17).
Today, souls are being swallowed up and spit out by a secular humanist, morally relativist culture. Taking ownership of our sin is not a popular thing to do, especially for Christians in the modern age. Most of the time, when we have a lot of sin and shame in our past, we prefer to pretend it’s not there. We are happy to show God all the bright and shiny parts of our life, but prefer to keep the Lord out of the junk drawers and messy closets of our soul. Some have convinced themselves that their sins are anything but. No sin equals no need for a Savior. Though weighed down by the guilt, they’d rather breathe than really live, as their soul dies a painful death. The woman at the well wasn’t really living … she was merely breathing, until “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6) offered her renewal.
Unless you reconcile the past, you’re never going to taste the future God has designed for you.
Others are so overwhelmed by the gravity of their past sins that they won’t even let God into their past. These souls desire God to be present in their present and merciful in their future, but they won’t allow the Lord into their past. Though they might even live in their past, they are afraid to let Christ anywhere near it. These souls that dwell in the past go back every chance they get. “You can’t forgive me, Lord. I’ve sinned too much and run too far. My sin, it’s just too big,” they think. They might even lament: “Church? Oh, I can’t go to church. I can’t go in … that place will fall down if I’m in it.”
Allow me to say that if the Church hasn’t fallen down in 2,000 years, it sure as hell is not going to fall down because of you. The Catholic Church is a Church of mercy; in fact, that’s our mission statement. We are a Church who now counts former mass murderers, con artists, alcoholics, thieves, rapists, and heretics among the Communion of Saints. Never doubt the power of God’s grace nor the ability it affords you to change.
If we don’t say, “God, I don’t just want you to be the God of my present or the God of my future, but I want you to be the God and savior of my past!” then we are missing Simon Peter’s boat. Tell the Lord, now: “I want you to walk back with me, Jesus. I trust you. Please tell me I don’t have to carry this anymore. Please forgive me. Please tell me You still love this sinner called Your child.”
The only sin God will not forgive is the one you don’t ask forgiveness for. So don’t keep your past from Him. You can’t be made new for today or tomorrow until you invite Jesus to redeem yesterday.
Wherever you’re at, whether you’ve dealt with your past or you haven’t, when the Lord comes to you and looks you in the eyes, He’s not saying to you, “You are the sum of your sins and your failures.” No, God’s truth, to paraphrase words of St. John Paul II, is that you are not the sum of your sins, you are the sum of the Father’s love. Unless you reconcile the past, you’re never going to taste the future God has designed for you. If you keep throwing your bucket down that well of stagnant water, it’s not going to fulfill your thirst as He is.
One of the greatest things you can do for your spiritual life is to say to Jesus in prayer: “Walk with me, Lord. Walk me back into this episode, sin, room, addiction, struggle [whatever it is]. Walk back with me and show me where You’ve preserved me and protected me. Reveal it to me, Lord. Pour light into my darkness. Show me where I need healing, Lord, and then please come and heal me. Come, Jesus, and save me from my darkness, my past, and myself.”
The Lord reveals our shame because He loves us and wants to free us. The enemy reveals our shame because he wants to chain us and leave us there.
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