Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. (I Corinthians 9:25)
Yet there I was, season after season, wearing a little league uniform because (hate to admit it) I liked the status. I liked saying “I’m a ball player.” I loved the camaraderie of the team, and the social privileges it brought. I liked everything about baseball, in fact, but the game itself.
game going.
If that speaks to you, and you’re considering reasons to change, let me offer you three.
First, Your most important relationships are suffering.
You may belong to God, but something’s missing, because you know that He knows there’s compromise in your life, and the Father/Son bond is polluted by that mutual knowledge.
Perhaps you’re ducking Him?
No surprise there. Man’s first response to sin, after all, was to run and hide from God, rather than run to Him for help. When Adam sinned, he fled the scene, making an insane attempt to duck God. To my thinking, there’s no sadder line in all of Scripture than God’s heartbroken call to His rebel son:
“Adam, where are you?”
Of course, your relations with others are suffering, too. Secrecy does that, and if you’ve been entertaining a sexual sin, don’t tell me you haven’t become a pro at the secrecy game. You have to, in order to keep sexual
sin alive.
Close friendships and family relations suffer when a man leads a double life. Something dark and more than a little frightening happens to a guy
like that.
You’re being gratified, perhaps, but not really satisfied.
Think of the difference between hunger and appetite and you’ll see what
I mean.
But you may have also developed a large appetite, which is a desire for certain types and portions of food. If you overeat, that’s usually why – your appetite claimed you needed more food (and probably food of a different sort) than your body required.
Appetite is dishonest in two ways.
Likewise, when you sexually sin, you’re gratifying an appetite that is inherently dishonest. It convinces you that what you want – the porn, the adultery, the hooker, the ritual – is, in fact, a need.
Finally, you’re not fulfilling a primary function.
Have you thought lately about a primary function Jesus said you have; one you cannot, to my thinking, fulfill as long as you’re involved in ongoing sexual sin?
“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost his savor, with what shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under the foot of men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5: 13-14)
He didn’t invite you to be salt and light, nor did He ask you to consider it. He said that’s what you are. That’s your function, and moral compromise weakens your ability to fulfill it, just as surely as drunkenness would weaken an athlete’s ability to run a race.
It’s not just about you. It never was. Someone else, directly or indirectly, is also affected by your compromise.
Intervention is Inevitable
Considering all this, is it any wonder your Coach is intervening? He’s interrupting your life because something in it is wrong and needs to be made right. Whatever that something is, you can be sure of this much:
- It gratifies, but your own history by now should prove it doesn’t really satisfy.
- It’s hurting someone. It’s hurting you, of course, and it’s offending God, which is no small offense. But it’s also hurting someone close to you – a wife, a friend, a child – who deserves better.
- Meanwhile, it’s keeping you from fulfilling your potential, calling, and role.
As a result, we all suffer.
Reconsider getting back into the Game, and we’ll all benefit.
Comments
kenedwards88 | Jul 30, 2018
Thank you for this encouraging message. It's been probably 25 years since I sat in your office, wrestling with what seemed like overwhelming issues. Turns out they were, and continue to be, overwhelming.
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