How does a worship pastor murder his wife? (Read about that here)
I’m sure 5 years ago this worship pastor/murderer didn’t write down in his 5-year plan to pursue adultery, kill his wife, and destroy everything in his life.
It’s unthinkable, yet it happened.
It’s an extraordinarily sad story about people caught in sin and the incredible price those around them pay. And yet, this kind of situation has played out repeatedly in various forms throughout human history.
And though this situation is unique, how it got there is not, and if we are not careful, we will be subject to similar patterns, even to death (James 1:14-16).
There is a verse in Scripture that clearly speaks to its reality and what should be done about it:
“But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:13
It’s amazing how Christians will often say in their hearts, “Well, that situation would never happen to me.” But with that statement, you just proved what Hebrews 3:13 is saying. The writer’s point is that sin is incredibly slick and deceptive, able to put people into a mental state of apathy and arrogance that leads them to think and live proudly without even knowing it.
This verse provides three ideas, and I want to take them in reverse, starting with the danger and ending with the remedy.
What steps should you take right now to protect yourself from tragic, sin-based mistakes?
Believe that sin is looking to kill you. “…so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Sin shows up like a con artist millionaire driving a Lamborghini, promising you easy steps to achieve a similar life: “Just do what I tell you to do, and you can have it too,” he says. It sounds so appealing, and it seems so easy. That is the “deceitful” nature of sin:
“Making a name for myself isn’t that big of a deal – people in ministry do that all the time.”
“Sharing my heart with another person other than my spouse (of the opposite gender) isn’t harming anyone.”
“I’m important to this church; they need me; and I should be heard more than I am.”
It’s subtle – it starts out innocent, but then, over time, like a long con, it eventually shows its true colors, and at that point it’s too late. It’s not the big sins (initially) that destroy people – it’s the little compromises here and there that build up over time, years and years of subtle, arrogant living, and eventually, what you were is no longer. Sin has corrupted you and destroyed you. It showed up as a millionaire in the sports car and has left you with shackles and a destroyed life.
Don’t excuse it and let it slide. “…as long as it is still called ‘today’”. If you stop eating well and working out for 1 day – it’s not a huge deal. But when this happens over 30 days, you’ve likely got problems. It’s no different with your attitude toward the creep of sin. Ok, sure, that one harmless look at a provocative reel isn’t going to destroy your life today, but when patterns like this happen over time, they eventually start to destroy areas of your life. Each day you let things like this slide, it becomes easier to accept and return to. This is why the writer to the Hebrews emphasizes “today”. Today is the day to take sin seriously. You may not have yesterday, and you’re not to worry about tomorrow, but you can focus on this moment, today. And then you do the same thing tomorrow.
Stop treating accountability like it’s optional. “Encourage one another every day.” The Greek word for “encourage” means to urge, exhort, come alongside. It’s the idea of being together. It speaks to an individual responsibility to participate in spiritual encouragement and a corporate responsibility to ensure it happens. This means you have made yourself available to other people in your life to see what’s happening and to come alongside you to encourage and help you. I’m going to make a bold statement here: if you are flying solo, you will be more susceptible to giving in to sin. Find 2-4 people in your circle you can lean on and start daily check-ins. If you’re a pastor or ministry leader, this is especially important for you, and I wrote more about that here.
What’s Your Plan? The worship pastor didn’t plan to fall. You won’t plan to either. But you can plan not to. Right now, you can examine some areas of your life and make some pivots. Why not take a few minutes and ask yourself about the things in your life that probably are already there that are ‘sin-like’, and decide today how you can involve other people in your life to help you start to get a handle on it?