Why we may Pity ‘the Powerful’ now and forevermore

Every time I meditate on Psalm 37, I’m astounded as to how much peace I receive. This is a song that’s all about overlooking the effects of injustice that oppresses us. None of us want to accept that injustice happens in our lives, but because it does happen, we need a proactive way of resolving it so we can enjoy the peace of God in our hearts. The peace of God is necessary if we’re to live as peacemakers in our world, loving others, and shining the light of Christ for God’s purposes wherever we go.

Here is something else to meditate over:

“When humans are caught in sin, they will say anything to make it better, including using biblical language to keep life running normally, especially when there is a lot at stake.”

—Diane Langberg, PhD

Can we, for a moment, repel the temptation to slink into self-righteousness? Can we admit that the first thought that goes through our minds when we are caught in sin is, “How can I save my skin?” (Come on, let’s just be honest!) 

As Christians, of all people, we should be able to admit we’re sinners; indeed, isn’t that the precursor in coming to a saving faith? Now, we may not act on that temptation to self-protection, but we can all admit that none of us like the pain of shame, of exposure, of embarrassment, and worse potentially, of consequences, some of which are dark and dire.

There is another powerful element to the Langberg quote, and it relates to the powerful; to the ones who have more to lose. In the context of Psalm 37, we who may have little, and perhaps not much power at all—comparatively speaking—stand to be strongly encouraged. It’s a psalm of strong encouragement to the weak who are discouraged. The point is, we haven’t become used to a life of privilege. The powerful might have the world as their oyster, but they have all that to lose, and the mere thought of such loss is calamitous.

And it gets worse for the powerful, for they are the ones who are tempted most to cover their sin, and to keep the propaganda flowing, especially in response to bad news.

They might not even recognise this: that the sin of covering up the initial sin or series of sins is on a scale far worse than the initial sin. From what looked bad, initially, now from the viewpoint of response, looks deceptive and ugly and indeed, evil. All because the powerful could not bear the thought of losing what they stood to lose. For some, depending on the sin, it can be everything.

Now, the thought of losing everything, for those of us who have had a taste of that, and for me that was over 15 years ago now, it is a season of being peppered with temptation—to go easy on ourselves, to become distracted and wasteful, to lose ourselves in addiction, to rail against ‘the enemy’ with fury, to deny it’s even happening; to warrant myriad form of escape or attack.

Any of us can empathise with the terror of loss. It is the hardest thing that can happen to us in life. But it is still no excuse to respond the wrong way, even if 99 people out of 100 resist the narrow way that Jesus alluded to in Matthew 7:13-14:

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” (NLT)

Whenever we are caught in sin,
it isn’t God catching up with us to hurt us,
it is God catching up with us to help us.

But it requires faith to believe this, and it requires faith to run with this, and such faith will drive us into the very heart of God, and such a place of vulnerability is the cusp of transformation. And no one is transformed without first becoming vulnerable. This is a costly discipleship that affords us entry into what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called costly grace.

The only chance we have of retaining our credibility of character when we are caught in sin, is to be honest, and to confess what we have done, and to make no excuse, and to give such a full apology as to leave everyone feeling that justice has been done. That they can say, “he or she understands the wrong they’ve done!”

And having done this, and without us requiring even one iota of it, what is usually extended to us is the mercy of God through a humanity that is simply relieved that truth has been told. Forgiveness is easier when justice has been done.

The world desperately needs to see more Christians willing to lead the way in confession and repentance. If we think parading our righteousness is the way to win the world to the Gospel, the enemy has confused us.

The way that the world will see Christ in us is when we’re honest, and vulnerable, and willing to see justice done, no matter the personal cost.

If we love God, then God must have all our love. And it will cost us at times.

The powerful have a big disadvantage: they have more to lose. Privilege is something the powerful often desire to protect, and such a temptation can cause the powerful to do what a normal person might consider is foolishness.

One advantage a sufferer for Christ has over the powerful one who is tempted to hide their sin is they’ve learned that loss neither defines them nor destroys them. They’ve learned they can trust God with their honesty.

Photo by Jasmin Ne on Unsplash