BROKEN PEOPLE / AMAZING GOD

Yesterday I read about the fall of another minister - pastor - man... My heart grieved...

I didn't know the guy... I've never met him... Occasionally I've read the guy's blog. But I grieved... In fact, I didn't sleep good at all last night... I grieved for the man, his wife, his kids, his church, the woman, her husband, the cause of Christ, the mission... The story has dogged me for the better part of a day...

As I meditated on God's Word I was struck by the realization that the Bible is not a book about good people and bad people. It's a book about BAD PEOPLE - PERIOD; and a really, really great, loving, merciful and gracious GOD.

Just think about the people we call "heroes" in the Bible...

Abraham? A wimp who lied about his wife to protect his own skin. Forget that she could have been raped because of his lie... His actions would have not only put me in the dog house, but permanently on the road...

Noah? Sure, he obeyed God and built a huge boat in the middle of the desert; but then he got stone cold drunk and passed out naked in his tent...

David? Before you go straight to Bathsheba, keep in mind that the guy was also a serial polygamist and a pretty ruthless dude... Just check out his last words to Solomon before he kicked the bucket... Not the kind of stuff you engrave on a plaque and hang up in your kitchen...

Paul? A hit man for the Pharisee mafia...

Peter? A racist...

Joseph? An egotist who couldn't keep his big mouth shut...

We could go on...

But above them all stands JESUS. The only GOD - MAN. Fully God and fully man... Completely sinless.

Here's the testimony of a guy who walked with him for three and half years.

1 Peter 2:22-24 (NLT), He never sinned, and he never deceived anyone. 23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. 24 He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds!

Sometimes I think we sanitize the lives of the guys and gals we read about in the Bible...

Sometimes we "idolize" people who are just as broken and fallen as deep down we know that we are...

But here's the truth. We are all FAR WORSE than we could ever imagine... That's YOU and ME.

And GOD is GREATER than we can possibly comprehend...

Our response?

To throw our lives completely on the one who "carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right." By His wounds I am healed.

Don't miss the point... I'm not attempting to excuse a fellow minister's fall...

I'm not saying that our actions don't matter... They do.

But if you read a story about another fallen pastor...

If you are tempted to feel pride and judge yourself as morally superior to a broken or busted guy or gal...

Keep this reality in mind: WE ARE ALL FAR WORSE THAN WE CAN IMAGINE. BUT GOD IS GREATER and more AMAZING THAN WE CAN POSSIBLY COMPREHEND.

We all need JESUS. We desperately need Jesus...