Consequences of Sin

This weekend I had two stark reminders of how sin can bring people down.

First, I heard about a pastor in the county who was caught in an extra-marital affair. (He is someone who I have known personally for 10+ years and I know his family too.) He had recently been installed as the senior pastor of a church that was going through difficulties because of mis-management from the previous pastor.

He started the affair while working at his previous position at another local ministry. (The leader of that ministry is livid over what he did.) As a result we see two families in turmoil and two ministries having their names disgraced in the community.

Second, I was cleaning up some trash in my swale. One of the things that I picked up (very carefully) was a syringe. I live in a pretty good neighborhood - it is not the type of place that you would expect to find something like this. It is also not the first one that I have found in my yard. We see people around our city that are obviously addicted to drugs and it is not a pretty sight. It is a sad situation that they are in.

Both of these things are reminders that sin (vices, addictions, or whatever term you want to apply to them) can bring good people down. It does not matter if your name is Billy Graham or Billy Madison.

"Sin for a season" will ultimately bring someone down despite how strong we think we are. Paul wrote in Galatians, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps with he sows."