My
mind raced back to that class as I reflected on the flood of sexual misconduct
stories beginning with Harvey Weinstein.
The women that came forward in the film industry, gave courage for
others to speak out in the worlds of sports, politics, and media. By no means is it limited to those
arenas. I live in the world of religion.
Unfortunately, the problem extends there also.
As
we celebrate Valentine’s Day, let me be clear, none of this has anything to do
with real love. When someone of great
influence moves sexually on someone of lesser influence, it is about lust and
abuse of power. When a man or woman of a
lesser position sexually engages with person of higher position, that he or she
might find some advantage, it is for personal gain. When an organization refuses to act on
confirmed reports of sexual allegations against its influential leader, they
are looking out for themselves. And it
does not matter if it is consensual or not.
Wrong is wrong. And no one is
immune from this. In the Bible, the
heralded King David became a victim of sexual sin as found in the legendary
story of David and Bathsheba.
David
was an honorable man of God, but at the height of His fame and power, he became
morally weak. One day, instead of
tending to his normal duties, he strolled onto the roof of his palace to view
his expanding kingdom with pride. In
that moment, a woman appeared in the distance that captured his attention. He used his position as King to summon her,
where they slept together, and she became pregnant.
The
story did not end there. For a year,
David hid his heinous actions until God sent a messenger to confront him. Finally, David turned from his pride and
humbly confessed his evil to God.
After
an incident like David had, it would be easy to feel as if life was over
because of the consequences. There is no
future. There is no hope. Let me say, that with God, there are always
second chances.
Because
of the death and resurrection of Jesus the evil of your sexual sin can be
forgiven. Your shame and guilt can be
washed away. In the face of your
consequences, you can have freedom.
A
prayer for you to pray – Lord God, I can
see that what I have done is wrong. I
desperately need your forgiveness. I
pray David’s words who said, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse
me from my sin” (Psalm 51:2). In Jesus
name. Amen.
