First Baptist Church

Everyone has heard the old saying in regards to lying – “Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” I am confident some version of those words are ringing in the ears of former senator, and presidential candidate John Edwards. As his wife Elizabeth has struggled with terminal cancer, he has been having an affair which has produced a child with Rielle Hunter, a former campaign employee. Now rumors are swirling of the existence of a sex tape, payoffs with campaign money, lying, cover-ups, and much more. Suddenly Edwards’ $400 haircuts seem like small potatoes compared with this ammunition for the late night comedians. While they appreciate the material, the situation is anything but funny. This story gets more bizarre the more layers which are peeled back. The details of the latest information have been covered by some media outlets so my purpose is not to thrash out those details once again.

God is clear in his word how sin destroys bit by bit. The temptation to sin does not come from God, but instead from our own desire for pleasure that rages inside us. James wrote, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. When desire has conceived it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” (James 1:13-16) Sin develops in stages. It starts our somewhat innocently with a passing thought, then becomes a thought we dwell upon, then enticement, then finally it give birth to actual sin. Ultimately sin brings forth death. The death which sin brings about, in the most ultimate sense, is “spiritual” death or separation from God. It also has a strong and well-documented history of bringing about physical death as well. So many of the sins people engage in lead directly to their physical deaths. But there is even more; sin so often brings death to marriages, friendships, ambitions, dreams, reputations and more. Edwards has apparently lost any hopes of being president one day because of his sin, his reputation is ruined, and most importantly of all his home has been wrecked. Just last week he and his wife Elizabeth filed for legal separation.

It has often been quoted in regards to sin that “sin will take you further than you planned to go, keep you longer than you planned to stay, and cost you more than you planned to pay.” When Edwards engaged in sin he must have believed that it was really ok to do it just this once, that his wife would never know, and it would be better not to tell her, after all she had cancer and it would only upset her. Also, the country needed him and, after all, Bill Clinton had been a fine president and marital chastity was not on his resume. Also for Ms. Hunter, she needed him to take care of her and what about her reputation. When the child came into play he must have imagined how his life would be better if this were all brushed under the rug. It is impossible to see the lows to which sin will take us when we are only entertaining those lustful thoughts in our minds. Rarely do we have enough sense and wherewithal to say, ‘this may destroy me if I do not get it under control.’

The mind always tries to justify sin. No matter what form sin takes, the human mind most always believes itself to be justified in committing the sin. The shady path to rationale is little different than the misleading words offered by the serpent when he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.

It matters not whether it is killing someone, stealing something, cheating on a test, cheating on a spouse, cheating on one’s taxes, or running down someone’s reputation – we feel justified when we sin. There is a fundamental belief that we have somehow earned the right to commit our actions – whatever they might be. You hear it with Edwards when he talks about the cancer that is going to take his wife eventually. He got those around him to lie often by using the cancer card. And, the fact that those in his campaign already believed he was the best man to be president therefore, if these revelations came out, his political future would be in jeopardy. The mind desperately labors to create it’s own reality. No matter who we are, we are not immune. We look past what we do not want to see, and our minds, instead of simply interpreting reality, often work at shaping it. Sin is real, and it is a real problem. The less we recognize it for what it is, the bigger problem it will become for our lives over the course of time. As human beings, the last thing we really want to do is be honest unless that honesty paints us in a favorable light. Something to consider the next time we feel the urges of temptation.

In Christ,

Pastor Allen Raynor