BBD 05.05.06 Shame
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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05.05.06
Shame
The LORD is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every
morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, but the unjust knows
no shame. - Zephaniah 3:5.
The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; I will change
their glory into shame. - Hosea 4:7.
The news reports have been streaming in today about the smokers at the
University of Colorado at Boulder. There is an annual protest or party about
the use of marijuana. The University has become more imaginative each year
in efforts to discourage this event. Last year they turned on the in-ground
sprinkler system; however, the students just stepped on the sprinklers. This
year they posted warnings that participants would be photographed and that,
"Trespassers may be summoned or referred to the office of judicial affairs."
The warnings were not a hoax and there are many photos now posted online of
the participants with a reward being offered for identification. The
University webpage is located at
http://www.colorado.edu/police/420_Photo_Album/index.htm and the title is
"Farrand Field 4-20-2006" with the following statements just prior to many
photos: "The University is offering a reward for the identification of any
of the individuals pictured below."
Listening to the statements from some of those attending the event, I heard
outrage, anger, and threats of retaliation through the ACLU. One student
claimed he was not actually smoking pot but just a cigarette. The situation
reminded me somewhat of when I was fourteen years old and was publicly
identified as being one of three students who had been smoking cigarettes.
It was after a marching band event at another city on a Saturday where
afterwards we were allowed to attend a collegiate football game. We did
smoke at the football game and unknown to us the Superintendent of our
school was watching us smoke with his binoculars. We had a school assembly
on Monday morning and the entire school was told about our smoking. It was
not against school policy, at that time it was also not illegal, and our
fathers were all smokers. Personally, I had not thought there was anything
wrong with it until the moment at the assembly. The emotion I felt at the
time I still remember very clearly. That emotion was shame.
The students involved in the event at the University of Colorado may face
serious consequences for their actions. They could be expelled from college,
arrested for trespassing, arrested for violation of law, and prevented from
being able to receive any governmental grants or loans. For most of those
involved, it was probably a fun thing to do and little thought was given to
any possible consequences. Possibly because there had been very few
consequences in the past. However, just because judgment has not yet come
does not mean that it is not coming and will at some point arrive. If
judgment comes upon them would they at that point experience, shame? Or,
through the remainder of their lives will they just be angry at being
caught, angry at having their actions exposed?
When we sin, are we ashamed? When we are confronted with our sin, are we
just angry at being caught and at the person exposing us? When we sin, and
if then we experience the emotion of shame it means that our conscience is
alive and well. We should immediately turn away from that sin and turn to
God through the mercies of our Lord confessing that what we have done was
wrong (1 John 1:9). However, if we can sin and never experience the emotion
of shame it may be because of two possibilities.
One possibility of not experiencing the emotion of shame when we sin is that
we have never received Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and been born
again. If we do not know Jesus as our personal Savior then the Holy Spirit
is not residing within us and we do not have the new nature that comes
through salvation (2 Corinthians 5:17). The second possibility is that we
may at one point have made a decision for Christ but began to sin again, and
again, and again - until our hearts have become so cold, and calloused that
we feel nothing when we sin. The solution for both conditions is to turn to
God through Christ asking for His mercy and forgiveness while turning away
from our sin.
(Some previous devotionals written about hardness of heart include: What
would it take? 07.18.01 and Hearing and Doing 03.15.01 located in the
archives at http://www.theburningbush.org/devmaraug01)
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