Evasive Maneuvers

Greg Gwin

We have a friend who has been telling us for a long time, "I'm not overweight; I'm just 6 inches too short!" When we learned that he was scheduled for an annual physical check-up, several of us predicted that the doctor would put him on a "no salt, no sugar, no nothin'" sort of diet.

After the doctor’s appointment we were quick to ask, "Did he put you on a diet?" No! What a shock! How could this be? A little prying produced a confession. The reason the doctor had not ordered a diet was because our friend had volunteered at the very beginning of the exam that he was already trying to lose weight. No need for the doctor to give diet instructions when you tell him you're already on one, right? Pretty clever evasive action, wouldn't you agree?

Our friend is not the first one to stumble onto this method of escape. In fact, sinners have been doing it all through the ages. It is accomplished like this: if someone seeks to admonish you about a sin in your life, simply admit that you are already aware of the situation. For instance, when some brother comes to you because you are not attending the services regularly, just say, "I know I ought to do better", even if you have no plans to improve. It will disarm any attempt to restore you, but it does keep folks off your back. After all, you already know what you should be doing, right?

The point is this: you can try to evade the problem of sin in your life, but it doesn't solve anything. True repentance does. Try it!