Mark Sanford ran for governor of South Carolina on a conservative platform of economic responsibility and family values. He even attended church and consistently voted for traditional marriage. Yet his image as a Christian family man crumbled when he admitted having an affair.
Governor Sanford is not the only public figure who has lead a double life. When former Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair was found dead, USA Today ran the headline “Slaying Brings McNair’s Other Life to Light.” McNair, married and a father of four, was found with the body of a twenty year old waitress with whom he was having an affair. McNair was a star who had taken his team to the Super Bowl. By reputation he was an icon, but in reality his character was deeply flawed.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a new story. When David committed adultery and murdered a man to cover up the resulting pregnancy, his image as a godly king became radically different from his true heart. God could not allow this to happen, and He used the prophet Nathan to expose David. The harm that came to the land and to David’s family because of that sin was great. David’s son Absalom resented his father, no doubt in part because of the hypocrisy.
Psalm 51 records David’s prayer of repentance to God. David was discontent with the hypocrite he had become. He wanted to “get real” with God.
Does your image and match your heart? Are you willing to be honest before God and men about your condition? In Psalm 51, David admits that his life is in shambles. There are no pretenses, no self-justifications—just a broken person asking God to give him a new heart. How did David get back to being a man after God’s own heart?
DEFENSELESS REPENTANCE
A Sunday school teacher once asked a class what was meant by the word repentance. A little boy put up his hand and said, “It is being sorry for your sins.”
“Very good,” praised the teacher, “Is there anything else repentance means?”
A little girl raised her hand and said, “It is being sorry enough to quit.”
Repentance is a genuine change of heart which produces a life that reflects the new heart. It is the admission that your heart is away from God and needs change. Second Corinthians 7:10 states, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” God uses this “godly sorrow” to bring us to Him. The message of repentance is not a guilt trip, but it is spiritual conviction that provokes. Modern psychology attempts to remove guilt, hide guilt, and shift guilt, but only God can forgive the guilty.
Repentance is more than just an intellectual or emotional response. I can know something in my life is wrong without ever changing it. Many Christians have tearfully responded to a message and gone back to the same sin that caused their grief. Repentance brings our stated beliefs in line with our behavior. And just as important, it brings our hearts back to God.
God is always ready to restore His relationship with His children. His mercies are “new every morning.” David asked in Psalm 51:1, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness…” David’s repentance was based upon the mercifulness of God. His cry is the utterance of a heart crushed and broken by his consciousness of sin. He asked God to “…blot out my transgressions…” That term blot out means to wipe, to obliterate, to exterminate. David didn’t want his sin “under control;” he asked God to eliminate it.
He didn’t make any excuses for his sins either. When we downplay our sins, it shows we are still more interested in our image than our relationship with God. It’s in our nature to try to pass along blame.
People do not like to admit fault, even when they are clearly wrong. According to a UPI news item, the Metropolitan Insurance Company received some unusual explanations for accidents from its automobile policyholders:
“An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car, and vanished.”
“As I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision.”
“I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment.”
“The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him.”
“The telephone pole was approaching fast. I attempted to swerve out of its path when it struck my front end.”
“The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”
Unlike these insurance claims, true repentance acknowledges sin, understands that all sin is against God, and takes personal responsibility for that sin.“I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah” (Psalm 32:5).
How we need a return to defenseless repentance in our daily lives—a transparent, honest, sincere heart before God and a right conscience with all men.
CULTIVATED TENDERNESS
Once a heart is clean through repentance, how can we maintain the sensitivity God desires? After we repent before God, our hearts are once again soft to His guidance. This state of complete dependence and submission to God is how we ought to live every day as Christians, but that heart needs to be maintained. Over time, if we are not careful, our hearts can become hard again, and the cycle of sin and repentance begins all over again.
Think of all the times David hardened his heart to God’s instruction before he murdered Uriah. David ignored God when he stayed away from the battle field. David ignored God when he stared at Bathsheba bathing. David ignored God when he called for the woman. David ignored God when he committed adultery. David ignored God when he tried to cover up the pregnancy. By the time David ordered Uriah to the front lines, his heart was a stone.
Afterward, when David repented, his heart was broken. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalm 51:17). God wants your broken heart before He wants anything else. He can work with a broken heart. C.H. Spurgeon said, “A heart crushed is a fragrant heart.”
When those in our church go through trials, I know their hearts are broken. I pray God would give them what they need, but I also pray that they would draw closer to God than ever before. God uses the valleys to teach us. We can try to keep up appearances and have other people believe everything is just fine, but we can’t fool God. We should be thankful for our tears, for they prepare us for a clearer vision of God. God is calling out to the hardened, and to the hurting, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12).
PURPOSED HUMILITY
Once we have sought God’s restoration and drawn close to Him with broken hearts, we must guard our hearts. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). After a victory, we can let self-confidence replace Father-dependence.
In the biography “Arnie: Inside the Legend” by Larry Guest, golf legend Arnold Palmer recalls the one tournament loss he never regretted:
"It was the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament, and I had a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very satisfying tee shot. I felt I was in pretty good shape. As I approached my ball, I saw an old friend standing at the edge of the gallery. He motioned me over, stuck out his hand and said, ‘Congratulations.’ I took his hand and shook it, but as soon as I did, I knew I had lost my focus. On my next two shots I hit the ball into a sand trap, then put it over the edge of the green. I missed a putt and lost the Masters. You don’t forget a mistake like that; you just learn from it and become determined that you will never do that again. I haven’t in the 30 years since."
Once we finally come to the end of ourselves and begin to allow Christ to live through us, one of the best ways to keep a tender heart is to help others. David asked, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee” (Psalm 51:12–13). David wanted to be restored so that he might teach others. The result of a continuously clean heart is the opportunity to teach others.
In Luke 22, Peter had to face who he really was. He believed that he was ready to die for the Lord and he plainly told Him such. But Christ knew Peter’s heart better than Peter knew himself. “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:31–32). The Lord told Peter that he was going to fail in a terrible way, but also told him that was not the end. The Lord would restore Peter and use him in a great way. You know the rest of the story. Peter denied the Lord, went fishing even after seeing the resurrected Lord, and had a fireside chat with the Lord on the shores of Galilee. Then Pentecost came, and Peter began the greatest chapter of his life—bringing others to Christ and leading the early church.
How would you like the greatest chapter of your life to begin today? It starts with being real! It is going to take authentic repentance, tenderness, and humility. It’s going to require that you be honest before God and that you maintain a sensitive heart to Him with a spirit of humility—but it will lead to the greatest days of your life and ministry! The world is in desperate need of real Christians living authentically and humbly from the heart.
Let God make the real you and then let Him use you to be an authentic representation of Christ to others!
