“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
-George Orwell, Animal Farm
As a high schooler I was a fan of Jesus - at least some parts of Jesus, maybe not all that He had to say. I liked a lot of what the Bible said and I could not ignore the reality of God. I knew there were ideas that historically came with associating oneself with Jesus (being a part of a church community, reading all of what God had to say, opening yourself up to correction, etc.) but I had an interesting way of avoiding these public associations: I made my own standard. It is an impossibly simple and painstakingly foolish decision to make, but let me explain how I did this. If I ran across something about God’s sexual ethic, self-sacrificing relationships, or respecting those in positions of authority I would metaphorically stuff my fingers in my ears and change the subject, but not before I uttered my favorite line: “If God had me in mind when He made this rule, He would have said something different.”
Perhaps I was simply a closeted narcissist, but I think my experience with sin as a non-Christian is not that far off from the slippery slope of my sinful behavior now. I would venture to say that your thought process is very similar. David’s infamous story with Bathsheba is profoundly reflective of yours and my pattern of rebellion from God. When we believe that we are special (stronger, less sinful, better at toeing the line), we overlook important guidelines that are intended to protect us. When we choose to flirt with temptation instead of fleeing, we begin sliding down the wrong path When we try to hide or cover up our sin, it produces fruit that cannot be hidden until it is dealt with. You and I are especially made in the image of God, granted unique qualities and a special story, but that does not make us uniformly special or “more equal.”
Read 2 Samuel 11 and 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
1. How well does the pattern of falling into sin relate to your experience? Can you think of an example? At what point was the battle lost for you?
2. Why do you think it is so easy for us to consider ourselves uniquely different from others? How does that affect your relationship with temptation and sin? How does this affect your willingness to share your brokenness with others?
3. Can you think of a particular area(s) of the Bible’s teaching that you try to explain away so that it does not require you to face the consequences? What about the promises God has made?
4. What is an action step you can take this week to take an area of sin and temptation more seriously, knowing that the slope is slipperier than you think? Who are you going to invite in to hear about this?