When You Sin In Front of Friends, Co-Workers, Family, and Neighbors

Ever heard the expression, "you're the only Bible people will ever read" or "you're the only Jesus people will ever know?" I have heard those expressions hundreds of times in church especially to those who try to win lost people with their actions rather than sharing the gospel with them. Some Christians will live their live that people will be pointed to Jesus, which is actually not sharing the gospel.

What happens when you sin? What if you lost your temper or you make a mistake? What if you react harshly with your kids and your neighbors, that you have been witnessing to, saw it? Lets fact it, we see many Christians in the public eye fall into sin and once we sin, people associate us with those celebrities or politicians that sinned.

Granted we need to live a holy and godly life and to let our light shine before others (2 Peter 3:11 and Matthew 5:16), but what happens when our light gets dimmed because we sin against or in-front our neighbor who does not know Jesus? Hard question to ask with hard answers to think about.

This is where I look in scripture and see the grace of God that I have been forgiven for that sin. Peter sinned publicly by denying Christ yet God forgave him. God used Peter to preach the sermon that started the growth of the 1st century church (see Acts 2). Peter even was being racist against the Gentiles because he feared the circumcision party with Paul (the man who was killing Christians) getting in his face to confront his sin (Galatians 2:11-14). Despite himself, God used Peter to bring glory to Him and people to Jesus. This should give us hope when we think we have sinned in the workplace, the grocery store, or even in the backyard when the lawnmower does not want to start at 9am on Saturday morning (personal experience).

If there is someone at work you have sinned against, ask that person to forgive you even if they do not forgive you in return. Same thing with a family member who does not know Jesus. Pray for those people that you can somehow share the gospel with them in spite of the sin you have committed against them.

When you sin in front of people, remember the gospel is bigger than your sin. If God can use the man who denied him in front of people three times (Peter) and the man who persecuted Christians (Paul), He can use you no matter the sin. If you have truly repented and confessed that you have sinned, your witness will go a lot further with people than just shoving your sin under the rug.

Do not let people in the church bring you to guilt because you blew it. If they do, they have no understanding of the grace of God. We will all sin sometimes in when we are in public. That is where we need grace when we have "blown it."