Sin Wedge

Yesterday, a friend wanted to talk to me about "stuff" that has been going on in his/her life. During the course of our conversation they began revealing to me sin issues that have been going on for quite some time now. They told me that they had been carrying this weight around, and had very few people to talk to. This person told me that they had not come to me sooner because they were afraid that I would be disappointed in them. The conversation prompted serveral feelings in me, but the strongest feeling I felt was anger. Not at the person, not at the sin. My anger was directed towards the "church" (when I say church I mean worldwide, not the body I fellowship with) The church has allowed people to be fake. They have almost encouraged Christians to be nice and pretty. The fact is, we all have junk in our closet. Most marriages struggle, many people have taken drugs, drank a few too many drinks, been involved in fornication....you name it, a Christian has done it. But instead of talking about our issues, repenting and finding freedom, we put our efforts into making sure no one finds out. The results we get from that are large bodies of people who meet together on Sundays all wondering what the people to the right and left of them would think if they really knew what was going on in their lives. Christ came to set us free, we are free indeed. So what if someone finds out that my friend struggles, odds are there are many more just like him/her. The sad part of this issue is, with my friend, and with many others is that sin puts a wedge in our relationships. Not only do we deal with the shame of our sin, but we deal with that shame alone. So the enemy gets two points instead of just one, by separating us from our brothers and sisters in Christ.