Then his servants said to him (King David), "What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food."Ã?Â� And he said, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live. But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.'"   ---II Samuel 12:21-23

     The Apostle Paul likely encountered many people in his missionary travels who were friends and relatives of people he persecuted before He met Christ. Missionary Hans Egede brought European diseases to the people of Greenland he sought to reach with the Gospel, very nearly wiping them out in the process. How did these men face the people they had harmed? What prevented them from being disabled by their guilt?

     The Scripture passage above catches David after his humiliation in the Bathsheba scandal. The prophet Nathan declares David's sin publicly, and tells him of the consequences. Now a child is dead, the direct result of David's actions. David had been praying earnestly for God to relent and spare the child, so much so that his servants were worried he might harm himself when told of the child's death. That's why they were so puzzled when David reacted with calm.

     What do we do when we damage our testimony for Christ by our actions or words?

     Maybe it's the time we blew up in anger at one of our workers, or at a coworker. Maybe it's the time we got caught in a lie, or were disciplined for a performance problem. Maybe we've been caught spreading gossip, or trashing the reputation of someone in our office. Maybe our failures were more serious. Most of us have at one time or another suffered the humiliation of being caught in actions that betray our roles as Christians. These inconsistencies cause us to be sheepish, and can sometimes humiliate us. How should we handle those moments of faith-failure, when we've damaged the Kingdom of God in the eyes of our coworkers or dishonored God in our actions.

     David's pattern in this encounter serves us well. First, we must declare our error candidly. Did you blow up in front of others? Then apologize in front of them also. Apologize to them as well as to the object of your wrath. Don't  taint the apology with an excuse. Second, we must realize that while others are wronged, the sin is against God. "Against thee, and thee only have I sinned." says David in Psalm 51. Realizing this truth highlights the importance of rectifying our relationship with the Father even before we attempt to mitigate the consequences of our actions. In other words, we must seek the Father's forgiveness first.

     Then we must pray that others are spared the consequences of our sinful behavior. Ask God to cause others to see our failure as indeed our failure, and not a reflection of the King we serve.

     Finally, recognize that sometimes the consequences simply cannot be avoided and must be endured. We must always mourn those consequences, but we can never allow those consequences to so consume us that we cease to be servants in His Creation.

     Satan delights not only in the victory of the moment of our sin, but in the fallout of inactivity that snares us in our remorse. When we've blown our witness, we are humbled and perhaps even humiliated, but we are never granted permission to take ourselves out of the work we're called to do in His service.

...for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again...    Proverbs 24:16

---Randy Kilgore