The Silent Poison of Isolation

I recently received some bad news.  I learned that a man I greatly admire was drawn into a very deep sin.

I was sick.  Physically sick.  I wanted to leave work.  I wanted to cry.

Destruction.  There is so much destruction.  Families.  Careers.  Coworkers.  Peers.  The scores of lives who had been influenced by a great man.

I do not wish to paint a portrait of hopelessness and despair.  There are enough of those in circulation already...let the world help you find one.  But I do not wish to paint a superficial landscape of cheap grace and shallow forgiveness either.

I want to sound a warning.  I want to crank the air raid sirens.  I want to caution those who would flirt with the edge of a precipice.

Sin will kill you.

It will consume your very soul.

No sin is to be taken lightly.  No temptation should be shrugged off.  But sin is not often obvious.  It won't look like a trap until you are desperately ensnared.  It won't seem painful until your life is bleeding away.  You won't seem responsible until you've sabotaged the very people you care about the most.

We are most vulnerable when we are alone.  Ask any Wildebeest.  A lion will always be incapable of attacking a large herd of animals.  But he finds success when his prey has become isolated.  When you are alone you are outmatched.  This has always been true.

Eve was alone in the Garden.  Moses was alone with the Egyptian.  David was alone on his roof.

Isolation is a silent poison.  It will numb your senses.  It will blur your vision.  It will bend the truth.

It will kill you.

We live in an isolated society.  In a recent survey, a majority of Americans said they struggle with loneliness.  But our malady is self inflicted.  We sequester ourselves with movies, smart phones, Netflix binges, ear buds, Facebook, sports games, hobbies, Starbucks, or thousands of other distractions.  Insert yours   here  .

When you are alone, there is no one to keep you from walking off a cliff.  No one to take your keys when you shouldn't be driving.  No one to take you to the hospital when you've cut your arm off.

When you isolate yourself, you are an easy mark.

I Peter 5:8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 

 So when are you isolated?

When you're in the car on the drive home?  When your parents leave for the weekend?  When no one sees your addiction for what it is?  When your coworker "harmlessly" flirts with you?  When you're in front of the computer at 2am?

Thankfully, there is another way.

Colossians 3:5

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Community.  Accountability.  Brotherhood.  Hard questions.  Harder answers.  Admission of guilt.  Pleas for forgiveness.  True repentance.

None of these things takes place in isolation.  Will power and resolution are not enough to effect healing.  Restoration is possible by the work of the Holy Spirit and the caring hand of a brother.

Friend, do not be deceived.  You will not isolate yourself and avoid its pitfalls.  You will not place your hand in fire without being burned.  Sin, like an onrushing train, cannot be ignored.

Maybe you lack the means to fight isolation and sin on your own.  I would even assume that you do.  Would you be bold enough to ask for help?  Ask for prayer?  Ask for advice?

Community is the antidote that can counteract the affects of isolation.  Let us fight together.

Lord, give us the grace and the boldness to be ruthless with sin.  Show us how build each other up.  Teach us to build walls against temptation.  Help us to build together.  Erect your Kingdom in our hearts.  Amen.