Articles
Under Surveillance
Have you seen any of the videos where a criminal is sneaking up to someone's home or business, suddenly notices the security camera, smiles, and slowly backs away? If you haven't, some are pretty funny. One guy got caught taking a wallet out of another man's pocket, notices the camera, and then drops the wallet on the floor, gets the man's attention, and is somehow the good Samaritan for "telling" the man he dropped his wallet. Then he looks at the camera, shrugs his shoulders, and makes some faces and motions as if to say, "I did the right thing".
No, you did what you did because you got caught doing the wrong thing, and tried to cover it up. God wants us to repent when we sin. He doesn't want us to try looking good while wiggling out of it. Being sorry for getting caught is not the same as being sorry for committing the sin.
Our repentance should be due to Godly sorrow, which is much different from being caught on surveillance video and being sorry because some civil authority may come knocking on our door. Godly sorrow is necessary if repentance is to be sincere and have the proper effect with regards to both us and God. "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." (2 Cor. 7:10)
We've long understood that faith detached from works is no good (James 2:26). Repentance detached from Godly sorrow is the same.
We know God is watching, He sees all we do, but sometimes we realize our situation, our sin, our position acutely, like the guy who walks onto the porch only to see the camera. We are, in that moment, aware that God is watching, and that we are not where we should be, or doing something we should not. May we do a total about-face with true repentance and Godly sorrow, not just smile, while we slowly back away, looking for another place with no cameras!
