An idle heart goes looking for trouble

Continuing the series The Making of a Leader, Pastor Juliet Lyons reminds the church that every person in the room is a leader, whether of a family, a team, a friend group or simply themselves. She opens with a study in which people left alone in a room with nothing but a button that gave them an electric shock chose to shock themselves out of boredom, 67% of the men among them. We don't do well with an idle heart. When we have no purpose, our natural default is to go looking for something to fill the void, even if it hurts us. Our worst moment, she says, doesn't define us or get the final word on our lives. Only God does.

See, want, take

David has just become king over all Israel. He has taken Jerusalem, brought the ark home and won battle after battle. Then, in the spring when kings go out to war, he stays in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1). From the palace roof he sees Bathsheba, the daughter of one of his mighty warriors, the wife of another and the granddaughter of his trusted counselor Ahithophel. He knows exactly who she is and sends for her anyway. It didn't start as a huge mistake, only as being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then it snowballed. The enemy has run the same play since the garden: see, want, take. Eve saw, wanted and took. David saw the woman, wanted her and took her.

Four ditches that lead to sin

Pastor Juliet names four ditches we fall into if we're not careful. The first is thinking too highly of ourselves; pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18), and research shows that success and power can dull our empathy for others. The second is living disengaged from purpose. David gave himself a day off when he belonged on the battlefield, and purpose provides protection.

The third is letting small compromises desensitize us to the big ones, as one missed day of work led David to lust, manipulation, adultery and murder. The fourth is forgetting that God sees everything. David told no one for over a year, until the prophet Nathan confronted him (2 Samuel 12:7–12). Just because no one sees doesn't mean there is no consequence before God.

Confess and accept

So you made a mistake. What now? David processes his failure in Psalm 51: "Against you, and you alone, have I sinned" (Psalm 51:4). Confrontation should lead to confession and correction, not to the blame game Saul played when he was corrected. An honest confession makes way for deep forgiveness and an even deeper connection, and unconfessed secrets weigh us down because the mind keeps going back to them (Psalm 32:3). Then we accept both God's forgiveness and the consequences of our actions. God's discipline is not God's rejection, and His forgiveness doesn't mean we aren't accountable. Repent and return, and times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).

Worship through it all

Pastor Juliet's children have learned that there is never a time they can't come to her for a hug, even in the middle of being told off. They know where to run when they have done wrong. When David's son dies, he gets up, washes, changes his clothes and goes into the house of the Lord to worship (2 Samuel 12:20). He doesn't disappear, lick his wounds or live in the fear of man, as Saul did. He acknowledges it and moves on. Lesson learned, lesson loaded. Pastor Juliet prays that Elan Church would let its mistakes form it, not break it, and keep worshiping through it all.

Return to purpose

Leaders have to learn to pick themselves up after a mistake and get back on mission. By the end of 2 Samuel 12, David is back at Rabbah, finishing the battle he should have been fighting all along, and returning to a life of obedience, humility and purpose. Pastor Juliet adds a caveat: returning to the purposes of God doesn't always mean returning to the same position, and sometimes the consequence is the cost of that very position. That is godly accountability, and we can walk through the fallout faithfully, knowing that God will bring an even closer relationship out of what happened.

Stand corrected

The message closes with the church on its feet for a song of response. Confession is nothing without correction, Pastor Juliet says, and nothing will change unless we stand corrected and change our ways. She invites everyone to let the words wash over them and to bring to God what they have been hiding, because the enemy only has a hold on what we refuse to expose.