CONFRONTING THE TRUTH

If someone were to ask me, I would assert that my favorite part of the Bible is the first part, namely the first eleven chapters of Genesis. I read them as parables that speak to our humanity and are a reminder that we are all one and the same, no matter who we are, where we live or even when we live or have lived. Take the story of Adam and Eve after they have eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (By the way, there was no apple. Look it up is you don’t believe me.)

It is an excruciatingly painful experience to be caught red-handed, or, in the case of Adam and Eve, caught naked, literally and figuratively, which they were. No one wants to stand naked before anyone else, again, literally and figuratively. We all have flaws and would prefer that those flaws be seen only by ourselves. If another must see them, that other must be someone who loves us, as we are, unconditionally, flaws and all. Yet even then, we are often uncomfortable exposing those flaws, those failings and shortcomings, be they physical, personal or spiritual. For there are some truths about ourselves that we find are simply too painful to expose.

That, I think, is the message of this short parable. The writer is employing a very understandable simile to get across a very important message. When we are caught doing what we know we should not be doing, it is similar to standing physically naked for the entire world to see. To be sure there may be some exhibitionists who couldn't care less if anyone saw them in all their glory, which is how they would see it. The rest of us would be too embarrassed just as we are embarrassed when others sees us doing what they and we know we should not.

I suspect that it is more the fear of being caught naked that keeps us on the straight and narrow than it is our moral principles. Yes, we know what is right and wrong; but if we knew we could get away with doing wrong without anyone catching us in the act or ever discovering our deed, we would go ahead and do the wrong and enjoy the pleasure of it all. In fact, we do it all the time. Most sins we commit, the vast majority of them, are done with the belief that no one will ever know and that we can get away with the sin without ever being seen or caught.

But because we know we might get caught or because we are afraid of being caught, because we do not want to be exposed, and only because of that, do we refrain from doing what we are so often tempted to do. In the biblical story Adam and Eve never thought they would be caught. What was even worse was that they had no idea about how they would feel after they did what they did - and they only caught themselves, which, I think, is the point.

No one has to catch us in sin. We catch ourselves and are often surprised about how badly we feel afterwards. The truth is that standing in front of a mirror and confronting our own nakedness (sinfulness) is the most painful experience of all. Sometimes not wanting that feeling and only that keeps us on the right path. Sometimes but not always.