West Texas, like a lot of places,  is full of quaint small towns that have become little time warps. From the “Enjoy Coke” signs on the lone cafe’ in town to the small church set way off the main road, entering these towns is like stepping back in time 40-50 years! Margie and I have spent a lot of time in towns like this primarily looking for antiques.  I remember on one short stop in Memphis, Texas I found a great old General Electric Radio. (love old electronics). It was decades old and was fairly priced.

As I considered the radio, I noticed a display in the next booth. It was a series of well dressed,  piles of ….er……well….. “poop”.  All were dressed as different historical figures. First was an Abe Lincoln “poop” – complete with beard and top hat. Next was the George Washington “poop” – (I think they came as a pair). Marilyn Monroe “poop”,  Laurel and Hardy “poop” and, if I remember correctly, there was a Princess Di “poop” (next to a miniature black Mercedes-Benz with severe damage, not funny.)

The point: Even dressed as famous people the little brown piles were still POOP! Well-dressed, stinky, nasty, dirty…. POOP!

Some Things to Consider….

• GOSSIP dressed up as prayer requests and shared with concern…is still GOSSIP (2 Cor. 12:20)
• WORRY that looks like Godly piety… is still WORRY (Luke 12:22)
• LUST kept secret….. is still LUST (Matt 5:28, Col.3:5)
• ARROGANCE wrapped in “leadership principles” …is still ARROGANCE (Mark 7:22)
• SELFISH AMBITION hidden in selfish networking… is still SELFISH AMBITION (Gal. 5:20)
• SLANDERING an “acceptable enemy”… is still SLANDER (Rom. 1:30)
• BITTERNESS…..well…. you get the idea

We all have a way of trying to make our sin look better than it really is…we dress it up in spiritual language, compensate ourselves that our motives are pure or hide behind “plausible deniability” but the reality remains…….. OUR SIN IS STILL SIN.  Nasty, dirty, stinky….. SIN!  (Romans 6:6)

Sin must be dealt with honestly before the Lord.

There is no freedom in simply disguising our sin.

We will find neither joy nor strength in our faith if we refuse to deal with the “sin that so easily entangles us” (Hebrews 12:1)

excerpt from The Bible Study Series, “Things They Did Not Tell Me About My Faith” – Hixon Frank 2007