Spiritual Blindness in the Church (A word for those that don't think they need it)

A blind man once said, “you know for you to see what I see; you would need to look behind you right now and tell me what’s there without turning around.” Profound, right? Most people (like me) thought that those with that disability saw black or darkness all of the time, you know like we do when we close our eyes… but they don’t.

They don’t see anything at all. It really blew my mind when I heard it because thinking about the concept of nothing baffles me. And much like the universe before God spoke it into existence, “nothing” is what we sometimes see in regards to the sin in our own lives. Baffling, isn’t it?

In the book of 2 Samuel, we find King David looking through those same eyes. The same David who had been a seeker of God was now a seeker of himself yet failed to see his wrong. It wasn’t until Nathan came and showed David accountability that his eyes were opened, and he began to seek God again. Praise the Lord!

The Root of Temptation

Have you faced temptation recently? Sometimes these moments are challenging to take on, and sometimes they’re relatively easy to overcome. James tells us that “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” James 1:14 ESV. Now that may shock you, or it may ring true, but the fact remains, and that fact speaks to the very depths of our hearts.

Scripture is vital in moments of temptation because the culture will scream, “HE MADE ME DO THIS”…when he didn’t… and she didn’t either. Your temptation and mine come by way of desire, and that desire is our own.

The desire to tell them off.

The desire to be lazy.

The desire to withhold a helping hand.

Hard to feel prideful at this moment, amen?

David’s Sin

David, in his moment of temptation, had the desire to have sex with Bathsheba. The problem was that she was already married…and not to King David. But that didn’t keep him from moving forward.

He saw her, brought her in, and committed to the act that he set out to do. Now, I’m tempted to talk about how heartbreaking that is, but I’m compelled to shy back for a moment to attempt to be as broken over my own sin as I am King David’s.

That’s how it is oftentimes, isn’t it? It’s so easy to pick out, be angered by, and even broken by the sin in the lives of others but we’re desensitized to our own. I pray that God does a mighty work in us so that we will hate the ungodly things we desire.

Nathan Rebukes David

Nathan, in moments after (not sure how many), came to King David. Now, at this point, David had not only slept with Bathsheba but had also gotten her pregnant and then sent her husband Uriah to the front lines of battle so that death was inevitable for him. David had gotten to the point where he would rather have a man killed than for his own doing to be exposed.

If you feel like you’re too far gone for God to help you, I pray that God would use this message to help you see the truths of His love.

Nathan was bold when speaking to David.

He told him this story about a rich man and a poor man. Nathan told him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” (2 Sam. 12:1-4 ESV)

And much like we may be upon hearing this, so was David. He was angry. He went so far as to say, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” (v.5-6)

I can almost feel his emotions when I read this and see how the wickedness of this man stirred up a fire in King David. And right when David has just laid into the actions of this man, the climax of the story peaks with Nathan’s words; “You are the man!” (v.7)

And oftentimes, so are we.

Our desires entangle us as we seek to further the kingdom of self and begin to lose sight of the truth. Oh Lord gives us fresh eyes to see!!

For believers today, we always have The Holy Spirit in us, leading us and guiding us, but I can’t ignore the idea that we still miss the truth at points. It seems that we are just as blind as David in regards to certain sins in our lives.

I mean, he saw what he did, and obviously so because he tried covering it up, but he didn’t see the weight of the matter. He didn’t understand the depths of how he sinned against the Lord. Not until Nathan came, at least.

My Hope

My final prayer for you and me is that we would speak the words David spoke after Nathan had given the word from God; “I have sinned against the Lord.” And that we would turn from our sin, showing our repentance in a likeness to David’s, shown in Psalm 52. For, No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” John 3:6 ESV

Grace and Peace

Cole McKinney

Pastor / Writer | cole7028@hotmail.com

Cole McKinney is a local preacher from Southside VA. He is a graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Bachelors Degree in Christian Counseling.