... that was embarrassing...

Have you ever been out in public and tripped over something? The very first thing you do when you recover is look around to see if anyone is looking. It's embarrassing.

I was running sound at this church and needed to get on stage to set something up. For a moment, I thought back to my glory days as an athlete as I jogged down the aisle. I looked at the stage, carefully measured, leaped into the air like a graceful gazelle!

Unfortunately, my foot caught the edge of the stage and I went sprawling across the floor. Several people ran over to me to see if I was okay. All I could do was laugh. If I would have thought about the extra 30 pounds I'm carrying, and the fact that I hadn't tried to jump in like 5 years, I would have known.

That was an embarrassing fall.

On TV, there have also been other embarrassing falls of a different kind. Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Baker, Bishop Eddy Long. We all seem less forgiving when there's a spiritual fall.

One of the things that I struggle with as a Christian is that we don't prepare the people in our churches with how to respond accordingly when they mess up in their Christian walk. A lot of times, people don't discuss their struggles or when they fall because they don't want to be in the spotlight. This results in them living in secret sin that doesn't really help them repent, change, or do better.

Jesus, taught his disciples how to respond.

In Luke 22:31-32, Jesus looks at Peter and says:

"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers. (NLT)

Wow... Jesus took the time to instruct Peter on how to respond when he fell into temptation and failed!

• Repent
• Turn to me again
• Strengthen your brothers

So many times, we try to hide our sins. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we should embrace them... we shouldn't. But we do need to repent, turn to God, and strengthen our fellow Christians by letting them know what we did, and that we've repented, and that we all need to struggle together to achieve all that God has planned for us.