When certain kind of squid are frightened, they will emit an ink-like substance which confuses matters for their attackers. The more ink, the more confusion – rather like a newspaper. But we sinners do the same sort of thing. We are warned that ‘Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper’ (Prov.28:13a), precisely because that is the very thing which we try to do. James tells us that ‘each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire’ (James 1:14). It is our own fault when we sin, whatever the extenuating circumstances. Yet that is an unpleasant truth so we invariably try to squirt the ink if we can.
All this goes back to the Fall in Genesis 3. When God confronted Adam with his sin, Adam tried to appear to play a straight bat: ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate’ (Gen.3:12). What is Adam doing here? Is he lying? Strictly speaking, no. Every word he utters is true. It is just that the sentence as a whole is an exercise in blame-shifting. He is trying to justify his own actions by appearing to give a straightforward account of events.
Ever since the Fall, we have looked for some way to conceal or cover our sins. It is not surprising to read that ‘those who get drunk are drunk at night’ (1 Thess. 5:7). This provides some cover for bad behaviour. Aaron sought to take refuge under the cover of vagueness in the aftermath of the Golden Calf apostasy. When confronted by his brother, Moses, Aaron in an almost childish way, ‘explained’: ‘I said to them, “Let any who have gold take it off.” So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf’ (Exodus 32:24). He tries to make it sound like the calf made itself! But haven’t we all done it? Your mother asked: ‘What are you doing?’ And your answer was ‘Nothing’, which being translated means ‘I am uncomfortable, get off my back, and let’s go onto another subject.’
A favourite tactic is to shift the blame onto someone else. Ahab the Baal-worshipping king, called Elijah ‘you troubler of Israel’ (1 Kings 18:17) and later exclaimed: ‘Have you found me, O my enemy?’ (1 Kings 21:20) He was trying to imply – to himself as much as to anybody else – that Elijah was the aggressor who was causing all the conflict in Israel. If it is getting too hot in your part of the room, light a diversionary fire in another part. When Festus heard Paul’s testimony, his patience gave way, and he boomed out: ‘Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind’ (Acts 26:24). The problem could not be in Festus; it must therefore be in Paul. Any excuse for not listening to the apostolic witness!
Felix’s predecessor was a man called Festus who had divorced his first wife, Drusilla, to marry a Jewish princess of the same name. Paul seized the opportunity to reason with him about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment. These were not Felix’s favourite subjects, and he became alarmed, and told Paul: ‘Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you’ (Acts 24:25). We are not shocked to learn that no such opportunity arose for the next two years, and then Felix was succeeded by Festus.
By nature we are not good but we want to appear good. We call evil good and good evil (Isa.5:20). We are not proud, but we want our due; we are not ambitious but ready to serve as leader and resentful if we are not called to do so; we are not gossiping but sharing; we are not compromising but tolerant and loving. There may even be a sort of half-repentance where an unclean spirit leaves us and we have the appearance of being respectable for a time. But then it all collapses, and our final state is worse than the first (Luke 11:24-26). If the problem is concealing sin, the solution is in confessing and forsaking it in order to obtain mercy (Prov.28:13b). When we face reality, we do not squirt the ink that is meant to confuse so we can take evasive action. We face the truth of sin and the wonder of grace. To paraphrase Blaise Pascal: ‘There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who know they are sinners and the sinners who pretend they are righteous.’
With warmest regards in Christ,
Peter Barnes