Never Say Never

One of the movies my siblings and I repeatedly watched as kids was "An American Tail" and one of my favorite lines in the movie was, "Never say never". I was probably intrigued with that line because you had to use the word "never" and it is a strong absolute. Just like "never", my mom hated when we used the word, "always" because we used it literally when we tattled on each other and it wasn't used truthfully.

Even though I would affectionately call my mom a grammar nazi (yes, she's my number one reader), she wasn't teaching us kids to be grammatically correct. She wanted us to use our words with care.

Last month, my school was in the news because a teacher had an inappropriate relationship with a student. It was, and still is devastating for the staff because we never expected this teacher to be involved- it's almost like grieving a death. Unfortunately, these incidents have increased all over the U.S. and it's hard not to be desensitized by them because they've become so pervasive. Yet, when it happened to our staff, it made an impact on me and not one day has gone by that I don't think about the teacher or her family.

The whole incident conjures up so many emotions for me: compassion, grief, love, anger and shock. For teachers at my school, some are upset because this has cast a pall on our school. Some are sad because they were friends with the teacher. Some are disgusted with her and want nothing to do with her.

Whenever a high profile criminal case comes on the news, the community or neighborhood is interviewed. It is not unusual for those friends and neighbors of convicted killers to say, "He was a cool and nice guy. We never expected something like this" and my reaction has been, "Yeah, right. Are you kidding, how could you miss this?". Well, when I found out about the incident at my school, I was in disbelief and couldn't imagine that happening with this teacher. She was well-liked, involved in extra curricular activities and was even a union representative.

As a Christian, I shouldn't be shocked because the Bible clearly states that our hearts are desperately wicked and our flesh has a natural bent towards sin. The pride in my heart shouldn't pretend that I only possess goodness and love. In fact, when these kind of incidents occur, we ought to go to the Lord and pray for the right heart before Him-not pray as the Pharisees and thank the Lord that I'm not like one of the "dirty" tax collectors.

When someone's wrongdoing is made public, it is a sobering reminder that I am capable of ANY sin. God obviously has given us the ability to choose right from wrong but all of us can fall prey to temptation. It's easy to judge when we don't struggle with the same sin as someone else and even go so far to say, "I would never do that". This teacher probably didn't ever intend for her relationship with her student to go as far as it did, but sin is like the boiling frog syndrome. Sin disguises itself as righteous, it makes itself comfortable and nests itself in our hearts and deadens any sensitivity to true righteousness.

Whenever someone commits a horrific crime or an atrocity that warrants prison, it's easy to say that they deserve to go to hell. The truth of the matter is that we've all fallen short of God's standards and we all deserve hell.

While I don't feel compelled to bail out this teacher, I feel compelled to either visit or write a letter of encouragement to her. I can't condone her actions but I can pray for her own heart. Does she have the assurance of God's grace? Does she know that when we come to Him with a contrite heart and choose to trust Him, He will pardon every transgression? Does she know that He is the God of all comfort and is the true definition of mercy, compassion and justice? My role in this is to impart these truths to her, her family and to those around me.

Even though this incident is grievous and devastating, I've been reminded to be wary of any pride in my heart and to remain vigilant that I am capable of the most heinous of sins even though I have a personal relationship with Christ.

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins-Ecclesiastes 7:20

Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?-Proverbs 20:9

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us-I John 1:8

The LORD is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always chide,

nor will he keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us-Psalm 103:8-12

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”- Psalm 91:1-2