In December 2005, I walked into a church that my bosses had been trying to get me to attend for a while. I didn’t really wanna go, but my parents were coming to visit for Christmas and I knew they’d want to go to church, so I sucked it up and said I would go.
I walked into that church with the weight of the world on my shoulders. The weight of my past. The weight of sins done to me. The weight of my own sins. It wasn’t just weight; I had a chip on my shoulder the size of the Frito-Lays factory.
The day I walked into that church I was in a relationship with another woman.
I walked through the doors and this Indian guy with long gray hair walked up to me and welcomed me with a smile AND a hug. Back up, buddy! Men weren’t allowed to hug me. He had crossed a boundary he didn’t even know I had.
But something strange happened. I didn’t want to punch him in the face. Maybe it was partly because we were standing in a church and that would probably be frowned upon. And partly because It felt okay. It didn’t make me mad. It didn’t make me scared. It made me feel welcome in a world where I had always struggled to feel welcome.
Good thing I didn’t punch that guy. Turns out he was the worship pastor.
“Love covers a multitude of sins.” – 1 Peter 4:8
Do we believe that or is it just words on a page?
I don’t remember the sermon. I don’t remember anything about the songs they sang. I don’t remember who else said hello to me. But I remember that worship pastor guy seemed pretty genuine.
I wanted to go back. Jammie did too. So, we went back the next Sunday. And the Sunday after that. And the Sunday after that. And the same thing kept happening week after week. People welcomed us. They loved us. And that worship pastor guy kept hugging me.
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I walked through those doors week after week with the weight of sin on my shoulders. And week after week, love continued to cover the multitude of my sins. Not judgment, but love.
We never publicly shared our relationship. We were afraid too. We knew judgment would come. We knew we might get kicked out of the church. We were afraid of the opinions of others. And I couldn’t handle getting rejected.
In hindsight, what fools we were. People knew. They weren’t stupid. But they didn’t have to point out our sins personally to us. They were trusting Holy Spirit to do what He does best, convict with love. They just continued to love, covering the multitude of my sins.
Turns out that worship pastor guy wasn’t fooled at all.
We were introduced to Bible studies and small groups. We volunteered in the children’s ministry, loving on kiddos. It seemed like every time the doors were opened, we were there.
And every single time we showed up, love covered the multitude of our sins.
For six months I showed up over and over again, wanting to learn more. Wanting to see if these people were who they really said they were. They were.
I spent six months watching that worship pastor guy interact with people. Love people. Laugh with people. Hug people. I waited for him to be someone different than who he was on that church stage. He just wouldn’t do it. He was who he was.
Six months after walking into that church and being embraced by that worship pastor guy, I got on my knees in my office after a church service and told Jesus I didn’t want to do this life without Him.
All the sermons I’d heard. All the worship music that moved me to tears. All the deep conversations in Bible study. All the while still holding my secrets in. All the love that had spent six months covering my multitude of sins. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I wanted that freedom everyone kept talking about.
It was raining that day, on July 31, 2006, but I don’t remember anything else. I take that back. I remember one thing. I remember feeling like I could finally take a deep breath. A sigh of relief. Jesus. I wanted Jesus.
I share this today because I want to plead with the church.
I want to ask us all to awaken our souls to pay attention to how we’re reacting to the world.
Are we covering the sins of others with love, or are we walking in judgment?
Are we hugging the broken without asking questions, trusting Holy Spirit can handle the hard stuff?
Are we inviting others out for breakfast who don’t look like us or talk like us?
Oh, I am guilty of not doing it, too.
Pastors, we need to talk about the hard things. We need to talk about sin. We need to talk about homosexuality, abortion, gluttony, addiction, perversion, gossip. We need to talk about it ALL.
But remember this…. It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it.
Love cover a multitude of sins. And loving well includes talking about hard things; things the world doesn’t agree with.
But remember this…. It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it.
Love covers a multitude of sins.