Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - America's Biggest Lie

Watch most movies or sitcoms today and you will find people living openly in sexual sin, habitual lies and deceit. What you won't see are the consequences of living this way. If the unveiling of Tiger Woods' extramarital affairs were put into a movie, we would likely see a story of steaming-hot bedroom scenes and a prolific athlete on the golf course.

However, you can read the headlines in real life and see that Tiger is not the only person who is suffering consequences from his broken vows. The market value lost to companies who sponsored him is currently at 12 billion dollars, and we won't even get into the long-term effects on his family.

America's biggest lie is that you can live however you want and not have to worry about suffering consequences. I recall a teenage girl I knew in high school who told her mother, "I can have sex with anybody I want and it's not any of your business." And 15 years later she can't figure out why she is having significant marriage problems.

There's a lot more at stake than we realize when it comes to living godly lives. You are the only Jesus many non-Christians will ever see. What happens to their chances at Jesus when they see us living no different than people who could care less about God?

This verse from Proverbs really captures the reality of what happens when we "blow it" in front of the lost. "Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked" (Proverbs 25:26 ). In other words, the picture they have of Christianity is no longer clear. It is polluted. And when it is polluted, it's not desirable anymore.

Non-Christians must see the Jesus difference in us as we seek to live a life that matters. Before we decide to compromise with sin, we need to calculate the devastating results of what our choices could bring. Those results will almost always include destroying the testimony of Jesus to the lost world.

I'm reminded of the words of the apostle Paul when he said "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love" (Galatians 5:13 ). What areas of your life are you compromising in small ways and justifying?