Here’s a shocker: Lance Armstrong used drugs.
Prior to January, Armstrong had denied any wrongdoing when accused of doping with performance enhancing drugs. He shuddered with dismay when confronted with the tests that proved his guilt. He defended his honor when he was stripped of his titles and medals and reputation.
WeathersBut suddenly he had a change of heart. And on Jan. 17 he sat across from Oprah Winfrey, like a wounded soul with his therapist, and confessed openly his failure. “I’m a flawed character, as I well know,” Armstrong said. “All the fault and all the blame here falls on me.” And during their session, Winfrey asked, “At the time, it did not feel wrong?” “No,” Armstrong said. “Did you feel bad about it?” she asked again. “No,” he said.
And that sums it up. In Winfrey-World, what matters is not whether something is wrong, but whether it feels wrong. It is symptomatic of our whole postmodern climate. We are inundated these days with high-profile confessions of infidelity, molestation, drug use and embezzlement, of leaders squandering opportunities to demonstrate true character because they didn’t consider that their behavior should be dictated by what is right or wrong, regardless of how it feels at the moment.
Yet, once backed into a corner, they confess. Maybe for money. Maybe for less jail time. Like Armstrong, most of these confessions sound hollow. But then, it is hard to get all broken up about something that felt right when you did it, and only now, since you were caught, might have consequences beyond the moment. Saddest of all, they ask for pardon from a culture powerless to give any absolution, and they merely confirm their need for forgiveness rather than receive it. In our postmodern world, you can talk about guilt, but since no one has a standard for knowing if you are guilty, no one can offer you forgiveness.
To receive forgiveness, confession must have two essentials: guilt over the violation of a real righteousness, and a Judge who can forgive the guilty.
The standard is His righteousness, not our feelings. Or, as John summarizes, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).