What secret sin are you doing causing your church to suffer?

Joshua 7 gives us a sobering reminder that our secret sins have effects upon our family, our extended families, our churches, and maybe even the entire body of Christ. Let's look at the sin of Achan and see what his sin did to the nation of Israel.

Israel had strict instructions from the Lord in Joshua 6 to destroy everything in the city of Jericho that they just captured. Gold, silver, and other precious metals were allowed to be saved, but God commanded them to be completely donated to the temple treasury. At the beginning of Joshua 7 we see God zoom us in on the life of a man named Achan. But God draws a very interesting conclusion first before zooming in on Achan's sin. Let's look at verse 1 of chapter 7:

But Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the Lord. A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things, so the Lord was very angry with the Israelites. Achan was the son of Carmi, a descendant of Zimri son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah.

Did you notice the first sentence of this verse? God say's the nation of Israel violated the Lord's commands. We then are taken to the particulars of this sin in the second sentence. Ah! Achan had stolen some of these items that were intended for the temple coffers and, as such, God was angry with the entire nation of Israel. Wow! This is some serious stuff. Maybe God wasn't really angry at the entire nation. Let's look at some of the effects of this sin Achan committed as we look at verses 2 through 5:

Joshua sent some of his men from Jericho to spy out the town of Ai, east of Bethel, near Beth-aven. When they returned, they told Joshua, “There’s no need for all of us to go up there; it won’t take more than two or three thousand men to attack Ai. Since there are so few of them, don’t make all our people struggle to go up there.” So approximately 3,000 warriors were sent, but they were soundly defeated. The men of Ai chased the Israelites from the town gate as far as the quarries, and they killed about thirty-six who were retreating down the slope. The Israelites were paralyzed with fear at this turn of events, and their courage melted away.

Nope, God was upset with the entire nation here! God let Israel, the whole nation, suffer a tremendous defeat as they looked to take the city of Ai in Canaan. Remember, Israel was commanded by God to go into Canaan and conquer the cites and nations resident there. There were doing the will of the Lord, yet the Lord was no longer with them because of this sin of one person. That is pretty sobering!

I think the most telling part of the true effects of sin are in the last part of verse 5 above. Sin always paralyzes with fear and melts your courage away!

Verses 6 through 19 reveal how Joshua, the leader of the nation, worked through this defeat with the Lord, and how they subsequently came to understand that one person in their camp had caused this defeat by his secret sin. In summary, these verses remind us to be sure your sin will find you out, as God always reveals the perpetrator (in this life or, at the very least, in the next).

So once Achan is revealed as the culprit, what are the effects of this sin upon him and his family? Let's look at the verses 20 through 26 of God's Holy Word here:

Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. Among the plunder I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon, 200 silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest. So Joshua sent some men to make a search. They ran to the tent and found the stolen goods hidden there, just as Achan had said, with the silver buried beneath the rest. They took the things from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites. Then they laid them on the ground in the presence of the Lord. Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, tent, and everything he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor. Then Joshua said to Achan, “Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you.” And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies. They piled a great heap of stones over Achan, which remains to this day. That is why the place has been called the Valley of Trouble ever since. So the Lord was no longer angry.

Achan acknowledged his sin before the Lord, and explained his sin without mincing words. You don't get the sense he was trying to blame the Democrats or big government or childhood hangups here. He just really wanted the goods and, as he said, he just took them and hid them. Sound like a honest confession right? But, clearly, this was the last sin God was going to allow Achan to perform as he and his family were stoned to death. Maybe we can assume Achan was sorry he got caught but not sorry for his sin as you don't see any sort of repentance here -- Achan's just very "matter of fact." Confession of sin (i.e. yep, I did it and I will go on doing it), doesn't always equal repentance (i.e. I'm sorry I did it, and I will avoid doing it again).

Boy, aren't you glad in live in a time period of God's grace and that the Lord doesn't command our churches to do the same to each of us that harbor secret sins in our lives? Or does He? Maybe God still operates according to these principles, but instead of stoning us physically to death, He let's our lives, our families, and our churches die another way?

Maybe God let's the purpose of our lives, the fabric of our families, the character and influence of our churches become ineffective and rendered dead and useless because of secret sin that we, individuals, harbor in our lives. Maybe the inability of our churches to positively influence our neighborhoods, towns, and cities in this great land are just as obvious as the great heap of stones marking Achan's grave. Maybe we live in the Nation of Trouble because of the secret sins in our lives that, when revealed, we confess them openly -- maybe even unashamedly -- but we are not sorry for them.

Let us seek His face and desire to cast out any sin among and within us like Joshua and the nation of Israel. Let us repent from the sins we let creep into our lives that we think don't matter or effect others. Then maybe the Lord will no longer be angry with us and will shine His glorious face upon our families, churches, and nation once again.