What of those who stumble and fall?

I have known too many Christians in who, as Paul called it, “shipwrecked” their faith.  Mostly men, but a few women, who destroyed their witness and tarnished their good deeds through a huge error later on in life, usually the sin of lust.  Coming to terms with this isn’t easy.  These are people that took a wonderful gift, God’s amazing grace through Jesus, and seemingly squandered it by making everything they did or said in the past seem like a waste.  Those of you who know me are probably thinking of some of the same individuals, if you don’t know me, you are likely to know some people yourself that fit this description.  Instead of asking questions about theology, and getting into a Calvinist vs. Arminian debate, let me instead share the words of the Biblical commentator from the 18^th century, Matthew Henry.

                The occasion for Matthew Henry’s quote is his commentary on 2 Chronicles 16, the end of King Asa’s life.  Asa had been a tremendous man of God, full of piety, zeal, and faith, but he stumbled badly at the end, committing sin when his trust in God faltered, and refusing to repent when God sent a prophet to correct him.  The text doesn’t tell us that Asa reconciled with God before he died, when last it speaks of him he is still refusing to seek God’s face.  What do we say of such a man, do we applaud his earlier victories won through faith, or do we focus upon the disappointing ending of an otherwise exemplary life?  As someone who conducts funerals, this question is certainly practical for me, but it also speaks to the pain that my heart feels for brothers and sisters in Christ who have drifted away, or sometimes sprinted away, from their faith.

                Henry’s charitable, and also I think in keeping with God’s abundant grace, view of such lives was this, “The eminent piety and usefulness of good men ought to be remembered to their praise, though they have had their blemishes.  Let their faults be buried in their graves, while their services are remembered over their graves.”  We won’t have an answer to our wondering about people who end poorly, but focusing upon that which was good in their life and letting God deal with that which was bad, seems like the right way to go to me.