Good morning. I want to preach to you about how to admit you're wrong. How to admit you're wrong.
Now, this is an important subject because it needs to be preached because a lot of people struggle with this.
They struggle with the ability to admit that they're wrong when they are wrong.
And, of course, it's easy to admit when we're wrong about little things, when we dial the wrong number, right?
We say, sorry about that. Or we take the wrong turn.
You know, it's easy for us to admit that we're wrong about little things.
But often in life, when big things happen, when we're wrong about something that has more serious consequences,
or even minor consequences, be it in the workplace or a church or wherever, whatever the setting might be,
it's difficult for us to admit sometimes that we're wrong.
And really, that's why I titled it how to admit you're wrong.
Because we need to understand how to do that.
The fact is that we're going to be wrong at times.
All of us. None of us is perfect.
And it's important that we understand how to do this because of the fact that our mistakes have consequences.
And those consequences often don't only affect us, but they also affect those around us.
The mistakes that we make. That's why it's important that we own up to those mistakes and correct them.
So that's what I want to preach to you about this morning. How to admit that you're wrong.
And really, of course, one of the biggest motivations to even endeavor to learn how to admit you're wrong
would be to understand why you need to admit you're wrong.
So we need to understand, first of all, you know, if we're going to understand how to admit we're wrong,
we need to understand, first of all, why we should be willing to admit that we're wrong.
Now you're there in Genesis chapter 3, look at verse 8 where the Bible reads,
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden the cool of the day.
And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
And the Lord God called Adam, uh, unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.
And he said, Who told thee that thou was naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereby humanity that thou shouldest not eat?
And the man said, The woman that thou gavest with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is it that thou this that thou hast done?
And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Now keep something in Genesis 3, we're going to come back to it later in the sermon, but go ahead and turn over to Romans 5.
Keep something in Genesis 3 and then turn over to Romans 5.
So one of the reasons why we need to admit that we're wrong when we're wrong is because of the fact that we are all going to be wrong.
Why do you need to learn this morning, uh, how to admit you are wrong?
Because of the fact that you are going to be wrong.
Every single one of us is going to make mistakes, every single one of us is going to do the wrong thing.
And it's important that we learn how to admit we're wrong because we are all going to be wrong.
Because we're all sinners, and we see this is where it starts, isn't it?
With Adam and Eve, they have that fallen nature, they do, they disobey, they do the wrong thing.
God clearly told them not to eat of that tree, and they went ahead and did it anyway.
And because of that, we've inherited that nature, we have that tendency in us to do the wrong thing.
This is why we don't have to instruct our children on how to do the wrong thing.
It comes to them naturally.
They don't need to be told how to lie, how to steal, how to cheat, how to do all these wrong things that are contrary to the word of God.
It's not just in us, it's something that we're born with.
Look there in Romans 5 verse 12.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
We've inherited that same nature that Adam has.
And that nature is one that tends to do the wrong thing.
So that's one reason why we should learn how to admit we're wrong.
Because we all have that tendency in us to do the wrong thing.
But not only that, because a lot of the times when we do the wrong thing, a lot of other people already know it.
We'll do something wrong and others around us will say, well that guy's doing the wrong thing, that lady's doing the wrong thing.
And we need to be willing to admit that, and confess that, and own up to that.
If you go, if you would, over to Galatians chapter 6, Galatians chapter 6.
Galatians 6 beginning of verse 1, the Bible says,
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye of which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness,
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Bury ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
And the Bible's showing us right there that really when we think that we're something, when we're nothing, we're not fooling the others around us.
The only person that is being deceived is ourselves.
So we need to be willing to admit that we're wrong because of the fact that everybody else knows we're wrong.
You know, obviously if it's something that's that obvious and that apparent, it only takes somebody to just look at a situation,
or look at a decision that you've made, or where you're at in life and say, oh this person has done this something wrong here.
And again, in any situation you want to put that in, whether it be as an employer to an employee, from one spouse to another,
as parents to children, within a church setting, just out in the world in general,
people can look at our situation, they can look at the decisions we've made and say this person has done something wrong here.
And often if we don't, a lot of times we don't want to admit that we're wrong because we want to deceive ourselves and say,
no I've done the right thing here. I know I'm doing the right thing.
It can be hard to admit that we're wrong.
And we'll get into a little bit more later, of course, as the sermon is entitled, how to admit we're wrong.
And what it's going to take for us to be able to do that.
You see, not owning up to your wrongdoing, that's a form of deception.
And a lot of people sometimes when they get called on the carpet for wrongdoing, instead of just saying, yeah I did the wrong thing, you're right.
They start to do a lot of different things. They try to deceive themselves.
And really what they're trying to do is deceive you.
But if you have half a brain, a lot of times you can see it coming and you know that they're just trying to not own up to having done wrong.
A lot of times you will go to people and say, hey we already know the situation.
We already know that you've made this mistake.
We already know you're the one to blame. We already know where the fault lies.
And you'll go to that person, you'll confront them with it, and you can just watch people start to just not own up to it.
And they'll start to try to deceive you.
But here's the thing, the only person they're deceiving is themselves.
Because we already know the truth.
You know, if you're going to somebody about a situation, and this shows up in different ways.
A lot of times it's just non-direct answers.
And this is the practical part of it.
You can actually watch somebody start to say, hey did you notice such and such a thing?
Did you know this was the case? And you already know they knew about it.
Did you know about this? How long have you known about it?
They'll stutter, they'll stammer, they'll kind of slightly acknowledge, yeah I guess, you know, maybe, I suppose, about, you know, whatever.
It's really vague, they get a lot of vague answers.
And then they'll just start throwing a lot of details around a situation.
They'll start throwing out a lot of, well this and that, making up a lot of excuses.
But the one thing they won't do is say, yeah that was my fault.
Yeah you're right, I messed up.
You know, I've even seen people just completely ignore the person asking, making the inquiry.
Saying, hey something's wrong, did you know about this?
We already know that you know about it.
We're just seeing if you own up to it.
And saying, hey did you know about this?
Did you notice this?
And they'll just put their fingers in their ears.
I've seen this.
Well they'll just, you know, kids will do this sometimes.
Maybe if I just pretend I didn't hear them, they'll go away.
You know, I'll just sit in the corner, I am not listening to this.
And they'll just open their eyes and it's all gone away.
And that doesn't work.
And yet, I've seen even adults do this.
So we need to understand why we should admit we're wrong and not try to deceive people.
Because it's important, until we understand why that we must admit we're wrong, we'll never understand how to admit we're wrong.
The Bible says in Proverbs 29, 19, a servant will not be corrected by words.
For though he understand, he will not answer.
You know, the Bible's showing there's some people, you can't correct them with words.
You can't come to them and say, hey I know you did this, is this your fault?
They'll call you on the carpet.
And some people, though they understand who's at fault, they will not answer.
They'll try to deceive you, or they'll just try to give a non-answer.
Or they'll try to just pretend that this line of inquisition or inquiry just isn't taking place.
And sometimes they'll even go so far as to resort to lying about it.
They'll just flat out lie and say, no it wasn't me.
Well we got footage, we know it's you.
There was a guy in a clever plastic suit that looked like me.
People go to great ends sometimes in lying and trying to get out.
Instead of just doing the simple thing, you're just owning up to the truth and admitting it.
And we have to be careful about this because, you know, lying takes a lot of different forms.
And when we're trying to avoid guilt or dodge guilt and we start to not admit when we're wrong,
what we're really doing is we're lying in one form or another.
And we have to be careful because who is the father of lies?
He's the devil.
The Bible says that when he speaketh of a lie, he speaketh of his own.
For he is a liar and the father of it.
Lying is a big sin and it's not something that we want to have anything to do with.
Now of course we all tend to do that out of just trying to save face.
A lot of times that's our instinct.
But we should be very careful not to tell lies.
Some people will say, I've heard this, some people will say, you know, honesty is the best policy.
Well really our motto should be honesty is the only policy.
When you say honesty is the best policy, you're saying well maybe there's another policy that's not as good as honesty.
What it'll do.
Honesty should be our only policy.
And we'll save ourselves a lot of heartache and we'll save ourselves a lot of humiliation if when we're wrong,
we're willing to just admit it and own up to it and endure the consequences that come.
So why should you admit you're wrong?
A lot of times it's because, first of all, you're a sinner just like me.
We're all sinners.
We're all going to be wrong from time to time.
Granted some of us are going to be more wrong than often, right?
All the wives are like, yo.
They're all nodding their heads vigorously.
So we're all going to make mistakes.
We're all sinners.
We're all going to be wrong.
Another reason why is because a lot of times when you're getting called on the carpet for something,
having done something or whatever it is, that person already knows you're the one to blame.
That person already knows you're the one that comes wrong.
So there's no point in not admitting you're wrong.
And we don't want to resort to lying.
But one of the main reasons why we should be willing to admit that we're wrong is so that we can get it right.
Say hey, you're never, you know, even the world understands this.
That the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.
So, you know, one of the reasons why we should be willing to admit that we're wrong is so that we can get it right and fix it.
You know, you can't fix what you refused to admit is broken.
You know, if your car starts to break down and make funny noises, you can't just drive it down the road and wish it away.
You know, you've got to take the mechanic and pay somebody to fix that thing.
Somebody has to diagnose it and say, this is the problem. This is what needs fixed.
It's the same way with our lives. If we're going to get things right in our life, we have to admit these things are wrong.
What we're doing is wrong and then we can fix it.
And, you know, we should definitely, I mean, if we were, let's continue with that analogy of the car.
If we were to take our car to the mechanic and pull it in and say, hey, I noticed something a little funny about my car.
And he said, well, you know, you've got to replace your sway bar bushings and your tie rods and your rotors.
And you've got all this front end work that needs to be done. Will we despise that mechanic?
We say, how dare you? How dare you insinuate that there's something wrong with my car?
You know, but a lot of times in life when somebody else comes to us and says, hey, what you're doing is wrong.
You need to fix this. We'll despise that person instead of just saying, hey, you know what?
You're right. I'm sorry. Let me fix that. What they end up doing is they end up despising that person.
And that's not right. We should not despise those that bring our faults to our own attention.
We should actually be grateful that there's people like that.
You know, one of the worst things in life, I heard this recently, is that one of the worst things in life is for you to surround yourself with a bunch of people who are just going to tell you yes all the time.
Just a bunch of yes men. Get them around you. They're never going to tell you you're wrong.
They're never going to tell you to fix anything. They're just going to encourage you to continue to do all the wrong things.
That will destroy you. That will bring you down in life.
We need people to straighten us out because, again, we're all going to be wrong.
At one point in another in our lives, no one's going to live their life and never make a mistake.
We all understand that. But when we read the Word of God, when the preaching comes, when the authority in our life comes to us and says, you need to fix this.
Let's not be sure that we get mad at them. Rather, what we should do is just embrace that and say thank you.
And we shouldn't try to avoid those type of sources of correction in our life by just surrounding ourselves with people that are never going to correct us.
You know, we're going to get out of church because when I go to church the preacher tells me I'm wrong.
I'm going to quit reading my Bible because when I read the Bible it points out things in my life and I get convicted.
So I'm just going to stop doing that.
Instead I'm just going to hang around the same old worldly friends. I'm going to continue to go to the same places I always go where everybody thinks everything I'm doing is fine and no one's ever going to tell me I'm wrong.
We should never get to the point in our life where that's our attitude.
And we should always be willing to embrace those things, those sources of correction in our life.
I want to read to you from Psalm 141. It says in verse 4,
Incline not mine heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity.
Let me not eat of their dainties, let the righteous smite me, and it shall be a kindness.
Let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head.
He's saying there it's better rather than to practice wicked works with them that work iniquity and to not eat of their dainties,
sitting around and just having a good time eating all the nice things and just enjoying life with wicked people that are never going to tell you you're wrong.
Rather than that he goes on in verse 5 and says let the righteous smite me.
It would be better to have some source of righteousness come along in your life and smack you upside the head and say hey you need to fix this.
And to sit around and spend the rest of your life with a bunch of wicked people just enjoying life.
Because those things are not going to help you be a better Christian or a better whatever it is you are.
Parent, church member, employee, child, whatever role it is you are in life.
You need the righteous to come and smite you.
Whether it be from the Bible, whether it be from a preaching, whether it be some other source of authority in your life.
What does it say about it? It says it shall be a kindness.
The Bible says the wounds of a faithful are the wounds of a friend.
That's a good thing to have in your life.
Some of us we've grown up without much of a father figure in our life.
And often times it's the father figure that has to bring down the hammer and correct the children.
Especially when things are getting way out of hand.
And those of us that have grown up in that situation, we would probably all be able to admit that we're still dealing with the repercussions of mistakes that we have made that a father might have corrected.
That an authority in our life might have occurred and caused us to not make those mistakes.
The Bible says it shall be a kindness.
Let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent boil.
I mean is that the attitude we have when somebody comes and corrects us?
When the righteous smites us? When somebody says you're wrong, you need to fix this.
We say that's an excellent oil.
Are we grateful for it? Do we embrace it?
It shall not break my head.
The person who's correcting is not out to just break you down and destroy you.
Rather they're trying to do the opposite.
They're trying to build you up. They're trying to encourage you.
They're trying to set you in the right way and get you to do the right thing.
They're trying to get you to fix that which is wrong.
Because here's the thing, it's better to have people who will correct you
than to surround yourself with people who will encourage you to continue doing the wrong thing.
It's better to be around people that are going to correct you
than to surround yourself with people who are just going to continue to encourage you in the wrong thing.
Because here's the thing, misery loves company.
And when people are doing the wrong thing, they love them.
They get as many other people as they can to come alongside them and do the wrong thing with them.
Because then it starts to feel like the right thing.
The Bible says thou shalt not fall a multitude to do evil.
And that's what they do. Multitudes get together and they say,
well we're all doing it so it must be the right thing.
And they feel good about it, but that doesn't mean it's right.
And we should not surround ourselves with yes men.
So you should admit you're wrong because you're going to be wrong.
We all are. And everyone knows it.
And a lot of times everyone knows we're wrong.
And we can't fix that which is broken until we admit that we're wrong.
So we see why we should admit that we're wrong.
But what about the point of the sermon? How to admit you're wrong.
Now we see why we should admit we're wrong.
Now let's look at how to actually do that.
Well the first thing to do is to accept correction, not resist it.
Because if we're going to admit that we're wrong, obviously someone's going to have to come to us and correct us and say, hey, you're wrong.
And it's at that point we have a decision to make. I'm either going to accept that or I'm going to reject it.
I'm either going to agree with this person and say, yes, I'm wrong.
Or I'm going to say, no, they're wrong.
So if we're going to fix that which is wrong, we need to be willing to accept the correction that comes.
And here's the thing. People who refuse correction, they suffer the consequences.
Their heads are not anointed with oil.
They don't receive that kindness. They reject it.
And you can find these people in the world.
Go down to the on-off ramps here on these highways and see the people holding signs.
The young men, perfectly able-bodied men, standing there in their dirty clothes with signs, begging.
Those are people who have refused correction or maybe never received it.
And that's the consequences of rejecting correction.
Or go down to the county jail and go talk to the inmates there and ask them why they're there.
Because nobody ever told them they're wrong. Or if they did, they said, no, I'm right.
I'm going to continue to do what I want to do. You're the one that's wrong.
The Bible says in Proverbs 29, we all know this.
He that being often reproved, hardened at his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy.
I think that's a verse that I find myself quoting myself often or recalling the memory often.
And it's one we probably hear preached from time to time.
It's probably one, if you've been in church for a little while, you've heard.
You've read the book of Proverbs. You recognize it. It's one that kind of stands out.
But I think a lot of us, we hear it so much that we become dull of hearing to this.
When we start to take it for granted and we don't understand the seriousness of what this verse is saying.
That if we don't accept correction, if we're constantly being reproved, especially if it's for the same thing over and over and over again.
You know, we could talk about so many different things.
I mean, think about drinking. Just being an alcoholic. Just saying, hey, you know, you go to the doctor, you got a stomach ache.
Well, you've actually got cirrhosis of the liver. You need to stop drinking or you're going to die.
You're being corrected. That person's being corrected.
You say, nah, you're wrong. And they'll drink themselves to death. They will be suddenly destroyed.
We drive down the road, the highways, you know, don't drink and drive, don't drink and drive, don't drink and drive.
People say, nah, that sign's wrong. Then they get the blue lights behind them.
Then they get the DUI. Then they get the, you know, the $10,000 fine.
I mean, I've met people in my past that have just, their life is just a mess.
Because they didn't want to take a heed to that correction of don't drink and drive.
You know, it seems pretty sensible. But we have to put up the signs.
We have to have the people pulling other people over and issuing tickets and taking them to jail and putting them in the courts.
Because if you do not accept the correction when it comes, you will suffer the consequences.
You know, we can think about that as individuals. And if we look in the Bible, the Old Testament nation of Israel, I mean, they embody that perfectly.
Of a people being told, do this, don't do this, do this, don't do this, just over and over and over again.
And they don't do the right thing. And they go and do the wrong thing. And what do they do? They suffer the consequences.
And those consequences were severe for them. I mean, have we read our Old Testament?
The things that happened to the nation of Israel when they got away from God?
I mean, when God told them, if you get away from me and you start worshipping these false idols, you're going to eat your own children.
That's what He warned them. And people read that when it happens and they go, oh, that's so graphic, how could God let that happen?
Well, God warned them about it. They had the Word of God. They knew better, but they refused the correction.
And where did they find themselves? Go read it. It's in there. They were eating their own children.
It's terrible. I can't imagine what would bring a person to such a place. I mean, starvation is a terrible way to die.
But that's what happens even in our own lives. We refuse correction and terrible things can happen in our life that will affect us for the rest of our life.
Why? Because we just refuse correction. Say, no, I'm right. You're wrong.
The Bible says in Proverbs 21, a wicked man hardened his face. It's the same type of imagery there of a man hardening his neck.
You know, putting his chin there. No, you're the one that's wrong. Existing. Not bowing the head. Not admitting we're wrong.
They harden their face. They get the scowl. But it goes on and says, but as for the upright, he directed this way.
You know, if you're not going to harden your neck and not harden your face, you'll be able to be directed the way you should go.
Why? Because now you're receiving it. Now you have a tender heart. Now you have, you're somebody that can be taught.
So, you know, if we're going to admit that we're wrong, we have to be willing to accept the correction.
And people who take correction in their lives, what ends up happening is they end up bettering their lives.
They live better lives for it. You know, and I'm not saying I'm right and I'm not saying I'm all that and a bag of chips.
Okay? But I'm a long way from where I started. And why? Because when I started out, there was a lot of correction.
I got taken aside and, you know, told time and time again, you need to fix this. You need to stop this. You need to stop this.
And, you know, it was obvious to everyone that was going, I remember one time I went to church and I said, and it was before service and I was just kind of hanging out.
The pastor walked in and he just looked at me. And I said, hey pastor, how you doing? He just looked at me and said, well, at least I'm not backslidden.
And walked away. It was that obvious. I mean, it was just, my life just exuded it. And I just thought, and that just cut me down.
You know, that was correction. And I could have just said, nuts to this guy. Who does he think he is?
Insinuating on backslidden. And I was. You know? What if I had gotten an attitude and just stormed out of there and said, well, he's never going to talk to me like that again.
Well, who is he in my life? Well, he's an authority. He's my pastor. So, you know, people who accept correction, they better their lives.
You know, the people that are correcting them, they're doing it out of love. They're not doing it because they're just trying to make their life miserable.
They're trying to make their lives better. The Bible says in Proverbs 6, my son, keep thy father's commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother.
Bind them continually upon thine heart. Tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall meet thee. When thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.
I know I've been quoting this verse more often than not from this pulpit lately. But it's the truth and something we have to get across is that reproofs of instruction are the way of life.
We want to live a good life. We want to live a life that we can have peace and joy and happiness. You're going to have to accept correction because we all do wrong.
We all make mistakes. And if we have somebody in our life that's willing to come to us and say, hey, you're wrong. You need to fix this. You need to accept that correction.
And that's how you're going to live a better life. The Bible says, speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy word.
You should be grateful for those that are willing to correct you. I know I am. I've still got people in my life that it hasn't happened in a while, thankfully, but not to say it couldn't happen.
But I have people in my life, friends, I have a pastor, I have a wife, that could come to me and say, hey, you're kind of messing up here. You need to fix this.
And you know why they would do that? You know why they would be willing to come to me and correct me? Because I'm not a know-it-all. Because they know if they tell me I'm wrong, I'm going to get it right.
The Bible says, speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. People who have understanding and people who know when another person needs to get something right, they'll look at that person and they'll say, should I even bother him?
Should I even bother telling this person what they're doing wrong or what it is they need to fix? Because some people, quite frankly, will not receive it. They'll harden their neck, they'll harden their face, and they'll refuse it.
So the person who has the wisdom will just say, well, I know what type of person that is. They refuse correction. And they won't waste their time. They won't waste their breath.
So be thankful for somebody that's coming to you and correcting you, because that means that you're the type of person that can be corrected. And they think that about you. They think, well, this person's worth my time coming to them and saying, you need to fix this.
And it shows that they care about you and that they want you to get things right. So we need to be willing to admit our wrong, or how we're going to admit we were wrong.
We're going to be able to admit we're wrong by accepting correction. That's the first step in it. And by not despising those that come and correct us. If we're teachable, people are going to come teach us things.
And you can apply that in so many areas of life, especially in the area for us men that go out and work or any of us that are in a field trying to learn to trade or anything like that.
I know when I started out prior to this position here full time at the church, I was a locksmith. I moved out to Phoenix six years ago. I wasn't a locksmith when I got here. I was a laborer in an excavation company. That's what I spent most of my time doing. Very hard work. Very strenuous work.
When I got here and I realized that your guys' dirt out here is not really dirt. Michigan, we have this thing called sand, which is very nice to dig in. You can just all day, you know, real easy. You guys got some hard dirt.
I remember I went to a job digging footers. The guy handed me a pickaxe. I said, are we mining for gold here or what? He said, no, we're digging footers. We're going this far. I said, you need a pickaxe for that? Yeah.
He had an electric jackhammer. I'm like, good night. I did that for about two days before I got heat stroked. I said, yeah, I think we'll go find a warehouse position somewhere out of the heat.
But the point I'm trying to make is, you know, I didn't start out as a locksmith. And when I started out, I started out as an apprentice, not making very much money. And I had to sit there and let somebody else teach me how to do that skill, how to learn that training.
And what if I had, you know, just gotten an attitude? What if I hadn't been teachable? Do you think they would have kept me around and said, oh, yeah, well, let's pay him to sit there and just be a know-it-all and make mistakes and never be able to accept correction? They would have gotten rid of me.
So if you're teachable, people are going to teach you things. And it means that you have, you know, intelligence. It means that they care about you. It means that you're somebody that can excel in that field if, if you're willing to accept a correction.
So that's one thing, one way that we can learn how to admit we're wrong is by accepting correction when it comes. But another thing we're going to have to learn if we're going to be willing to admit that we're wrong is to be humble.
It's going to take a big dose of humility. You know, some more than others, I suppose, depending on where we're at, where we're starting out. If you look through them, we're 1 Samuel, chapter 15, 1 Samuel, chapter 15.
Because this really is the source of the whole problem. People who cannot admit they're wrong, it's because they're proud. It's because they don't have any humility.
Proud people can't admit to wrongdoing. They don't want to admit to wrongdoing. Because think about it, when you admit that you're wrong, you know, that doesn't always cast you in the best light.
It always doesn't make you look like the star employee. When the boss comes and says, did you do this? Are you to blame for this? No, you know, the humble person will say, yeah, that was me.
You know, when I was working in excavation back in, when I first started out in Michigan, I was working for Pop Excavating. Remember Ron Pop, the owner, took me to his office one day. I hadn't even done anything yet. I hadn't even broken anything. That was to come later.
Right? But he took me and said, look, if you ever break anything, if you ever back into anything, if you ever run anything over on a job site, if you ever clip a tree branch that you shouldn't have, if you do something wrong, just come tell me.
So I can fix it. That's all he wanted. Not so I can bite your head off and make you feel like dirt. You know, you're already in the dirt enough to feel like that. But he was just saying, I just want to know.
And so, I mean, this goes such a long way with employers. You know, just being able to say, hey boss, I messed up. You know, let me, instead of trying to cover it up, you know, and make sure nobody knows about it, and then they get found out anyway, you look 10 times worse.
It's better just to come to them and say, hey, you know what, I backed right into that fire hydrant. And I've seen people do that. That wasn't me, by the way. I've seen people run fire hydrants right over, run into telephone poles, tear down, cut down trees that weren't supposed to get cut.
You know, big mistakes. But the boss, at the end of the day, he just wants to know about it. So that takes humility, doesn't it? To be able to go to somebody and say, hey, I need to tell you this, but I messed up and I made a mistake.
And really, this is one of the major distinctions between Saul and David, the first and second kings of Israel. You know, Saul and David, we won't turn there for the sake of time, but if you recall, David, when he was called out on his sin with Bathsheba, if we know the story, you know, at times when he was to be out at war, when kings go to war, he remained back in Jerusalem.
And he saw Bathsheba, you know, outbathing herself and said, you know, go fetch me this woman. It was another man's wife. And he ended up committing adultery with her, and even to the point where he had Uriah the Hittite, her husband, killed in battle.
And God calls him out on it and says, you killed Uriah the Hittite. He says, you did it. You know, even though he wasn't the one who physically took the sword and killed him or shot the arrow through him, you know, God laid the blame at his feet because he was the one who engineered the circumstances.
It was premeditated murder and adultery. But what was his response? This is the major difference between Saul and David. He said this, I have sinned against the Lord. When Nathan the prophet came to him and stuck his finger on him and said, thou art the man.
He didn't say, oh no, you don't understand. It wasn't me. He tried to weasel their way out of it. He just admitted it. And that's where he stopped. It was, I have sinned against the Lord, period. And he just admitted the wrong.
You know, that probably took some humility. Or, you know, probably it's because David started out as a very humble person and remained humble, you know, and knew who he was dealing with and ultimately it was God.
But Saul here in 1 Samuel 15, he has a completely different, well, not completely different, but he has a different reaction when he's corrected for his sin, which was nowhere near as serious in human terms, really, when we think about it, as what David had done.
I mean, Saul didn't commit murder and, you know, premeditated murder and adultery here. But we'll read what he did. It says in 1 Samuel 15 verse 22,
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord his great delight and burnt offerings and sacrifices, and obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken the fat of rams.
Now the story again is, is that he was told to go slay the Amalekites and all that pertained to them. He was to kill every person of the Amalekites because of how wicked they were.
And not to, even to kill all of their cattle and livestock, to leave nothing alive. And of course, Samuel comes and he says, What meaneth the, you know, have you obeyed the voice of the Lord?
He comes out, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, you know, and I've done it, you know, what he told me to do. And what does Samuel say? What meaneth then the bleeding of the sheep in my ears?
He said, You didn't do what you were told to do, you've saved these cattle alive, you saved the king alive too. And he gets called out for it.
And of course he had these excuses, so that's the backdrop of the story. And Samuel here is rebuking him and he says in verse 23,
For rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he also hath rejected thee from being king.
And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned. Now that's the same thing that David said, I have sinned. But he didn't stop there. There's no period there. The sentence goes on.
For I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words. Why? Now he's going to give us an excuse. He didn't just admit wrong, but now he's like, Yeah, it's true, I have sinned, but let me tell you why.
He says, Because I fear the people that obeyed their voice. This isn't really admitting that you're the one responsible. This isn't really him admitting that he's the one to blame.
He's trying to say, it's just like Adam and Eve in the beginning, Hast thou eaten the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The woman that thou gavest me, she gave me to eat, and I did eat.
You know, Yeah, I ate, but really it's her fault. And that's exactly what we see Samuel doing here. Yeah, I sinned against the Lord, I transgressed against the Lord and against thy word, because I fear the people.
And this isn't really, this is a half admission. Yeah, he's admitting to being the wrong doing, but he's also trying to blame other people.
It goes on in verse 25, Now therefore I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. So he admits the wrong doing without really accepting the blame.
You know, what we can learn from this is that the person who's doing the correction, the person who's coming to you in your life and saying, Hey, you need to fix this, whatever it might be, they don't want to hear excuses.
They don't want to hear vague answers. They don't want to hear you blaming other people. They don't want to hear a bunch of, you know, him and him hawing. They want you to just admit that you're wrong.
They want to know that you have owned up to the fact that you're the one to blame, because then they can fix it. Because it all goes back to being willing to admit you're wrong in the first place.
And if you can't get a person to accept the blame for what they've done, you can't help them to fix it. They want you to hear, they want to hear you own your error.
That's what, when people are correcting you, that's what they want. When you're being called out for something, they want you to say, Hey, yeah, you're right. It's my fault.
They want you to be like, David, I have sinned. And just stop right there. And not go on, well, you know, I did do that, but there was these extenuating circumstances and so and so.
And, you know, normally I wouldn't have. And just whatever it is, we just start to ramble on. Because people, when they get called out, they'll just start making up things.
And what we see is that it takes pride, or excuse me, it takes humility, it takes not being proud to admit that you're wrong. Because proud people, they can't admit to wrongdoing.
Because proud people would rather blame others for their mistakes. They would say, Oh, it's so and so's fault. You know, really, that just comes down to the fact that it's human nature to try and save face.
You ever wonder why people just start lying when they're getting called out on something? You know, I'm trying not to be too much of an open book, but there was a time where I made a pretty big mistake on the job.
And I already knew that I was totally to blame for it. And it cost some people some money, some time, some man hours. And my boss called me, and he already knew the whole story.
Because there was another guy there with me, he saw exactly what I did. And I cut a big corner. And I thought, well, no one will notice this. They don't even need this.
You know, this won't affect anything. I know this isn't how I'm supposed to do it. But it won't matter. It mattered, because I had a call about nine o'clock that night.
Another guy had to go and fix my mistake. And it was for a big client. And my boss called me and said, Hey, what happened over there? He already knew everything.
And I'm trying to be the star employee. I'm trying to be the lead guy. I'm trying to be his go-to guy. So I'm saying, and I just immediately just start lying.
Just start making up excuses. And he already knows the truth. And he just asked me, is that really what happened?
And you know what, I can still remember just going, just going, no. And telling him the whole truth.
The next day he called me in the office. He said, I'm really glad you told me the truth, because that was this close to firing me. That would have been really devastating.
He said, don't ever lie to me again. Just tell me the truth and make a mistake. Just to own up to it.
And so many times, you know, that's a big tip for those of us that are out in the workforce. If your boss comes and corrects you, even, you know what, this is one thing I learned.
Even if it's not my fault, even if the boss just thinks it's my fault, and a lot of times I'll just take the blame anyway.
Because then he goes, oh, that guy, that's a guy that can be corrected. That's a guy who owns up to his mistakes.
I've done that. My boss can say, hey, this happened. Do you know anything about this? Is this you? Did you do this?
Or actually he's coming and saying, you did this. This is your fault. This is why things are this way.
He's already convinced in his mind that it's my fault. And I know, in the back of my mind, no, it's not really my fault.
It's actually so-and-so's fault. But then I can stand there and argue with him and carry on and go back and forth with him.
Or I can just say, yeah, you know what, it's my fault. And I've done that, and I excelled at that job.
Didn't happen all the time. I think if you make a habit of that, you know, the boss is always coming to you and having to get this, work these type of things out,
then there's probably a bigger issue at hand. But when there's a time and place when you're being corrected, that's the time to tell the truth.
Because you never know what the consequences are going to be. You might think you're going to get away with it, but the next day you don't have a job.
The next day, you know, your life's a wreck. So, proud people, they can't admit to doing wrong because it takes humility.
And they like to blame others because it's human nature to try and save face. It's human nature to try to retain our respect that other people have for us.
It's human nature to try to avoid humiliation. Sometimes it can be really humiliating to say, yeah, I'm wrong. Or to own up to a mistake.
They will say, you did that? They'll say, yeah, that was me. Wow. You know, it's embarrassing. It's humiliating.
But it's still the right thing to do, to own up to it. I mean, that's what Saul did here, if you look there in verse 30.
He's trying to save face. This is why he had such a hard time just accepting the blame.
Then he said, I have sinned, yet honor me, now I pray thee. He still wanted to keep his reputation. Yeah, I sinned, I messed up.
But it was really their fault. Now honor me, before the elders of my people, before Israel, and turn again with me that I may worship the Lord.
So, this is what we see proud people doing. Try not, you know, if they do fess up or own up to it, it's halfway. It's still somebody else's fault.
You know, that's what we see with Adam and Eve. You know, I already mentioned that, how we say it was the woman's fault.
When we go to the woman, oh, it was the serpent's fault. Yeah, I did it, but it was their fault.
So, we see that admitting you're wrong requires humility. And proud people have a hard time admitting when they're wrong.
Because proud people can admit that they're responsible for their mistakes.
So, let me just conclude by saying this. There's nothing wrong with being wrong. Okay? Now, I say that tongue in cheek, okay?
Of course, we don't want to be wrong. Being wrong is wrong. We should not make a habit of being wrong in our life.
If we're wrong, that's not a good thing. What I mean by that, when I say there's nothing wrong with being wrong, is that it's okay to admit that you're wrong when you're wrong.
If you're wrong, admit it. There's nothing wrong with that, right? There's nothing wrong with being wrong. It's perfectly natural to be wrong.
You know, I've covered that in the beginning of this sermon. We're all going to be wrong. We're all going to make mistakes.
We're all going to say something that was incorrect. We're all going to say something that was not true.
We're all going to mess up somewhere and somebody's going to have to come to us and correct us.
And we're going to have to be willing to just admit that we're wrong. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's the right thing to do.
See, people don't want to admit they're wrong because then they have to admit they're wrong and they have a real big problem with that.
Because they think that, you know, if you're wrong about something, then that's the end of it.
You know, then everyone's just going to think this or that about you and they're just trying to save their face and save their reputation.
And really the reputation they develop is a person who can't be corrected.
When you correct somebody and they say, well, I don't believe it. Or they say, no, that wasn't me. They make some excuse. They won't admit it.
You know, the person correcting doesn't walk away saying, well, he's just a bright shining star.
They walk away saying that guy can't be corrected. That person cannot receive correction.
So there's nothing wrong with being wrong. The real error in life is when we don't admit our mistakes.
That's the real wrong. When you're wrong and something corrects you and you don't admit it, that's the real error.
That's where we make mistakes. You know, admitting our mistakes or admitting our sins allows us to accept correction.
I mean, that's really the thrust of the sermon. Being willing to admit your mistakes so that you can be corrected.
And accepting a correction and applying instruction helps us to fix the problem. Right?
We admit we're wrong and we accept the correction. Then we can fix the problem. And what's the result after that?
After we accept the correction, we fix the problem, our lives are better. Our lives are better when we accept the correction.
I want to just talk to you about a guy named Niles Henrik David Boer. Who knows who that is?
I didn't know either. That's all I looked him up. I found a quote of his I really liked.
And then I looked up who the quote was and I thought, this guy, this is a good one.
So Niles Henrik David Boer, he was a Danish guy who lived back from 1885 to 1962.
He was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory.
For which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922.
Now the Nobel Prize in Physics, that's not something everybody has sitting on their fireplace mantel.
You got to be a pretty sharp cookie to get something like that. You got to know your stuff.
Especially in the area of physics. Right?
Boer developed the Boer model of the atom. So this is one smart dude.
Although the Boer model has been supplanted by other models, its underlying principles remain valid.
So he's like one of the, he laid like the foundations for understanding like, I guess you call it molecular structure, the atom.
Right? Boer, you know that's not all this guy did by the way.
Boer founded the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Copenhagen.
Now known as the Niles-Boren Institute which was opened in 1920.
He predicted the existence of a new zirconium like element which was named hafnium.
I probably, I can't even pronounce these words let alone understand what they do and it isn't.
After the Latin name for Copenhagen which where it was discovered later, later that element was named after him.
Does anyone know what the name is? Want to take a guess? Boreum. Come on guys.
Are you with me tonight or this morning? There's coffee over there, there's donuts.
So he was part of the British mission to the Manhattan Project which was the people that developed the nuclear bomb.
After the war, Boer called for international cooperation in nuclear energy.
He was involved in the establishment of CERN and the research establishment of Danish Atomic Energy Commission.
And became the first chairman of the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics in 1957.
So very credited man, very intelligent man, very smart man.
Responsible for you know a lot of deep understanding in the world of physics.
You know helped develop the bomb, you know the nuclear bomb and nuclear energy and things like that.
Let me ask you something, do you think, and the guy has an element named after him right?
You know there's only so many of those to go around.
Do you think this guy never made a mistake?
Do you think when he was doing all that experimenting and trying to discover these things and understanding these things,
do you ever think maybe he went down a path of thinking, well this must be this way and then got to the end and found out he was completely wrong?
He said because he made a huge mistake in his thinking and his life and had to go back and just start you know back to the drawing board.
Wipe it all down and start over.
I guarantee you that guy had to make mistake after mistake after mistake after mistake.
In fact I know he did because this is what he said.
He said an expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.
You know what made him an expert?
Is he made every mistake there was that could be made.
He understood all the wrong things to do.
And when he understood all the wrong things, when he understood all the mistakes that can be made, that's when he discovered the right way to go.
That's when he discovered the correct thing.
You know and I thought that was a really good quote.
And I thought that's something you know we could apply to our lives.
And we could say you know what, it's okay to make mistakes.
Because when we make mistakes and we make the corrections, that's how we get on the path of understanding.
That's how we start going the right way.
So let's not despise reproof.
Let's not despise correction.
Let's embrace it as an anointing oil and let it lead us in the right way so that we can live a better life for it.
Let's go ahead and pray.