Dear Saints of Valley Church,
One of the great hopes of secular progress was that the demise of religious influence would free civilization from the unwanted feelings of guilt. Moving beyond the antiquated beliefs of a holy God or human sinfulness would allow society to adopt values without the guilt associated with Christian morality. But guilt has not vanished. Instead, the problem of guilt has lingered, even intensified today, and our modern world struggles to make sense of it. Our world feels the grip of guilt, but without any path to real relief.
A recent viral video illustrates this modern dilemma perfectly. During a Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium, the “kiss cam” panned over to a couple who were romantically embracing and swaying to the music. Yet, as soon as the couple was displayed on the stadium’s massive screens, the woman immediately turned to hide her face, and the man quickly ducked out of view. It turned out that the couple was not husband and wife, but a company CEO and his HR manager. Despite clearly being completely comfortable with their illicit affair, the actual exposure of their activity instinctively resulted in a guilt-ridden desire to hide. And how did a culture that celebrates moral liberation and sexual autonomy respond to such a clear demonstration of guilt and shame? By notching up 77 million views of the video within just a couple of hours. These views reveal something about our human nature: We’re not just amused by the drama; our amusement stems from a basic moral judgment found in the hearts of 77 million people who know the weight of wrongdoing and the fear of being found out.
In that moment, this couple’s reaction exposed something different than shy embarrassment. Despite living in a society that normalizes and celebrates sexual freedom, they could not escape their reflex of guilt. This instinct to hide mirrors a basic human pattern: when exposed, we cover. When guilty, we hide. This reaction is what we see in the garden with Adam and Eve, and in Psalm 32, where David writes, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.” Even in our secular age, the conscience still bears witness. Moral relativism cannot fully erase the grip of guilt, because guilt is more than a religious concept; guilt is a spiritual and universal reality. Our guilt cannot be relieved without a means to find forgiveness for our transgressions, to cover for our sin, and to cleanse our wrongdoings. And this blessed forgiveness is precisely what God offers in Psalm 32, when David writes, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”
This Sunday, we will celebrate the good news of Psalm 32 that real guilt has a real cure. Our hope is not in denial or distraction, but in God’s forgiveness that frees us from guilt’s grip. Come join us for our Sunday gathering as we listen to God’s Word of forgiveness together, sing of God’s forgiveness to one another (two of our songs will be Amazing Grace–My Chains are Gone and What He’s Done), and follow Jesus together as we love and forgive one another as God has so graciously loved and forgiven us.
By His strength and for His glory,
Craig Shigyo