

Alex Rodriguez thus began his apology letter to baseball fans, the New York Yankees organization and others. He admitted that his performance-enhancing drug use was a mistake. Reactions to his mea culpa have been mixed.

Some people appreciated that A-Rod had enough honor to apologize rather than being a self-absorbed high-paid athlete. Others skewered him by calling the letter "dopey" and "tepid." Most everyone who follows baseball has an opinion about the apology.

Regardless of your view of his attempt to clean up his image, his apology highlights a cultural and spiritual phenomenon. A-Rod's against-the-rules drug use was cheating and, by categorization, a lie. Lies are sinful by nature because they are against the law of God and they hurt both the liar and others. The issue is calling the lie merely a mistake.

"Mistakes" are accidental; "sins" are intentional. A mistake is giving chocolate to the dog. A lie is saying that the cat did it.

Calling an action a mistake rather than a sin takes the sting out of it. After all, everyone makes mistakes. If everyone does it, it can't be that bad. When a person wants to appear less guilty for intentional actions (like taking PEDs), the defense can simply be, "It was a mistake."

Owning an action as your own is honorable and right (good for A-Rod), but when you soft-sell it as merely a mistake, you are left in a no-man's land between being a manipulator and authentically honest.

When the law is undemanding, forgiveness is uninspiring.

John the apostle reminds us, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (The Bible, 1 John 1:8) A sin is not a mistake; it is intentional rebellion. Just as a cancerous tumor needs to be cut out completely, a sin must be confessed absolutely.

The next words from John reveal a liberating truth. He says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." When a person comes clean with himself and the public by calling a sin what it is, forgiveness is fantastically freeing!

Jesus Christ invited people to a life of truth. "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (The Bible, John 8:32-33) Embracing truth opens the door to freedom.

When a woman suffering from a hemorrhage tried to covertly touch Jesus' cloak, he would have nothing of it. He demanded to know who touched him. In a captivating scene, she fearfully told Jesus "the whole truth." Jesus then assured her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

The way of authenticity and freedom is by calling sin what it is rather than obscuring the truth by redefining it as merely a mistake.

— The Rev. Wes "Bo" Baumeister is pastor at Hope Lutheran Church, 700 S. Superior St., De Pere.

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