Some critics judge a message entirely by the failures of the messenger. They dig through a person’s past, searching for sins, crimes, mistakes, and rebellion, as though exposing the messenger automatically disproves the message.
It does not.
God does not hide the sins of the people recorded in Scripture. He does not polish their histories, protect their reputations, or cover their dirty laundry. He tells the truth about what they did. Their failures show that the power belongs to God—not to the people He chooses to use.
Scripture makes this plain. Moses killed a man, hid his body in the sand, and fled the country. David committed adultery and arranged the death of an innocent man to conceal his sin. Paul persecuted Christians, dragged believers from their homes, cast them into prison, and approved when they were put to death.
The Bible does not sweep these facts under the rug. It leaves them on the record for every generation to read.
That does not mean their sins were harmless. Repentance does not erase every earthly consequence, excuse the damage someone caused, or place that person beyond honest examination. A troubled past does not prove that a present message is true. Every message—including mine—must be tested against the Word of God.
A sinful past does not make redemption impossible.
Exposing someone’s sin destroys the illusion of human goodness. It reminds us that no one earns a place in God’s kingdom through personal merit. If God required flawless messengers, none of us could speak for Him. Every vessel He uses is made of the same damaged clay.
The cracks belong to us. The light belongs to God.
That truth applies to everyone: the person delivering the message, the person receiving it, and the critic pointing a finger. Some failures become public. Others remain hidden. Hidden sin is still sin, and every person stands in need of the same mercy.
I do not hide my past. I do not defend it, excuse it, or pretend it did no harm. I was responsible for the life I lived and the damage I caused. My past is part of the public record because God’s work in my life cannot be understood by pretending that the wreckage never existed.
That includes things I have said publicly. During years of arguing about religion and politics on Facebook, I sometimes answered hostility with hostility. I used insulting, aggressive, and profane language that I should not have used. I do not defend it, and I will not pretend someone else wrote it if an authentic comment ever resurfaces.
I have removed much of that old material because it does not represent how I intend to speak or conduct this work. Removing it from my present platform is not an attempt to claim that it never happened. I am acknowledging it here precisely because it did. I was responsible for those words, just as I remain responsible for every other part of the life from which God called me.
Anyone may examine my history. Anyone may question my claims. Anyone may test every word I write against Scripture. I ask no reader to accept biblical teaching merely because Jeff Wager wrote it.
Judge the message by the Word of God.
My past cannot change what Scripture says. Personal attacks cannot overturn God’s truth. If anything I write conflicts with His Word, reject it. If it agrees with His Word, then rejecting the messenger will never make the message untrue.
Moses, David, and Paul were not great because they had spotless histories. They were sinners who needed God’s mercy. Their records remain visible so that no one mistakes the servant for the Savior.
That is why I leave my own past unhidden.
The sin was mine. The mercy was God’s. The glory belongs entirely to Him.
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” —1 Timothy 1:15
—Jeff Wager
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