This is part of my year-long series exploring human-centered alternatives to the spiritual promises in Oswald Chambers’ classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest. Today’s entry, “Reconciling Yourself to the Fact of Sin”, promises that accepting universal human wickedness prevents life’s disasters and provides safety in relationships, claiming that recognizing everyone’s capacity for sin allows instant danger recognition and protects against betrayal.
Here’s what constantly expecting sin actually produced:
“Always expect the worst from human nature,” the senior pastor warned his new leadership team. “People who don’t reconcile themselves to sin’s reality get blindsided by betrayal. Recognizing that everyone is capable of wickedness protects you from disaster.”
Mark absorbed this teaching completely, believing it would safeguard his relationships and ministry. He approached every interaction assuming people harbored sinful motives. When volunteers offered help, he wondered about hidden agendas. When staff made suggestions, he searched for self-serving angles.
This spiritual vigilance would protect him from the disasters that befell naive leaders.
But Mark’s constant suspicion became a relationship poison. His assumption of hidden wickedness created toxic atmosphere where people felt distrusted and demoralized. Volunteers stopped offering help when they sensed his skepticism. Staff became defensive and withdrawn when every suggestion met suspicious scrutiny.
Meanwhile, his colleague Pastor Jennifer approached leadership with what Chambers would call dangerous “innocence.” She assumed good intentions unless proven otherwise, trusted people’s stated motivations, gave volunteers and staff the benefit of the doubt.
According to Mark’s teaching, Jennifer was setting herself up for betrayal and disaster.
The opposite happened.
Jennifer’s trust fostered loyalty and openness. People felt valued and empowered in her ministry, creating remarkable creativity and dedication. When problems did arise, her trustful approach had built relationships strong enough to address conflicts honestly rather than defensively.
Mark’s “reconciliation to sin” created the very disasters it was supposed to prevent. His expectation of wickedness became self-fulfilling prophecy as people responded to suspicion with exactly the defensive behaviors he’d anticipated. Constant vigilance for hidden motives destroyed the trust necessary for effective collaboration.
The breaking point came when Mark’s best volunteer coordinator resigned, citing the toxic atmosphere. “I came here to serve,” she explained, “but you always act like I’m plotting something. It’s exhausting to be around someone who expects the worst from everyone.”
Where was the protection that recognizing sin was supposed to provide? Where was the safety that came from assuming universal wickedness?
Jennifer’s “naive” approach had created flourishing ministry while Mark’s “wise” recognition of sin had produced exactly the disasters he’d tried to avoid. Her trust in people’s better nature proved more practically effective than his theological realism about human depravity.
The breakthrough came when Mark realized that expecting sin everywhere created more problems than it solved. Healthy leadership required discernment and boundaries, not constant suspicion of everyone’s motives.
The wisdom that actually protected relationships wasn’t reconciling to universal wickedness but building trust while maintaining appropriate safeguards. The spiritual teaching that promised protection had delivered destruction instead.
The silence where divine wisdom was supposed to guide his leadership revealed the truth: assuming the worst about people creates the worst in people.
Reflection Question: When has assuming good intentions been more effective than constantly expecting sinful motives in relationships and leadership?
This story is part of my upcoming book “The Undevoted: Daily Departures from Divine Dependence,” which offers 365 human-centered alternatives to the spiritual certainties in Chambers’ devotional. Each day explores how reason, community, and human resilience can address life’s challenges without requiring divine intervention.
God or Delusion? 