Lessons on Sin from Adam Sandler

What do the films Big Daddy, The Waterboy and a gospel choir have in common? I found out the hard way.

“I just can’t believe she did that in my bed,” I said. “I mean, she just went way too far. I invited everyone over to my place, cuz we didn’t have anything to do after gospel choir. It was me, Keisha, Tasha, Stephen, Tommy and Melvin (names changed). We were all just kickin’ it. You know, playin’ games, listening to music and stuff. Stephen asked me to come with him while he went outside to smoke. So we left everyone else there. When we came back to my room the door was locked. So I knocked, but nobody answered. I walked in place and ducked beneath the peep hole to make it look like I’d left. Then I pressed my ear up to the door and I could hear them in there. So, you know, eventually, they opened up the door. And it was obvious what had happened. I just can’t believe she did that in my bed!”

Students, sex and singing. I’m beginning to wonder if these three go hand in hand. Saying I’m frustrated barely scratches the surface of how I’ve felt for the past few days. I’m reaching a new level of annoyance as I sit in the Student Center across from the president of the choir. My mood is obvious as I ask, “Is everyone in the gospel choir drinking and having sex?”

“No, Latina, they’re not,” our president replies.

I shake my head from left to right in disbelief, frustration and disappointment. “Well, maybe I just need to pray, cuz I believe you, but I’m having a hard time right now. I just can’t believe what happened. I just wanna choke them. Well maybe not choke, but at least pop ’em on the back of their heads for what they’ve done. So let’s just pray, okay, cuz a sista is just a little heated, you know? And I don’t know what to teach tonight. I don’t know what to say when I see them. I know what I want to say, but it ain’t right.”

As we prayed that afternoon God moved. He downloaded his agenda of grace, truth and love onto my agenda of frustration, disappointment and outright anger. As we began to pray, tears came swiftly and abundantly. My pulse slowed as my heart broke for them. We brought their sin before the Father. My heart grieved as his had. And honestly I didn’t want to pray for them. I wanted to punish them. I wanted to give up on them, but God wanted to pursue them. I had judged, and condemnation was the verdict. God had judged, and forgiveness was the verdict.

So what do you want me to teach tonight, Lord? I’m ready to cut them up. I’m ready to tell them off. And I know you want to use me to speak to them. What would you have me teach tonight, Lord?

That evening, as I grabbed my Bible and walked up to the front of the room, I prayed silently. Finally I spoke. “The question on my heart is, ‘What kind of disciple do you want to be?’” Placing my well-worn Bible on the black music stand I prayed that God would have his way in us and through us that night.

“What is a disciple?” I asked.

They responded, “A disciplined learner.” “A follower of Christ.” “One of Jesus’ Crew.” “Disciples live to do what Jesus did.”

We named all of the disciples we could think of in the Scriptures. Then, we looked at the lives of two of Jesus’ disciples, Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter. Both of these brothers had issues. “Simon was a hothead,” I said. “This brotha should have signed up for a lifetime of anger management courses. Judas was a hustler. He took advantage of every situation in the best way he could.”

Judas and Simon had something in common; they both sold Jesus out. Each of them traded their loyalty to him for less valuable things. Judas sold Jesus for money and access to power. Simon sold Jesus in exchange for anonymity and acceptance by people. Surrendering to fear launched them on a journey that ended in a place called Betrayal. Judas and Simon reached a fork in the road in their response to the sin they’d committed. Judas dealt with his sin by refusing God’s grace and committing suicide. Simon dealt with his sin by accepting God’s grace and preaching the same Jesus he’d denied.

Building to my point, I asked the students in the gospel choir, “So, what kind of disciple was Judas, good or bad?”

“Bad.”

“Okay,” I said, mentally ready to pop ‘em on the back of the head. “What kind of disciple was Simon, good or bad?”

“Human.”

That really wasn’t one of the choices I’d given them, but it was clever. “Why human and not bad?” I asked. They reasoned that what both disciples did was bogus. They both sinned, but Simon repented. He was the only one to accept the forgiveness and reconciliation God offered.

Big Daddy or the Waterboy?

We respond to sin in our lives in one of two ways. The first response is to evade and avoid. In Big Daddy, Adam Sandler is a bachelor who babysits a little boy. In the movie the little fellow wets the bed. Instead of changing the sheets, Adam Sandler puts newspaper on the bed and lays the little boy back down for the night. Adam turns out the light and exits the room. As he sits on the couch in the living room, he hears the rumpling of newspaper as the little boy tosses and turns in his sleep. The scene is hilarious. Later in the movie the little boy is exploring his independence. While making a bowl of cereal and milk, he spills it on the floor and begins to cry. Adam comforts him, saying “It’s okay.” He covers over another mess with newspaper.

The great newspaper cover-up is a tactic that many of us employ. We cover the sin in our lives with a thin veneer, reassuring ourselves that it will be okay. But somehow our quick fixes begin to smell—bad. Our temporary solutions are revealed as just that. When Jesus offers us his help, we refuse it. We take matters into our own hands and focus on covering up our sin without ever really cleaning it up. We forfeit the forgiveness and freedom he presents to us. In essence, we commit spiritual suicide just like Judas.

The second response to sin in our lives is to confront and challenge it. In Waterboy, Adam Sandler plays the role of a backwoods bayou boy. People verbally assault and bully him throughout the movie. Just as we begin to feel sorry for him, the plot thickens. As someone starts talking about this man’s momma, he snaps. He runs full force and tackles them to the ground. We cheer as we see him begin to stand up for himself. Our American heritage of rooting for the underdog to win takes over. We find ourselves doubled over with laughter as people get what they deserve from Sandler’s character.

Just like the waterboy, when we get sick and tired of being sick and tired, we respond forcefully to sin in our lives. Cowering in fear is no longer an option. We’re ready to tackle our sin. When Jesus offers us his help; we accept it. We focus more intently on Jesus and acknowledge our sin. We repent and are reconciled, just like Simon.

What was my response to finding out the sin in my students’ lives? Was it that of the Waterboy or Big Daddy? I was heated, frustrated, fed up and disappointed. My emotions led me to take action . . . to pray. As I poured out to God how I felt, he poured into me a godly response: “Speak the truth in love. Remind them that they are my disciples. Remind them that they can resist temptation. Remind them that they are human. Remind them that the best response to sin is repentance. Remind them that I want to revolutionize the world through them. Remind them that I love them. Remind them that they’ve got to face their sin. And always ask them, ‘What kind of disciple do you want to be?’”