By Rick Vacek
GCU News Bureau
Ryan Nunez’s Chapel talk Monday morning at Grand Canyon University can be summed up in six words: Guilt is a many splintered thing.
It splinters people. It splinters our judgment. Most important, it splinters our relationship with God.
Nunez, a pastor at Palm Valley Church in Goodyear, told the audience in GCU Arena that guilt actually is “an unexpected gift from God.”
“Guilt is an indicator that we’ve done something wrong,” he said. “It makes us realize we need to do something about it or it’s going to blow up and make a mess.”
But guilt leads to shame, and that’s where the splinters get particularly sharp.
To demonstrate his point, Nunez cited the story of David, one of the Bible’s biggest heroes in the second book of Samuel. It was bad enough that he lured Bathsheba, wife of Uriah, into adultery and she became pregnant with his child, but then David took various steps to try to hide his shame and ultimately arranged to have Uriah killed in battle.
David didn’t repent until he was confronted by Nathan, whom God had sent to him.
“I have sinned against the Lord,” David admits in 2 Samuel 12:13.
Nathan responds, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.” (He did.)
The key, Nunez said, is to stop holding our shame in our hearts, to “own up to the mistake and turn to God.”
“God wants you to come clean,” he added. “The guilt is an indicator that you have sinned, but repentance sets you free. … My prayer is that you have a Nathan in your life that you can speak to.”
The music portion of Chapel this week featured a terrific performance by the worship team from Love International Ministries in Phoenix. Two members of the group, Pablo Ochoa (bass) and Chris Ramos (electric guitar), are student services advisers at GCU.
● For a replay of Nunez’s talk, click here.
● Next week’s speaker: Tom Shrader, Redemption Church
Contact Rick Vacek at (602) 639-8203 or [email protected].
