Is It Ever Too Late to Be Sorry?

In this episode of Wake Up, Look Up, Pastor Zach explores the question, is it ever too late to be sorry? Using current events as a starting point, he unpacks what true confession and repentance look like, emphasizing that genuine apologies come before exposure, give up power, and seek reconciliation. This episode challenges listeners to consider how delayed or hollow repentance affects relationships and reminds us that forgiveness, mercy, and healing are only possible when sorrow and accountability are authentic.

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Creators and Guests

Host

Zach Weihrauch

Follower of Jesus who has graciously given me a wife to love, children to shepherd, and a church to pastor.

What is Wake Up, Look Up?

Check out new episodes of our daily podcast, Wake Up, Look Up, with Zach Weihrauch as he interprets what's happening in our world through the lens of the gospel.

Hello, everyone. Thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch and in today's episode, we're asking the question, is it ever too late to be sorry? This is prompted by an article I read in the New York Times this week about Sean Combs, otherwise known as Diddy, who was recently sentenced to four years and two months in prison for a variety of charges related to prostitution. Now, uh, of course, most of us know Diddy or P. Diddy or Puff Daddy or any other in the names he's gone by because of his long career in music and fashion and entertainment. We also know him because he's been in the news a lot lately, facing a number of trials, including sex trafficking, racketeering, human trafficking. There were a lot of charges that he was facing. Now, he ended up being acquitted of some of the more severe ones and being convicted of two, quote, unquote, lesser charges, which is why he's spending four years in prison instead of the rest of his life. Uh, but his life has taken a downward turn, as you might imagine. In fact, uh, he was at one time estimated to be worth a billion dollars. That has now dropped to 300 million. Now, I know you, and I would say, hey, 300 million is just fine, but it's a huge drop. And keep in mind that while his criminal charges are now over, he's also facing 50 civil suits that have yet to play out. So that 300 million might drop pretty quickly. Uh, he has expressed remorse and is seeking, or was seeking a lesser sentence as a result, acknowledging what he did was wrong and talking about how sorry he is. But it has rung hollow, as you might imagine, for some people who are saying, you know what? You are only apologizing now that you've been convicted, and you're only sorry when it seems to serve your purposes. Now, I don't have a ton of interest in Mr. Combs s story. It's not super accessible to you and I. He lives in a very different world. He lives a very different life. But on the issue of apologies, I think there's a lesson to learn here, because as Christians, of course, we believe in forgiveness. We believe in mercy. We believe in repentance, which, um, in theory, would make it sound like we never believe it's too late to be sorry, but I'm not sure that's true. Uh, I think the Christian understanding of forgiveness and mercy and repentance has been weaponized by quite a few people, and it's actually done a lot of damage in our relationship. So you probably don't care a lot about Diddy either. But I bet you have at least one relationship in your life in which you're working through whether or not you should accept an apology or even maybe whether your apology is genuine. So let me offer some guidance on that. Let's start with this true confession. Please hear me on this. True confession comes before exposure, not afterwards. 1 John 1, 9, 10 says, if we confess our sins, he is able and just to forgive us. If we say we have no sin, it says we make Jesus out to be a liar. When John is talking about confession, he's talking about prior to being caught. You see, when you catch me in something and I say I'm sorry, the only thing that has changed is what I thought I was getting away with has now become public. True confession comes through me coming to you and saying, hey, you didn't know I said this. You didn't know I did this. You may never have known, but it was still wrong. You see, in that instance, pretty hard to argue my apology is not genuine. Pretty hard to argue I don't feel genuine sorrow over what I've done. When you catch someone, pretty hard to know what's genuine and what isn't. No, I'm not saying we can't eventually get to confession after being discovered, but in the immediate aftermath of being caught, it's okay to be a little suspicious of whether or not quote, unquote, confession is actually what's taken place. Now, the Bible puts it this way, and this is, I guess my second point is that hidden sin is always eventually revealed. In Luke 8, 17, Jesus said, nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest. That's a warning. It's meant to be a warning. The Bible tells us one day our sin will be exposed, whether in this life when we're caught, or in the life to come when we stand before the judgment, seat of God. True confession sees that on the horizon and seeks to be made right before judgment gets there. The third thing is that delayed confession actually kind of multiplies the fallout. Proverbs 28:13 says, Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper. Delayed confession multiplies the sin because it isn't just that I did that thing or said that thing, it's that I then covered it up and pretended I didn't and lied about it and hid it. And now I'm not guilty of one thing, I'm guilty of, uh, a hundred Things which then means confession has to broaden to include all the damage that I have caused. You can't just go back to the original offense and say, yeah, I shouldn't have said that. We're beyond that now. And here's the fourth thing and maybe the most important thing I want to say. Hollow repentance cannot heal. Uh, Jeremiah 6:14. Jeremiah says, they say, peace, peace, peace. When there is no peace, oftentimes people that are caught will act as though they're looking for reconciliation and restoration, when really what they're looking for is just put the whole thing behind them. So let me give you a little biblical rule of thumb. True repentance always involves giving up power. It always involves saying to the one, you've heart, I was wrong. What do I need to do? What do I need to say in order for our relationship to be made right? And if you're dealing with something, someone who was caught and didn't confess, uh, that's what you're looking for, a power giving up kind of repentance, I blew it. I should have told you. I didn't. What do I need to do? A laying down of power. And by the way, let me just end here to say, if you're the one hiding, if you're the one who needs to confess, do it now before you're caught. Because then it will mean something. Listen, forgiveness is real. Mercy is real. Reconciliation is possible. But just saying you're sorry when you're caught has nothing to do with any of those things. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. 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Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at [e-mail]!