No Way Out

"It appears he has run out of options. He is a man without a country." The national newscaster was referring to Edward Snowden, the former NSA (National Security Agency) consultant who began leaking top-secret information about mass surveillance programs in late May. Shortly after his initial disclosures, Snowden fled to Hong Kong seeking political asylum.

The US Department of Justice has filed charges of theft of government property and espionage against Snowden. The Chinese forced him out of Hong Kong and currently Snowden is in the transit area of the Moscow airport. His US passport has been revoked and he has no visa, so he currently is a man in limbo while he tries to find a country that will grant him asylum.

Snowden worked as a computer technical consultant for both the CIA and the NSA since 2007. He had only been working in his current consulting position 3 months before going rogue with stolen information, which appears to have been his intention all along. What's hard to understand is exactly what Snowden thought he would accomplish in his actions. It is highly unlikely he anticipated being left in his current situation with no way out.

Actually, as we just celebrated the 4th of July, I am reminded of another American who went rogue, Benedict Arnold. He gained a reputation for bravery and heroism as a general in early battles of the Revolutionary war. Later, however, he defected to the British, serving in their Army, and fled to London after the British were defeated.

Arnold lived out the rest of his life in Britain and Canada, never really becoming a full-fledged citizen of either country. In the US, he has traditionally been considered a traitor, and his name "Benedict Arnold" is synonymous with treason. In the end, like Edward Snowden, he was a person with no way out, a man without a country.

Most likely, both Snowden and Arnold felt their actions were justified and would gain them advantage and approval with some group. I'm sure neither one planned on becoming a political refugee without a real homeland, forced to live their lives in infamy. Instead of being hailed for great accomplishments, they were left largely stranded with no way out.

It's easy from a distance to look at men like Snowden and Arnold and say, "What in the world were they thinking?" However, most of us, if we are honest, will admit that we have made some decisions that we later regretted, but there was no way out of the negative circumstances we created. It might have been that major credit card purchase we just had to have, and now we’re stuck with monthly payments at high interest rates. Perhaps it was a relationship we entered too quickly, or even worse, terminated prematurely and now we live with regret.

We've all made some decisions that at the moment looked promising and "the right thing to do." Unfortunately, in retrospect, we often see how we ignored certain facts that could have influenced us to choose a different course of action. Father God knows that too often our instincts can lead us astray. He tells us in Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way which seems right to a person, but the end of it is the way of death." In other words, it's easy to get trapped in a bad decision, thinking it will turn out good, but it doesn't.

Father God wants to guide our decision-making with His wisdom so we can avoid no way out consequences. But we must be willing to receive His instruction and learn how to be spiritually parented by the people He puts in our lives.

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM. Pastor David Oh will be preaching on "Being Spiritual Sons and Daughters."

Pastor Che