Nathan said to David, “You are the man!” 2 Samuel 12:7
Don’t fact check me too closely on this, but I once read that Elvis volunteered his services to the federal government to become a secret agent, rooting out illegal drugs and those who used them. It is no small irony then, that he had a tremendous drug problem himself. Elvis looked down on those who used illegal drugs, while he abused and was addicted to numerous prescription drugs, including opioids. He didn’t consider himself addicted though, because he wasn’t using heroin on the street. Rather, he was taking prescribed medicine, which he considered necessary for pain, sleep, and any other number of ailments. Blind to his own appalling hypocrisy, he condescended to those whom he considered himself superior. Yet he harbored a terrible addiction, refused to admit it, and eventually paid the ultimate price for it.
In a further twist of irony, I’ve often found myself looking down on Elvis. Hypocrites are maddening people and drug-using hypocrites are a special kind of annoying. If I’m honest though, I can also identify with Elvis. I once looked down on those who came to my ER looking for opioids. Drug seekers. These were infuriating patients who irritated me greatly. I looked down on them even though I was growing my own opioid addiction at the time. Like Elvis, I was guilty of the same behaviors which I despised in others. Elvis’s hypocrisy lives on . . . in me.
We’re often offended by behaviors of which we’re guilty, but to which we’re also blind. This was the case in today’s passage, in which the prophet Nathan confronted King David for impregnating Bathsheba and killing her husband. Only Nathan didn’t confront him directly. Rather, he told David a story about a rich man with a flock of sheep who took a poor man’s single lamb and slaughtered it for his guests. It’s a terrible story, which enraged King David. David recognized this rich man’s evil behavior, was offended by it, and demanded that the man die. It was then that Nathan sprung his trap – You are the man! Profoundly offended by the behavior in someone else, David remained blind to the same behavior in his own life.
In my addiction, I was good at seeing terrible behavior in others, while I turned a blind eye to the same behavior in my own life. It’s different when it’s me. It’s not though. It’s the same. So, in recovery now, the challenge is to daily embrace honesty and to seek the counsel of others who are aware of my blind spots. I don’t want Elvis’s hypocrisy to live on in me and so, daily, I must be willing to see and admit my own flaws.