Expose Sin

“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” – Ephesians 5:11

During the Revolutionary War, 10 American officers gathered below the deck of the USS Warren on February 19, 1777 to sign a petition to the Continental Congress documenting abuses by their commander, Commodore Esek Hopkins. Lacking any legal protections for speaking out, these whistleblowers understood that they could be branded as traitors for denouncing the highest-ranking American naval officer in the midst of war.
The brother of Stephen Hopkins, a former Rhode Island governor and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Esek Hopkins had been appointed as the first commander in chief of the Continental Navy in December 1775. Although his brother was a member of the Continental Congress, Hopkins held the body in low regard and repeatedly defied its orders and blamed others for his failings.
“He has been guilty of such crimes as render him quite unfit for the public department he now occupies,” wrote the 10 petitioners, who worried that sailors would quit in service of their country if Hopkins remained in power. In addition to the petition, sailors detailed the commodore’s quick temper, misconduct and poor character in signed personal affidavits.

Chaplain John Reed echoed the complaints of “inhuman” treatment of prisoners and added that Hopkins was “remarkably addicted to profane swearing” and set “a most irreligious and impious example.”

Hopkins was immediately suspended and on January 2, 1778, relieved of his command.

We must expose sin any time we discover it.

Ask Jesus to show you where sin may be in your own life, confess it and turn away from it, and have the courage to walk in the light of our Savior.

“Sin is not a monster to be mused on, but rather an impotence to be got rid of.” – Martin Luther

“The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” – Romans 13:12