Looking In The Mirror

Posted on May 20, 2010 
Filed Under Personal, Social Concern, Spiritual Life

None of this is really a revelation. Light will eventually shine on every misspoken word and deed. There seems, however, to be a propensity of public moral failings lately:

Sports…

Politics…

Religion…

Entertainment…

While there is always great disappointment accompanying moral failures, and much pain for those most closely associated with the fallen, there isn’t great surprise. Men (and women) have shown poor judgment and engaged in foolish – even illegal – behavior since the beginning of time. I think that there is great truth in the old saying that “your deeds will find you out.”

I don’t think we need to condemn those who make poor choices and find their lives in a mess. As followers of Christ, we should show compassion to the fallen, not judgment. The person whose sin is out in the public is feeling plenty of remorse, even if they don’t show it. They know full well that they’ve blown it. They feel guilty. They are cringing at the mess they’ve made. The last thing they need is a “holier-than-thou” finger being wagged in their face. And, God knows full well, I’m far from perfect and have plenty of things in my life that could use some cleaning up. So I’m not in any position to render judgment on someone else. It’s that old principle Jesus talked about in Matthew 7:3, about the propensity we have to point out the speck in our brother’s eye when we have a plank in our own eye. We shouldn’t try to “help” someone before we examine our own lives first and deal honestly with our own sins and shortcomings.

So I’m committing to pray for those public figures who find themselves explaining why they committed adultery, or that they have an addiction, or that they broke the rules in an effort to get ahead. When the next celebrity or sports star fails, I’ll be asking God to speak into their brokenness, to give them a tender heart towards His offer of forgiveness in Christ, and to bring restoration into their lives.

And I think I’ll do that praying as I’m looking in the mirror.

Comments

One Response to “Looking In The Mirror”

  1. katie on May 22nd, 2010 10:19 am

    good words, JOhn.

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