I have a confession to make as a recovering legalist.
It's pretty ugly.
Much worse than smoking an occasional cigar or pipe.
It's even worse than admitting to listening to NPR from time to time. Just FYI, a friend recommended "NPR Tiny Desks Concerts" to me. You should Youtube it after reading this post. It will make your Monday morning.
But this is something that many legalist will identify with.
We love to watch leaders fall.
Not just any leaders.
We hate to see our spiritual leaders fall. That's a black eye for us. Then we get lumped in with the rest of the world's opinion about Christians being hypocritical. We don't want to admit that we are as bad as the rest of the world.
But when a secular leader falls, boy that feels awfully good.
Do you feel this way? Hopefully not, but if you are a recovering legalist like me, this might describe you.
Do you like it when the people with the power fall?
When your boss screws up? Or when the CEO of a company is fired for something wrong?
We love their misfortune or (better yet) their deserved demise.
This is when the self-righteous can stick out their chests and strut around prouder than a peacock. Which if a peacock has ever tried to mate with you, you know that's pretty proud. Not that I speak from experience...
The legalist can say, "You see there's no hope in them." Or "They are all the same. Every person in power is a womanizer, drunk, greedy..." It makes us feel better to be morally superior to the positionally superior.
David Petraeus is a perfect example.
Here was one of the world's most powerful military leaders and spies of our time. When your resume includes Jason Bourne and James Bond like attributes, you are man not to be messed with. He could have taken on the man who trained Batman himself, Liam Neeson. He probably played Words with Friends with Chuck Norris. And he messed up big time.
Part of me enjoys this.
I find myself flipping to Fox News to find out the latest gossip like a baptist on the phone after a deacons meeting to hear the latest "prayer request". His moral failure makes me feel superior to him. Because let's be honest, while he may have power at least I have been able keep my pants up around other women so far.
I can be such a tool.
That's when Jesus reminds me that he isn't through with David Patreaus yet.
You see there once was another military leader named David. This David was far worse than David Patreaus. He too was an adulterer. The woman he committed a sin with wasn't his biographer, but another man's wife. The woman's husband was one of David's own special ops men. One of his 30 lean mean killing machines. But as always, our sin gives birth to something else and she became pregnant. Isn't it amazing how sex can do exactly what it was created to do? And we think we can outsmart creation? David tried to cover his sin by getting the Navy Seal to sleep with his wife, but the man had integrity and didn't. So David did what anybody with CIA power would do. He covered up his mistake. He whacked him.
And amazingly God wasn't through with David yet!
Was David rebuked? Yes!
Were there consequences for David's sin? Certainly!
Even though David fell, God wasn't through with him. Because God is about relationships not rules.
Do we know better than God? Sometimes, we act like we do.
Why is it that when our government leaders fall, we are through with them? Why did God find David worth redeeming, but we can't forgive Patreaus? Why did God decide to use Moses and Paul after their mistakes, but we still view President Clinton as a sleaze ball? I refused to vote for Newt Gingrich in the GOP primaries. Why? Because I have moral fiber (or I'm self-righteous) and said that if you can't trust a man with his wife, then you can't trust him with a country. God, however, didn't feel this way when it came to David.
You know what my favorite part about the David and Bathsheba story is?
God redeemed David and Bathsheba's relationship. It was Bathsheba's next child that would one day rule Israel. Even more astoundingly, God showed his love and favor for David and Bathsheba by choosing them to be a part of the lineage of His very son, Jesus. Astounding!
Christian, our righteousness isn't found in our deeds. Our righteousness is found only in Christ. In a Christ who doesn't want to rule over you, but have a relationship with you.
So with that confession, I have to say that God isn't through with David Patreaus. And even better for you and me, he isn't through with us yet. He has a lot of work to do, but he has found us worth it.
Question:
Any recovering legalist have any confessions?
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