Let It Go
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge
against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the
LORD.” – Leviticus 19:18
A few weeks ago, former President Bill Clinton and
author James Patterson made the media rounds as they promoted a book they’d
written together. Guess what all the reporters wanted to talk about? That’s
right. Monica Lewinsky and the scandal.
That scandal happened in the late 1990s. Clinton has
apologized repeatedly. I watched one reporter demand answers again and again,
refusing to let it go. It wasn’t until Patterson intervened that the reporter
moved on. The reporter shamed himself, not Clinton.
Clinton can never undo the wrong that he did. He can
apologize and seek to lead a different life. He’s done both. So, what is it
about us that refuses to let it go? And why are so many Christians still throwing
it in his face all these many years later?
You’re probably ready to cite all of Clinton’s sins.
You feel the need to remind me of the extramarital sexual encounters, the lies,
the age difference. You “know” that I just don’t understand the magnitude of
what he did.
What you don’t understand is the magnitude of what you’ve done. We are all sinners in need
of a Savior. How would you like it if your past sins, those you have apologized
for, kept being thrown in your face? How would you feel if your attempts to
change your life were met with constant reminders of where you’d once been?
We are such a vengeful people. We are so judgmental
and full of righteous anger. We hold grudges and slam those who fail to meet
our standards. We hang on to wrongs long after they should have been cast
aside.
And we do it selectively. Why is it that a sin by one
person is roundly and publicly condemned while the same sin by another person
is quietly forgiven and excused away? Does no one else see the double-standard?
And why do we hold others up to a perfect standard no
one can ever achieve, while letting ourselves slide because we see our sins as
somehow “lesser” than those of others?
Did Clinton lie? Absolutely. Have you ever told a lie?
Be careful you don’t tell another one as you answer. If you’ve ever told
someone a dress looked good on them when it didn’t, you lied. If you’ve ever
made up an excuse to not do something because “you didn’t want to hurt their
feelings,” you lied.
Have you ever broken the law? Sure, you have. Every
time you drive even one mile over the speed limit you have broken the law. It’s
not about degrees of sin no matter how we want to insist that it is. Sin is
sin.
Sure, some sins have consequences that will forever
haunt us. Clinton’s sins obviously fit that category. But as people of faith,
who are we to judge him? Jesus clearly stated that those who judge will, in
turn, be judged with the same measure. Do you really want to be judged the way
you judge Clinton and others? Are you really ready to stand before Almighty God
and explain yourself to Him?
Let it go. Trust God to work in that person’s heart.
Be gracious. Show mercy. Accept apologies and changed behavior as the blessing
it is. And, above all else, see people through the eyes of Jesus. Love them in
such a way that makes them want to become the people God created them to be.
