I learned from Carrie Prejean (and Micheal Phelps):
What do the almost winner of Miss America and the man who snagged the most ever gold medals in the OlympReicst have in common?
The same thing we all do... are you ready? A PAST. (*cue eerie music...*)
Prejean brought more attention to herself with her (in)famous comments about same sex marriage (a surprise answer if the transition on the questioner's face tells us anything) than from her ascethic qualities.
But recently has found herself in the eye of a storm for apparently violating contest rules by not disclosing a set of semi-nude photos she took as a budding model.
Not too long ago, parents all over the world were freaking out when photos of Micheal Phelps with a bong surfaced. He had more integrity than Slick Willy when he confessed to having inhaled, but still, this stained his image as a role model.
My point? Well, I have a few:
#1 No one should be put on a pedestal: I am surprised at the number of Christians who cheer on Prejean for her anti-same sex marriage stance and ignore that she makes her living taking semi-nude photos.
Seriously, could we call the "sports wear" portion of the competition anything other than "semi-nude"?
So now that something from her PAST has been revealed, will the WMU ladies jettison one who was heralded as a woman brave enough to speak her mind instead of taking the easy road of political correctness?
#2 Get over it. Raise your hand if you don't have an embarresing photo of yourself somewhere that you hope NEVER SURFACRES. (Now, the other two of you, go repent for lying.) On the other hand, maybe no one was slick enough to catch you in the act, BUT... everyone makes mistakes. That is why Christ died for us.
Romans 3:23 puts it out plain as day: "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."
It doesn't take a Greek scholar to know that 'all' in that passage means "ALL". So then, why does it surprise us if someone makes a gaffe, a fumble, or gets caught in downright sin (now there's a word you won't likley find in the PC lexicon...)
So then when do we do?
We can:
A: point our finger and take the focus off our own shortcomings
B: forgive and restore.
I will pick option B. And here is why.
The world sees forgiveness as being equal to being a sucker, a pushover. Yet GOD sent his SON JESUS CHRIST to RECONCILE us to Himself. In other words, GOD IS IN THE RESTORATION BUSINESS.
When we fail, Paul says that we are to:
5 If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent--not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9 Thereason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven--if there was anything to forgive--I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
2 Cor 2:5-11 (NIV)
So Carrie, and Micheal. Seeing as we now live in the PRESENT and what you have done was in the PAST, we forgive you. The punishment inflicted by the majority is more than enough. Since I know you are both avid followers of my blog, you are absolved. But don't ever do something that stupid again.
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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