“Clinton is a Sinner And So Are You!”

“Repent and turn to God.” – Acts 3:19

Way back in the midst of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, I asked my Mom, a fairly religious, mild-mannered Southerner, what she thought of the situation.   She answered in her roundabout way:

“Well, the other day my friends and I were going to get barbeque at Top Hat up in Blunt County.   Do you remember going there?  Remember the curvy roads and the springs coming off the hills and how much your Dad loved their barbeque?  

It’s about a 20 minute drive up the freeway and then you exit and get on the country road.  So, we were driving up there and got off the freeway and started down that little road.  And we were talking about lunch and passed this country Baptist church.  It had one of those signs out front like small churches have.  The sign said, ‘Clinton is a Sinner and so Are You. Repent!’

And then she said, “That’s what I think of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.”

That was the end of the conversation. She did not want to talk about sexual impropriety or politics—too distasteful. And, in truth, she thought that sign said all that needed to be said. After listening to weeks of commentary, I decided she was right.

Repent! Turn about!

Find that God has always been there, offering love and acceptance, despite a host of failings and imperfections.  Stop striving to be good enough or moral enough or faithful enough.  Stop trying to get it right.  Just turn around and rest in God’s love. Enjoy being human with all of its imperfections, messiness and rough edges.

Prayer

Dear God, help us acknowledge the limits of the self and the abundance of your love. Amen. 

About the Author
Don Camp is an ordained UCC minister and the Administrator of Family Services & Emergency Services at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.3-10-15