Warts and All

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26 ESV). In about two weeks, on Friday, January 20th, we will have a new president of the United States. There have been many “experts” who have offered their views concerning what kind of leadership we may expect from the new administration. Some have concluded it will be the worst of times, while others have insisted it will be the best of times. I fall somewhere in the group that would simply admit we don’t know. It is strange how the future is like that. We can be somewhat more certain about the past; however, the future is still to be revealed. I also know that in the coming weeks and months there will be a great deal of comparison between previous presidents and the recently inaugurated president. Historians, gossip magazines, and the media are even now beginning to highlight the flaws, weaknesses, and sins of President Obama. For some this is a bad thing. They desire only the good to be written. They desire only the strengths to be emphasized. Unfortunately this is not reality. There is already too much history that describes many of our heroes as perfect. We hear the fable of Washington and the cherry tree, or Lincoln freeing the slaves. We read of Roosevelt ending the Depression. There is never a mention of their flaws.

That’s simply the wrong message. All the great figures in our history had flaws, weaknesses, and handicaps. Somehow we believe that if we just ignore the warts and all, a beautiful princess will come along and kiss us returning us to the handsome princess we really are. Well, we aren’t handsome princes or beautiful princesses. We are ugly sinners. The Bible is clear that even the great heroes of the faith were men and women of faults and foibles. We see Noah getting drunk and Abraham and Sarah not waiting on God to have His promised child. We are privy to Jacob’s lies and David’s adultery. And, we are also told how all these were used by God in an incredible way. All of us have weaknesses. All of us are guilty of sin we regret, yet God’s grace is available to all. God can use any life for good, no matter how flawed, if we trust in the only One who had no flaws, Jesus Christ.