Those crazy sinners ...

I have a history of liking public figures without the best of reputations...Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Eminem, Whitney Houston, etc. These celebs are admittedly not the ideal stars I'd suggest to my own children to admire. None of them, to my knowledge, would be considered to be a poster child for any kind of Christian value that I hold.

They thing that I don't get, also, is that I don't just like them. The more controversial or intrusive they become, the more I am drawn to them. The deeper they spiral downward, the more I find myself defending their actions. I first recognized it when Kobe Bryant went through his very public ordeal that happened in Eagle, Colorado. It went on to Whitney Houston when Whitney Houston was publicly erratic and clearly under the influence of "something". And even in her recent tragic death, I find myself angered by those who both silently and openly claim "we all saw it coming"....

I've thought a lot about why I'm like this. I've even tried to change it within me. But here's the thing. I've recognized that I love these public figures because they perhaps represent the darker sides of me that I usually try to hide from my Christian circles. I'm arrogant. I'm addicted to self indulgence. I'm belligerent and angry, not outwardly but in my poisonous heart. I'm a liar. A cheat. A hoax, a spoiled brat, a complicated paradox of a person.

Yet, through all of this, there is someone...some ONE...who chooses to still believe in me, love me, accept me...forgive me.

What if, in all their wrongs, these public figures had someone who helped make them right. And even if they didn't, still found a way to love them and believe in them.

In the aftermath of Whitney's death, there remains an empty part of my heart for my fallen childhood idol. I am saddened by the loss of her talent and her life. And as I look at these controversial people, I am reminded by the truth that Paul speaks in Scripture....and how deeply it applies to my own life:

I Timothy 1:12 - 17

12I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, 13even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. 15It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 16Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Suddenly, the sins of others don't seems as "bad", when I reflect on my very own heart and how far I have to grow...