Why Sin Shouldn’t Surprise Us

I suppose most of us hardly recognized the name of Louisiana Senator David Vitter until his name popped up on the phone list of a Washington “escort service.” He made a public confession and, with his wife by his side, asked for forgiveness. That much was unremarkable. It turns out that he was an outspoken leader in the crusade for family values, which many people pounced on as proof of the hypocrisy of that movement. Our leaders commit the very sins in secret that they denounce publicly in others. Thus while Newt Gingrich criticized President Clinton for his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky, he was having an extramarital affair at the same time. Gingrich shocked evangelicals more than Vitter, mostly because we knew Gingrich as an articulate defender of our views.

That’s huge.

No difference between rich and poor, young and old, black or white, gay or straight, male or female. No difference between a Wall Street lawyer and a fisherman in Bangladesh. No difference between the debutante and the prostitute. We all stand condemned by our sin and all of us are under the judgment of God. Our sins may not be exactly the same, but we are all sinners nonetheless. The two little words “no difference” mean that apart from the grace of God, we’re all in the same boat, and the boat is sinking fast. Unless God intervenes, we will all drown together.

First there is sin, then there is grace. The worse the sin, the more amazing the grace. That’s why I like Cromartie’s formulation: “I’m not surprised by vice. I’m surprised by virtue.” We do well to hold our leaders to high standards, but our faith does not depend on fallible humans who even at their best are always hypocrites at some level–usually unseen, but hypocrites nonetheless. That is why the Bible urges us not to put our trust in princes. They always let us down sooner or later.

Sin happens. It would be a bigger deal if it didn’t happen. But where sin abounded, grace super-abounded, and that’s why we call the gospel Good News.