An article appearing in the Seattle Times this week recently surprised me, by turning the meteoric fall of Indiana’s Mark Souder, a “strong Christian” who was recently outed as having an affair with a part time staff member, into an appeal to Conservative Christians everywhere.  Taken as a slice of the public paradigm floating around out there in America, two things are truly interesting about the article, written by E.J. Dionne Jr.   For one, it reveals just how far the Christian community has strayed from the heart of Jesus.  For two, it displays how little our American culture really knows about the Gospel.  And both of those things, added together, come up to zero for the Good News.

Two quotes provide ballast to the public opinion.  In the article, Dionne quotes Jesus, saying “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”  That’s a familiar passage, even to Americans that haven’t cracked a bible once.  These words could be offered as a comfort to the now-resigned congressman, but Dionne isn’t satisfied with only offering grace to the disgraced.  He goes one step further.  “It would be lovely,” he writes, “if conservative Christians remembered Jesus’ words not only when needing a lifeline but also when they are tempted to give speeches or send out mailers excoriating their political foes as permissive anti-family libertines.”

How might the Bible back up Mr. Dionne?

In Exodus 33, Moses is dealing with the aftermath of the Israelite idolatry, the golden calf they’d set up in place of God while Moses was powwowing with the Almighty for a few days.  God, every faithful, tells Moses that He will give the Israelites the land He had promised them, but rather than lead them there Himself, God says that He will remove His presence from their midst.  It’s in Moses’ response to this edict that we see the departure of the current Christian culture from the heart of Christ.  Moses says to God, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

In other words, there’s nothing inherent within Christians that makes them special or elevates them to a moral high ground above the rest of the faith community.  The plan was never to create a religious army, with the singular purpose of stamping out sin in liberal congressional districts.  The plan was that God’s people could be marked with humility and grace, so that others might look at them and say, “that same free gift of grace is offered me.  That same source of life and love can be mine.” 

But still we label, we judge, we paint hatred on picket signs.

How many times have Christian Conservatives, touting family values, placed upon themselves the mantle of perfection, of shimmering morality, rather than pointing towards a God who showers them with grace despite their many flaws?

Fortunately, there’s very good news for Mark Souder, E.J. Dionne Jr, and the rest of us.

Dionne, who admits to admiring Souder somewhat from a distance, says he hopes “Souder finds a way to work out his redemption.” 

The good news?  That was already accomplished two thousand years ago, on a cross. 

And the only difference between him and the rest of us is this–when our imperfections and defects emerge from the places where we’ve kept them hidden, it doesn’t make the Washington Post.