‘My point is if you are suggesting that every MP who has never quite
told the truth or indeed told a brazen lie - including ministers, including
Cabinet ministers, including prime ministers - we would clear out the House of
Commons very fast, I would suggest’.[1]
These are the words of Sir Malcolm Bruce defending his fellow MP and ex-Scottish
Secretary Alistair Carmichael. He went on to say: ‘The SNP . . . were
"judging people by standards that they do not apply to themselves"’.1
The more cynical observer would probably say that Malcolm Bruce is
absolutely right but is telling us nothing new. Most of us were aware of
politicians who say one thing and do another. In many surveys, politicians were
up amongst the top of those who were trusted least! However, the sad thing is
that lying is both taken for granted and, for some, expected! What, then, do we
think of God’s commandment ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness’?[2]
God tells us that lying is wrong. It is sin – falling short of what God expects
of everyone! It’s a simple thing but one that has BIG consequences!
But there is another important point in the story featured on the BBC
website. It is easy to point the finger at others. It is easy to find faults
and failings, even in those in public office. It is easy to follow that up with
suggestions of what penalties they should face for those failures – resign, be
sacked, be fined, be imprisoned, etc. The question that needs to be asked is:
‘What would happen if we applied the same standards to ourselves?’ The Bible
says ‘Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest:
For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that
judgest doest the same things’.[3]
The reality is that we all sin. We all fail to do what God expects – we fall
short of His standards. That sin or failure carries a penalty – separated from
God forever, punished for our sin!
The good news is that God has provided a way by which we can escape the
penalty we deserve. We can be forgiven! How? Some 2000 years ago the Lord Jesus
Christ, God’s Son, died on a Roman cross outside of Jerusalem. Though He was
perfect – He had never sinned or failed – He died. In that death, He bore God’s
punishment upon my sin and, in so doing, brought forgiveness to me and many
more Christians. Those who confess their sin to God in prayer and put their
faith in Christ can know that forgiveness too. Rather than judge others, let us
accept what we are before God, confess our sin and guilt and seek His peace in forgiveness.
Will you?
