Me and Anthony Weiner
When I left for Africa a few weeks ago, the story had just come out about Rep. Anthony Weiner and the explicit picture of himself that was sent via Twitter. His explanation was that his Twitter account was hacked and someone else had sent the picture. That was his story and he was sticking to it.
When I arrived back in the U.S. last Thursday, the major headline was that he had resigned and had reluctantly admitted that he did send the picture; he did lie about it; he did try to cover it up. What captured my attention wasn’t just his resignation; it was the political analysts and reporters that were covering the story. They kept saying things like, “Even though he is resigning, he isn’t contrite.” “Even though he is stepping down, he is playing the martyr.” “Even though he is caught and the truth is out, he is acting like everything is normal.”
The truth about Anthony Weiner is the truth about me: Controlling public perception is often more important than admitting private sin.
That is our story isn’t it? We care way more about what other people think about us than we do about admitting our personal sin?
- It’s why when you’re in an argument with your wife, and you know you are wrong, you don’t admit it…because your wife thinking you are right about this is more important to you than the truth of who is actually right.
- It’s why when you’ve been caught in a lie, you tell another lie and then another lie to cover up the first one, because what that person thinks about you is more important than the truth.
- It’s why when someone confronts you about your relationship with a co-worker you blow them off and pretend like you don’t have feelings for them. Controlling their opinion of you is more important than dealing with the lustful thoughts you have about someone that isn’t your spouse.
- It’s why when someone questions a decision you made you find someone or something to blame for that decision instead of accepting responsibility for it. Their opinion of you in that moment is more important than your own character.
It was easy for me to shake my head in judgment and disgust during Anthony Weiner’s resignation speech. But the truth is he and I aren’t that different. We both care more about public perception than God’s truth. “People look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.”
Controlling public perception is exhausting…confessing our sin is freeing. Yet most of the time we choose to hide our sin in favor of winning other’s approval. I’ve often wondered how much closer I would be to God if I spent as much time and energy developing my character as I do trying to manipulate your opinion of me.
