Yeah that’s right.  Billy Graham’s dirty little secret.  So what is Wild Bill’s secret?  Beats me.  Maybe he didn’t have one.  That’s not what this post is actually about.  Honestly I have no idea if he ever had a dirty little secret or for that matter ever sinned past the age of 11.  But the point is that it seems like we are just waiting for the next guy to fall.  Pastors, counselors, worship leaders, priests, etc.  It seems like every few months now we hear of another fallen comrade and we are just waiting to read about it.

Are we just waiting for our leaders to fail?  Ok, maybe we aren’t necessarily looking for it, but we sure wanna know when they do!  We see the headlines or read the Twitter and our first instinct many times is to click to find out more of what they did.  So and so had an affair.  This guy’s getting divorced.  He was arrested for drug use.  Whatever.  I know I’m guilty.  It’s hard not to.

A few weeks ago a leader that has some influence on me came tumbling down.  I had all the same thoughts as I have many times before.  I wanted to know what happened.  I wanted to know the gossip.  But then God changed my heart and showed me what I was thinking.  Showed me what I should be thinking.  My heart shouldn’t be digging for more details, but instead hurting for those involved and praying for God to shine through somehow.

So I have been working on that.  I still don’t know what happened.  I know that something did and I also know that our God is far more powerful than the stupid mistakes that we humans walk right into.  Now every time I remember or think about that person, I am trying to change my mindset and pray for everyone surrounding the situation.  It is not up to me to judge nor is it up to me to gather all of the information.  Any attempt for me to do so is me stepping out of line.  As Billy Graham put it, my job is to love.

They sinned.  Yes.  Let’s let those God has placed in authority over him to deal with him and the rest of us that have nothing to do with it can just pray and love.  Now we are reminded that they are not perfect either.  It doesn’t change how God has used them in the past.  It doesn’t stop God from being able to use them in the future.  God can still do amazing, life-changing, world-changing things through us even though we are screw ups.  So, next time you hear or see that someone fell off the perfect bus, remember you aren’t either.  Love them and pray for them instead of gossiping and tearing them down.

I heard a requote of a quote (what boils down to a RT of a tweet if you prefer Twitter speak) the other day.  The original quote (as far as I know it was the original) was from Billy Graham several years ago.

It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and my job to love.

It just stuck with me all day.  How often do I spend my time trying to do the job of the Holy Spirit and God?  It is not a crazy thing for me to think I need to make them see how they are wrong or have judgmental thoughts or actions towards someone.  What is crazy is that I for some reason act like it is up to me.  Don’t worry, brookjames will let you know when you have screwed up.

I need to take the advice that I believe Billy would give.  It is your job to love.  Love my friends.  Love my enemies.  Love the girl that cut me off for no apparent reason and then flipped me off because she was a bad driver.  Love the waiter that has a terrible attitude and poor service.  Love the homeless guy that sits on the bench downtown with his laptop.  Love them all.

I need God to give me strength to love.  That’s my job.  Maybe I should do my job.