Guest Blogger #1 Paul Robinson (Why we are all to blame for the Iris Robinson saga)

Hi everyone it is Robert here, i thought it would be cool to open up my blog to Guest bloggers.

So here is a friend of mine with a very important message i hope you enjoy it, and that you feel blessed.

Over to you Paul
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Why we are all to blame for the Iris Robinson saga




It’s been a pretty eventful last week or so in Northern Irish Politics. Before last week the most exciting thing we were talking about (if we were even talking about it) was how we are going to do policing here and how we are going to decide who gets to walk up certain roads in those cute orange sashes.



These issues have however been overshadowed by the revelations and accusations thrown at Iris Robinson and her husband Peter in the past week. I’m not going to go into detail of what’s been going on because I think that’s been done enough.



What hasn’t been talked about really is our reaction to it.



I mean you can read and hear lots of opinions on it but what do our opinions show about us?



What is our responsibility in all this?



I mean Iris Robinson made a really big mistake. She did something huge which may have huge implications for this country and her family. She is ill and it may take years to repair the damage done to her marriage and to her career.



But how we react is probably going to have a much bigger impact.



Hands up. I was one of the first to be disgusted by her actions and her hypocrisy regarding homosexuality and sexual sin. I couldn’t believe that she could be so two faced.



It’s so easy to shake our heads at the whole thing and criticize and belittle.



That’s the easy option. I know. I took it. The harder option but I believe now is the better option, is to show her Grace.



When someone in the public messes up its everywhere. It’s not easy to hide away from your mistake. Everyone can find out about it. You can even relive your mistake over and over on youtube (Just ask Kanye West).



But when we mess up in private it’s easier. Nobody knows about it. Nobody needs to know. That’s the lie we let ourselves believe.



There isn’t the whole judgement that the public fallout causes. And that’s part of the problem with much of our reaction. Much of what I have read has been unsympathetic to Iris.



Should we be critical of our politicians? Of course. Should we question everything they do and speak up when they do wrong? Yeah I reckon we should.



Should we vilify them and pretend that they aren’t really human like the rest of us and pretend their mistakes don’t really cause genuine hurt to their friends and families (and themselves), that they have to live with?

Definitely not.



Jesus had pretty strong words to say about people that attack others for their sin but don’t consider their own.



When Jesus came across a woman who was being chased and threatened by the Religious leaders of the day, because of a sin that she had committed, he turned it right around on them.



He was willing to let them go through with their punishment of the women…..on one condition, as long as the first one to do so hadn’t sinned themselves.



Ooh that’s big.



He then wrote something on the ground. We don’t really know what, but one of the possibilities provided is that he wrote out the sins of each of the men who were chasing the woman.



I can imagine Jesus saying, “Hey guys. Sure go ahead and punish her. Throw huge big mothers of rocks at her if you really like…..just make sure you have never sinned yourself before you do”.



Personally, I have engaged in serious sin and then acted like I am better than other people. I have acted like the Pharisee. I have stuck my head in the sand over my own crap.



When we come out and publicly criticize Iris Robinson or Kanye West or whichever celebrity of the moment it is that makes a mistake because they are simply human (just like you and me btw), we are acting just like those religious leaders and exactly not like Jesus.



Jesus showed Grace. Jesus showed that our mistakes are serious but they don’t have to define us. We can choose a better way. If we are as ’Christian’ a country as we sometimes like to think we are, then we should remember this is the good news that Jesus came to share.



We are all human. That includes Iris Robinson. We all screw up. Sure some peoples mistakes are more in the public eye than others.



But let’s not fall into the trap of believing that we are better than others just because nobody sees our sin.



Jesus showed grace to everyone.



Even me.



Even you.



We would do well to remember that next time we want to kick someone when they are down