Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Restoration Spectrum and Casey Anthony

Yesterday Casey Anthony skated free of a murder charge. It is a shocking conclusion to a shocking trial! All the sensationalism of the trial ended with a bang yesterday in the stunning verdict, "Not Guilty!"
Personally I have no knowledge to either declare her guilty or innocent. Well, that's a little inaccurate. She's not innocent in any sense - so guilty or not guilty. At best she is guilty of some very bad judgment and some very unethical behavior including a lot of lying.
Was she a good mother? I doubt it from what I've heard. BUT being a bad mother doesn't necessarily convict her of murder and didn't. Being a liar doesn't convict her of murder and didn't. AND obviously her other "sins" don't accumulate into a big enough pile to convict her of murder and didn't!
I have no clue what the future holds for Casey Anthony. She may face some jail time for her lying but maybe not. She certainly faces a future facing the scars and sins hidden deep in her heart!
I look at Casey Anthony and see a troubled, tortured young woman who is desperately in need of a heart make-over that only God can provide. She is desperately in need of God's amazing grace! In that sense, she is no different than I am or than you are. We are ALL just as broken and needy as Casey is.
However the public nature of the life and crimes of Casey Anthony calls us all to seriously evaluate where you and I are on the "restoration spectrum"!
This story will play out on TV, talk shows, tabloid magazines and news outlets for days and weeks to come. It will play out in whatever book and movie deals Casey snags! Some things will be true. Some things will probably be false. Some things will be sensational. All of it will be beyond sad and there's no resolution for that.
Sin is ugly! It effects us all! We can learn from Casey Anthony that none of us is ever more than a step away from the same kind of ugliness. The verdict for sin is not in question! It is "GUILTY" every single time! There is only one human being who ever lived who wasn't tainted with the stain of sin. His name is Jesus!
He ALONE can and did remove the stain and taint of sin. He ALONE still does - one heart, one life at a time!
The jurors who judged Casey Anthony "not guilty" may or may not have given a right verdict. God may be the only way who knows the whole truth in the matter though the principals certainly know more than I do about where the truth lies.
The truth about sin is that we are all GUILTY as charged. ONLY Jesus can remove that guilty charge and give us His "not guilty" grace in exchange! The only safe place on the "restoration spectrum" to be is on God's side of Jesus' restoring love and grace!

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