It happened yet again over the past few weeks. Another politician, this time the Governor of South Carolina with national and Presidential aspirations, falls morally.

His story was more creative than most: he told his staff and his family he was going away for a few days to relieve his stress, saying he would be “hiking the Appalachian Trail.” He was actually flying to Argentina to see his mistress of many years, for yet another sexual fling, leaving his family unaware of his whereabouts and leaving his state with no idea how to contact him and no one legally really in charge. He might have gotten by with it save that someone recognized him coming off a plane in the Atlanta airport, and it certainly wasn’t arriving from the Appalachian Trail!

We loved the “gotcha” of the story, and the media of course fawned all over themselves for their “investigative journalism” that found out “the truth” and brought down yet another self-righteous and arrogant politician, salivating especially strong on this one because he was yet another “Conservative” Republican with pro-family values. Those are the most “fun” for the media to crucify.

It is true these days that many politicians seemingly can’t keep themselves from moral failure, either ethically or sexually, as the twin allures of greed and lust always stalk the mighty and powerful. Someone recently said to me it was all former President Bill Clinton’s fault. I smiled, thinking about how many centuries these kinds of failures have been done by those in power long before our former President was even thought of!

What seems to me to be the most troubling, however, is the person’s response after being caught. It’s almost unanimous, and nearly 100% in consistency. It usually goes something like this:

“I MADE A MISTAKE.”

Mistake. Fascinating word. It actually means in this form “a fault in understanding, perception, interpretation” or “an idea, answer, act, etc. that is wrong, error.” The clear meaning of the word in this situation is that somehow I couldn’t see or think clearly and based on bad information and did something that now I can see more clearly was not the right thing. Like I was in this massive state of partial information and mental confusion and made poor judgments because of it.

Does that really apply in these situations? Syndicated Columnist Leonard Pitts, a writer whose words often raise my blood pressure because I disagree with him politically, really nailed this recently.

He wrote: “The next time some politician goes before the cameras with his figurative pants down around his metaphoric ankles and says ‘I made a mistake’ let’s form a mob and drag him from the podium. You bring the lanerns, I’ll bring the pitchforks.” And that was only his opening line!

He goes on to say that this “I made a mistake” response allows the offender to “appear to accept responsibility for his offense while at the same time minimizing it. He just misjudged. It just happened. He was just careless, inattentive or forgetful. He couldn’t help it.” Indeed, Pitts continues, the excuse is even less acceptable after President Clinton’s very public and very embarassing moral failure because we have now seen the “fire before” – and to “put your hand into the same fire, that’s not a mistake. That’s an idiotic calculation that, somehow, the rules do not apply to you.”

Amen.

Pitts’ summary, referring to this latest Governor to fall: “I made a mistake? Beg pardon, but what he made was a decision.”

You see, that’s the difference biblical truth makes in our lives. WE have to understand as God’s people that we don’t “make mistakes” when it comes to outright, volitional sinful acts – we COMMIT SIN, DECIDE to be immoral, CHOOSE to do what’s wrong. There is no lack of information or confusion that leads to this: quite the contrary. We are VERY aware of the “fire” this kind of choice creates, because we’ve seen it, read about it, and possibly even done it ourselves before! These are decisions being made, clearly in violation of God’s will and our own conscience, yet we proceed, and the consequences hit us squarely in the face, and we either choose to repent and confess, or deny and press on, only making the noose of our own sinfulness tighter.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing, in the madness of “mistakes” to actually hear someone say:

“I’ve SINNED. I CHOSE to do what was WRONG. I KNEW what I was doing the whole time. I ACCEPT whatever consequences my acts have created. I ASK FORGIVENESS of those I have sinned against, including God, and will make whatever restitutions I need to make.”

Hmmm. That sounds vaguely like a prayer for salvation, doesn’t it? For forgiveness from sins, repentance before Christ and God the Father?

It’s a lot harder than “I made a mistake.” It requires a lot more of a man or woman to say it.   But it sure would go a lot further in restoring trust and would make a difference for eternity.

No, I won’t be carrying the lanterns or pitchforks.  That’s God’s work.  But it sure would sound good to hear it, wouldn’t it?