For the Love of Butter

There are three things that celebrity chef Paula Deen and I have in common.  We are both proud of our southern culture, we both love butter, and we both have said or done something that we regret.  Over the past week, Paula Deen has come under fire for her usage of a derogatory and racist word.  A word, by her admission, that was used almost 30 years ago.  It is astonishing how quick we are to use the "He who is without sin" argument when we are the recipient of a harsh criticism or judgment, but when the shoe is on the foot of someone else, we are quick to jump on the bandwagon with others and point our fingers.  The same one's who scream, "Don't judge me or the things I have done" are the same ones who will scream "Shame on you"  The tolerance and acceptance that we are seeing pushed on political and religious platforms are only tolerated and accepted as long as you agree with them.  The "Love the sinner" decree seems to only apply to certain individuals but not every one.  We tend to forget, we are human.  We have made our mistakes.  Mistakes that we wish we can change, but we can't.  Mistakes that for some will forever haunt us until our dying day.  Mistakes that have caused hurt in others more than ourselves.  Mistakes that we wish others will forgive us for, but like Paula Deen's case, many are so unwilling to offer to us mercy and mercilessly brand our name with that mistake.  "She is a celebrity and must be held to a higher standard because people are watching her", they would say.  Yet, when we go to work, shopping, hanging out with friends, or even church, people are watching us.  Like us, she is human.  Yes, she is on television making millions of dollars, but does that make her less human?  I did not watch the Today show where she was interviewed by Matt Lauer, but I was able to read an excerpt of her plea.  She said "if you are out there, please pick up that stone and throw it so hard at my head that it kills me. Please, I want to meet you."  There, she said it, she wants to meet you.  You gasped at the horror of her words uttered before almost 30 years ago. "How could she!?", you screamed.  "I will never watch another one of her show and buy another one of her products!" you defiantly protest.  She wants to meet you.  You have never said or done something you have ever regretted, she wants to meet you.  You have never offended or hurt anyone, she wants to meet you.  Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:7 - Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.  Mercy is God withholding from you what you deserve.  To be a truly compassionate and caring person is to show care, concern, and mercy to those, even if you do not believe they deserve it.  Paula made a mistake.  She has apologized.  She is trying to move one, but too many are too busy to cast stones.  Not just at Paula, but at each other.  If you made a mistake that you truly regret making, wouldn't you want us to just move on?  Why can't we do the same for others?  I heard this statement the other day and the truth of it has become more apparent in recent days: It's easy to love mercy--when it's directed to me. It's not so easy to love mercy when it's directed to my enemy.  The greatest forgiveness of our mistakes will not come at the hands of fellow man, instead, Thank you Lord, it comes at the foot of Jesus on the cross for our sins.....every one of them.