Have you noticed what’s been happening in the news lately? A civilian was mistakenly included in a conversation that likely contained classified information. Thankfully, this error didn’t disrupt the mission being discussed, but it was still a mistake.
Once it came to light, the administration acknowledged the error, promised to investigate, and put safeguards in place to prevent it from happening again. But here’s where things get tricky—they downplayed the mistake, choosing instead to highlight the success of the mission. And that’s a problem. The mistake and the success are two separate stories. Both deserve to be acknowledged.
At the same time, those on the other side refuse to recognize any success at all. They focus only on the mistake. There’s no room for, “We messed up,” or “We’re taking a closer look,” or “We’re going to fix it.” Just like a few years ago, during the troop withdrawal, when mistakes were admitted, but the opposing side refused to hear it.
Now, this may not be an exact apples-to-apples comparison, but it’s close enough to remind us of something important: We tend to hold others to a different standard than we hold ourselves.
The truth is, everyone makes mistakes. Politicians, athletes, pastors, church leaders, parents, kids—all of us. The real question isn’t whether we’ll mess up (because we will), but whether we will rise to the occasion, learn from it, grow, and commit to doing better.
Jesus said:
“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12, NLT)
Who knew Mom was quoting Jesus when she told us to treat others the way we want to be treated? But maybe it’s time we actually start listening—not just to her, but to Jesus. To listen to our neighbor. To forgive our neighbor. To love our neighbor the way we would want to be listened to, forgiven, and loved.
We can say, “Yeah, but they…”—or we can say, “Yeah, because Jesus did, I will.”
May our words and actions look more like Jesus every day. Amen.