If you have turned on the TV over the last few weeks you have heard of at least three things.

1. NBA Finals

2. Arnold’s love child

3. Anthony Weiner’s Wiener

I thought I would post a few things on each one.

1. I am still hoping to see the Mavs take the Heat but it is not looking good. A fun series to watch for sure. We work with a number of athletes in professional sports and it has been a great joy to walk alongside some of these athletes in their quest for purity.

As far as #2 and #3, I feel the same way about politicians as many people do about pastors and the church. I care more about the church then politics but they both seem to have a bad wrap these days for similar reasons. One word for you both.

HONESTY.

Anthony Weiner held a press conference today to confess that he did in fact send inappropriate photos to women on Twitter. Here is the video

I don’t know him but if you ever have to hold a press conference and have to apologize to your spouse in the press conference it’s probably too late. I don’t know Weiner but I can tell you I still don’t believe him. John Edwards, Eddie Long, Bill Clinton, Ted Haggard, we can keep going down the list of people who held press conferences or talked to the media and said one thing and eventually the truth came out later.

I feel bad for him and honestly think we have some resources to help him but we can’t help anyone who is still in denial. One of the biggest signs of addiction is denial.

Should he loose his job? That is a question I have been asked quite a bit today.

Yes.

Let me explain.

Do I believe in second chances? Yes.

Do I believe in forgiveness ? Yes.

If you play football and send pics of your wiener do you loose your job? No

If you play football and send pics of your wiener and then lie about it do you loose your job? No

Lying and inappropriate relationships for an athlete although I don’t agree with that, has nothing to do with what you are being paid to do on the field. You might lose an endorsement deal with a product but you should be able to keep your job.

If you are in politics or in a position of leadership at a church and you have inappropriate relationships and you lie about them I do believe you should lose your job. The reason you are in that position of leadership and or office is based on your skills, your beliefs, your integrity and character. If the first thing you do after screwing up is lie then how can I believe you are being honest with any of the other promises you have made to your congregation or your political party.

Giving someone a second chance or a third chance does not mean that they can keep their job. I have a friend who made some mistakes early on in ministry and then had to step away and worked his tail off to get back into ministry years later. I don’t think we just continue to allow people in the church and people in politics to continue to screw up right in front of us and accept this and just move on. These people will never get the help that they need until they lose something. I think they best thing we can do for people in these situations is to call for their resignation and believe that in the long run it will help them.

What do you all think?