Sins both great and small

Martin Bashir has, understandably, taking a hammering in the media for his use of forged documents to get a foot in the door with Earl Spencer; this with a view to obtaining an introduction to Diana, Princess of Wales.

The investigative journalist is from a Pakistani Christian background. He believes that religion must stand up to rigorous questioning and this has made him something of a hawk ready to swoop and expose prominent, religious people and practices. This made him a good choice for the BBC and he was appointed as their religious affairs correspondent in 2016. Elsewhere, Bashir has been quoted as being a committed Christian himself.

Now, I think we can all learn something here. I’m not going to join in with the bash Bashir brigade. My personal opinion is that the deceit and lies he used to get to Earl Spencer had no obvious bearing on Diana’s death two years later. She sadly died as the result of a traffic accident.

What of Martin Bashir? With his upbringing and chosen career, it is shameful that he hadn’t taken on board a warning from God found in the Bible, i.e. ‘…and you may be sure that your sin will find you out’.

Lest we feel superior, however, we should recognise that all wrong-doings, whether they be great or small in our own eyes, will ultimately find us out too. We read in the New Testament, ‘The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them.’ One of Bashir’s sins is obvious and maybe ours are less so but each of us must ask what can we do about getting this sorted with God prior to that ‘place of judgment’ mentioned above?

This is where the Christian message gives a resounding answer. The early church leader, Peter, explains that God appointed Jesus as judge of the living and the dead and everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.

Yes Jesus, who is both judge and jury, offers to clear us of all our sins, including presenting forged documents! Will we take up his offer personally and trust him?