Unfortunately, my home town has joined the growing list of towns to have a teacher accused of an inappropriate relationship with a student. You can read about it HERE if you’d like, but the cliff notes version (if that’s even possible in these terrible scenarios) is that a female math teacher in our public high school has been charged with having sex with a 17 year old student.
Honestly, the whole thing (true or untrue) breaks my heart on so many levels – the teacher is married with three children of her own, the 17 year old boy will never be the same, and the community now has enough gossip and scandal that we will be able to stand in judgment and appear pious in comparison for many, many months. But I digress…
When the story broke, it was on the front page of our local newspaper. Now, if I were extra ambitious I would scan it in to show you, but you’re just going to have to believe me when I tell you that the second paragraph read like this:
Heather Zeo, a Mennonite, has been charged with one felony count of endangering the welfare of a child and four misdemeanor counts of corruption of minors…
As hypocritical as this is, after I blogged about religious garb last week, it really upset me that the first descriptor used was Mennonite. If she had been Baptist or Catholic or Jewish – do you think it would have been included? Highly doubtful.
Naturally, the article when on to include information about her faith, including a testimony on her website and the fact that she recorded a CD of Christian music. You see what I’m getting at, right?
We love a hypocrite, don’t we? Oh, the joy of exposing the fallen zealot! From Spitzer to Edwards to the classic Jim Bakker, we get real pleasure in uncovering sin. And we always seem to forget our own sin in the midst of our holy vigilante behaviors.
In moments like these, I am reminded of two things:
1. Christians, there is a lot at stake, not only in how we respond, but in how we live. We wear more than our own reputations. FLEE if you must, but don’t fail to understand what a big deal your behavior really is.
2. We are all hypocrites. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Showing grace when you are the victim makes forgiveness when you are the perpetrator all the more likely.
I’m sorry, Heather. I’m sorry for you and your student and the rest of us, too.
1 comment:
Wendy,
Not directed at you, but at myself. When I read of such things as this, we had one recently also, I think: Let him who is perfect cast the first stone.
Usually much talk and many thrown stones before thinking.
Steve in Central CA
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