Thursday, December 09, 2010

The Sin and Forgiveness Resume . . .

I have found myself circulating my resume again to a variety of places, including places connected to the church. Resumes are funny things, they are but a two-dimensional, snap shots of who we are. And not just any version of who we are, but who we are at our best. 

One of the standard interview questions is, "Why are you best for this job?"  I really want to answer that, "Well, I really don't have the information to answer that. I don't know anything about the other candidates and unless I believe I am the best person in the whole world for this job, which is called megalomania, I really can't say." 

I have never said that in an interview, but I'd love to.

Every week at church, we say the Lord's Prayer.  A key phrase in the prayer is "forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us."  What if we had a sin resume, where we did indeed make a list of our sins and those we have forgiven (some may say this is a critical part of the Twelve Step programs)? Some versions of the Lord's Prayer use the word debts and debtors. But you could argue that a Debt Resume already exists, it is called a credit report, but I digress.

One of the great challenges for those in Christian leadership and probably any visible role where faith or morals is expected is to live an authentic life. It is too easy to simply try to live the veneer life, that is try to live a life just for show and for other people. Authentic leadership and living is not easy, and I think that having a sin and forgiveness resume might just help.