As I walked through the front door of the high school on a spring morning during my senior year of high school, a sophomore girl named Tammy came running up to me and breathlessly exclaimed, “Michele! Michele! Michele! Did you know that you’re pregnant? It’s all over the school! Everyone is talking about it!” Then she burst out laughing. She knew me well enough to know that it wasn’t true. However, I was NOT laughing. Living in a small Midwestern town in 1979, this was probably the worst rumor that could ever be started about a girl. First, there would be stares and whispers about “Can you believe she’s pregnant?” Then—when the girl didn’t show any physical signs of pregnancy—there would be a secondary rumor that started: “Oh….so she must have had an abortion.” Either way, the reputation of a “nice girl” could be ruined.
“Well….I’m not pregnant….who told you I was?”
“Jenny! She’s sitting in the cafeteria!”
I made a beeline to the cafeteria, stood directly in front of Jenny, and stated, “Tammy told me that you told her that I’m pregnant. I’m not. I want to know who told you that.” Being totally intimidated by a popular senior standing over her, Jenny’s eyes darted around the table to the other girls in a sort of panic. She slowly pointed to another table and said, “I heard it from Jay.” I stomped over to Jay and repeated the same encounter I had with Jenny and on it went. All the while, Tammy was bouncing from table to table armed with this new bit of gossip: “Michele heard about the rumor and she’s PISSED! She wants to find out who started it!”
After three or four similar encounters, the bell rang and everyone left the cafeteria to go to their first period class. However, throughout the day, as I walked the halls between classes, students were rushing up to me and reporting, “Kelly said she heard it from Denise”. “Jeff said that he heard it from Kyle.” By the end of the school day, the perpetrator had been identified as a boy named Mark. To make a long story short, later that evening—probably to avoid being beat up by my boyfriend who had paid him a visit—Mark stopped by my house and basically got down on his knees to apologize and ask for forgiveness. He said that he didn’t know why he started the rumor other than he thought it would be funny. I accepted his apology. The end.
The above story is true. I could write a few more paragraphs about how it is important to assert the truth when confronted with lies. However, I want to give you a hypothetical scenario:
What if today, in my 50’s, I decided to run for public office as a Pro-Life candidate? In today’s political environment, it is to be expected that my Pro-Choice opponent would snoop around in my past. Odds are high that they could find one of my former schoolmates who would say, “Oh yeah! I remember hearing about her having an abortion her senior year.” In an effort to be first with a scoop, a media outlet would have a headline reporting this unsubstantiated rumor: “Michele Pinckard Hall—Pro Life Candidate—had an abortion in high school!” The talking heads on cable TV would be talking about what a hypocrite I am and how I cannot be trusted, etc.” I would reply, “I couldn’t have had an abortion! I was never pregnant in high school!” But the response from my opponent, (which I’ve actually heard for real), “This is a very serious allegation against Michele, so therefore it should be believed.” They would then find someone else who would say, “I remember seeing Michele making out with her boyfriend at a high school party. So yeah, she was probably pregnant. If she didn’t have a baby, then she must have had an abortion….” First of all, they taught us in health class that you can’t get pregnant by kissing! But most importantly, how can I prove that I was never pregnant in high school and therefore could not have had an abortion? It’s not possible to prove that I was never pregnant. However, people who dislike my politics would believe the false and unsubstantiated rumors against me. I would be branded a hypocrite and a liar. And who knows, some of the Pro Life extremists might start calling me a murderer. All because of an unprovable rumor.
My point is that I believe that there are a lot of good people who would make great leaders in public service, however in today’s climate, they are afraid of what in their background might be dug up and twisted to serve the purposes of their opponents. The person who is the most qualified for a position will never be allowed to serve because of a perceived moral weakness. And if we are forever going to be branded based on our past, what is the point of ever getting better? If I lost my temper with a coworker, what is the point of learning anger management if I will always be branded a hot-head? What is the point of learning from mistakes and improving ourselves, if we will always be defined by our past mistakes?
In the first chapter of the Gospel of John is the story of Jesus choosing his twelve disciples. Andrew brings his brother to meet Jesus and when He sees him, Jesus says, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Peter.” (Which means “Rock”) The study notes for this verse, John 1:42, says “Jesus named him not for what he was, but for what, by God’s grace, he would become.” Peter was a common fisherman, who was known to be impulsive and hot headed. Does that sound like “The Rock” that you would build the Christian church upon? Yet that is what happened. (See the book of Acts) God used this flawed man to build the early Christian church. Through God’s Grace, Peter became the man that God knew that he could be. I like that note: “Jesus named him not for what he was, but for what, by God’s grace, he would become.” What has Jesus named you? Step into His Grace and let Him use you to fulfill the purpose he destined for you, even before you were born! No matter what you have been in your past, God knows who you are and who you can become. Lean into His Loving Grace.