This morning when I brought in the paper, I looked down and saw the headline, “Flawed Chess Genius Dies.”

The article was, of course, about the death of Bobby Fischer.

What struck me, though, was the word “flawed.” It was as if there is something noteworthy about a person being flawed.

Aren’t we all flawed?

We don’t like to think so, do we?

I don’t doubt that Bobby Fischer was indeed an unusual character. Just the other day, before his death, my husband was talking about chess, and he told us a story about Bobby Fischer. He was a seemingly troubled man.

Bobby Fischer’s idiosyncrasies notwithstanding, we are all flawed.

So why is it that many of us try so hard to imply otherwise?

The other day I stumbled upon a blog that had a list of Christian bloggers, some of which I read, along with a few nasty words about each one.

The one that stuck out and hurt me the most was a comment regarding the fact that one of these Christian women was a divorcee. You know, you can’t take advice from a Christian woman who has been divorced, right? She’s obviously a sinner.

Except that her husband was an abusive, alcoholic adulterer. The three As, as Dr. Laura calls them. The three valid reasons for divorce. And he had the triple-play.

This makes her a bad Christian, according to this person, but not according to the One whose opinion matters.

I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.

Those are the words of Jesus himself, in Matthew 19:9, and elsewhere.

But, still, people judge.

I think the reason this was the most hurtful to me is that I know that judgment. I know the sting when someone judges my faithfulness based on my past.

Only, I cannot get away from it. People who do not even know me know that Big E and The D are not my husband’s biological children just by looking at them.

They don’t see a woman who was raised without God, but found Him, and found forgiveness for the life that had left her so empty inside for so many years.

They see a woman who is a sinner.

They don’t see a saint, sanctified by the blood of the Christ they profess to follow.

They see their own desperate attempt to cover up their own flaws, at the expense of their sister in Christ.

This used to bother me a lot. I had found this incredible forgiveness and there were people who wanted to take that away from me, just because of their own insecurity, their own narrow view of our God.

But then I realized that no one can take away the grace I have received, and continue to receive each day.

I am forgiven.

That does not depend upon what someone else thinks about me.

And no one can take it away.