A Fresh Start For Everybody—Even Monica Lewinsky

Who would you give a second chance?

How about Chris Brown? Mel Gibson? Casey Anthony? Mike Tyson? Monica Lewinsky?

There is an organization called POTSC (People of the Second Chance)…

They are a community of second chancers committed to unleashing radical grace everyday—in every moment, for everyone. POTSC are advocates for mercy over judgment.

In 2011, they ran a campaign called “Never Beyond.” They made limited edition prints (posters) representing well-known historical, current, and fictional characters who have harmed society. The campaign engaged people with the question, “Who Would You Give A Second Chance?”

These posters draw on themes of forgiveness, grace, and what a pathway to a second chance looks like. Their point: we’re never beyond a second chance.

Do you remember the Monica Lewinsky scandal?

Of course you do. It’s what you think of when you hear her name.

Did you know she recently got a master’s degree in social psychology?

Did you know that she has also been a fashion designer—owning and operating a handbag company?

At the start of 2000, Monica began appearing in commercials for Jenny Craig. It was a $1 million endorsement deal. Despite her desire to return to a more private life, she took the deal—needing the money to pay off legal fees. The choice of Lewinsky as a role model ended up being controversial for Jenny Craig, and a number of its franchises switched to an older advertising campaign. The company stopped running the Lewinsky ads by February and paid her only $300,000 for her involvement.

I read that in 2005, she sold her handbag company and moved to London because “she could not escape the spotlight in the U.S., making both her professional and personal life difficult.”

Even though the scandal happened 15 years ago, it was impossible for Monica to get a second chance or a fresh start—not in this country anyway…

But that’s not how God’s Kingdom works.

With God, it’s A FRESH START FOR EVERYBODY (Ephesians 2.15 MSG).

What a blessing! We get a second chance, a fresh start, a new beginning.

This is Good News.

It’s Good News we receive—gladly.

It’s also Good News we must give—generously.

What am I saying?

I’m saying we need to give others (famous, infamous, and unknown) a second chance.

“No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards.” (2 Corinthians 5.16 GNT)

With God, it’s a fresh start for everybody—even Monica Lewinsky.

That’s how He rolls—and now that’s how we roll too.