Criminal Record vs Bad Credit Score

In a recent economic article entitled, Get Your Act Together, by Jared Dillian, he comments:

“There are two types of people with bad credit. People who are genuinely dirtbags who don’t pay back loans, and people who are just slobs. If you have a bad credit score, it is because you are a dirtbag or a slob. Generally speaking. …

“A credit score is a measure of your character. I’ll go further. A credit score says more about your character than, in many cases, a criminal record. A criminal record is a snapshot of your behavior at a brief moment in time. Sometimes good people break laws now and then.

“But a credit score isn’t a snapshot of your behavior at a moment in time. It establishes a pattern of behavior over years and years. There is a lot of data that goes into a credit score.

“I would rather date someone with a criminal record than a bad credit score.”

Now, I’m sure that statement has some qualifications based on what the criminal record actually was.  I doubt he would rather date an ax-murderer than a financial slob.

However, his point is incredibly valid.  In relationships, it is easier to be friends with someone who has failed and sincerely repented than be friends with someone who has a sloppy character and constantly has small failures but doesn’t get a handle on it. 

This comparison strikes so directly at the class conscious better-than-you church going Christian.  For me, that person so often compares directly to the financial slob described above.  They are full of what they consider small sins and they have no intention of pursuing a purer sanctification because what they do is so much better than others.  My experience is that this person is quick to complain when something isn’t done their way (or the way its always been done) and there personal witness is very weak.  So weak that I’ve often wanted to ask “Is that it?  You’ve been a Christian for decades and that’s all you’ve got?”  God should not seem a small thing when a Christian provides a testimony.

Then there is the sinner who did a most awful sin, became completely broken at the foot of Jesus, repented and has a changed character because of it.  This person carries a powerful witness and testimony.  They know Jesus can change a person and are willing, even eager, to share their story hoping that it will stop someone who may be on the wrongful path they took or lead someone to repentance.  They know they are a sinner like everyone else and can’t be pretentious.

Which one would you want to have as a friend?  Which Christian are you?