Adultery, Politicians, and Faith

Quick! What do you think of when I mention Bill Clinton, Jim McGreevy, Eliot Spitzer, and now John Edwards? Here's what immediately comes to my mind. All of them preyed on underlings and abused the power they were elected to guard with dignity and respect. All of them were hormone driven, little boys who apparently were never told no. All of them have joined a long and growing list of politicians and entertainers who have little regard for what it means when God says, "Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife." But more noteworthy is the fact that they all claim to be committed to their faith.

Bill Clinton is a Southern Baptist who often speaks of his salvation. In speaking of President Bush he said that he believes Bush is a committed Christian and that Jesus saved him from his sins, thus indicating Mr. Clinton does know what it means to be saved. Jim McGreevy is now in seminary training for the Episcopal priesthood, a denomination where he is sure to be welcomed in his sinful homosexuality. Spitzer, a Jew by birth said this of his faith: "Faith...faith affects every decision we make. The values we bring to what we do, our notion that integrity should guide the marketplace, how we deal with other people, our definition of what government stands for. I think that it affects what I view as a progressive view of government, being there to help people create wealth for themselves and the values that dictate how we deal with each other, the sort of spirit of community that government is there to foster, that is all bred by the faith that we bring to our daily lives."

Now we learn that John Edwards has been out sleeping with an underling while his wife is at home battling a life threatening breast cancer. When asked how he could do such a thing on Night Line he responded by saying that "she was in remission at the time, not that it is an excuse." The implication was that she was between battles and that somehow made his adultery easier to morally defend. An eye opening comment. He said he took full responsibility and that is to be admired. Yet, by that comment I sensed there is still in him a hard heart that continues to not get it. Still unanswered is whether or not the child born to his concubine is his. And was she paid hush money during his presidential campaign? And I wonder why this is coming out now. Isn't it intriguing that his public confession was aired late at night on the opening night of the Olympics? Would he have confessed his sin if there was no danger of a tabloid outing him?

All of these men morally fell and then lied about it. Clinton lied over and over pointing that infamous finger at the cameras as he played word games with the word "is." Clinton spent inordinate amounts of time fending off the "right wing conspiracy." Would he have ever been truthful if it weren't for the infamous "blue dress?" McGreevy lived a lie in his own marriage for years and then humiliated his wife in public and then in the courts. He went public only after his underling homosexual "lover" threatened to spill the beans and then eventually did. Spitzer frequented prostitutes in a ring that was investigated by the federal government. He was a man feared (hated) on Wall Street and claimed that his liberal agenda was rooted in his faith. He too was "outed" when his name showed up in the call girl's little black book.

Is it really fair for the media to out these public figures. If John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, have put this behind them, does the public have a right to know about his adultery? As public figures there is a greater responsibility with great privileges. The same is true of pastors who fall. They are disqualified from the right to morally lead God's people. This sounds unforgiving and graceless. You might point me to the biblical examples of those who fell and then led again. Yes, God restored some of their power but sadly, they all had to bear the great consequences of their moral collapses. David's consequences were that he lived as a man of war. War never left his home. Samson ended up being crushed by the very temple he tore down, blind and grinding at the wheel like a common ox. Solomon loved many strange women and lost his great kingdom because he whored after other gods.

Husbands and wives invite the same pain into their families every day. The divorce rate among evangelicals is little different from that of the un-churched. Kids are raised in blended families where there is great conflict between the step parent and the step child. The template has never changed. It is still God's will that one man love one woman for one lifetime. Will we ever get it? For a picture of genuine repentance cloaked in consequences, listen in to David's prayer, possibly uttered years after the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Psalm 51:1-12 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. [2] Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. [3] For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. [4] Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. [5] Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. [6] Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. [7] Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. [8] Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. [9] Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. [10] Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. [11] Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. [12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

I don't like writing about this topic but my heart aches for families destroyed by adultery. Sharon recently expressed her burden for women facing moral temptation in her blog posts, including Inbox, Outbox, IM Emotional Adultery. I plead with you, choose righteousness and love of Christ over self. I plead with you to live life in the fear of God, with a constant awareness of His presence. Too many shattered lives result when we don't.

In His Grip,
Dr. Chuck Betters

P.S. I just addressed how to prepare children for battling moral temptation. I start with addressing the sinfulness of our own hearts. Click here to view The Slippery Slope to Moral Failure