“The tongue… corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6)
President Clinton’s address to the nation after his testimony before the Grand Jury was as dark of a moral moment in the history of our country as I can remember.
I never thought I would hear an American president face the country in order to admit to an adulterous relationship. I have never been more disappointed in a national leader, but I have also never been more disappointed in our Christian response to him. We are out for blood!
I don’t condone what President Clinton did. He was wrong and he has yet to handle the matter with the candor and truthfulness that the nation expects.
But Clinton’s tone should not have surprised us. That’s exactly how Adam reacted in the Garden of Eden for his disobedience. Do you remember? He tried to deflect as much of the blame as he could by pointing out that it was Eve who gave him the apple in the first place.
The real tragedy in Clinton’s address is that it showed very few signs that he genuinely regretted his actions. Oh his comments may have been sincere, but he didn’t convince me that he was sorry. The Christian thing to do would have been to ask the nation for forgiveness and tell us that it would never happen again.
Clinton told the country: “Now, this matter is between me, the two people I love most—my wife and our daughter—and our God. It nobody’s business but ours. Even presidents have private lives.”
He’s right! The Bible says that when we fail to keep our marital vow of fidelity we are sinning against the Lord. (Numbers 32:23) So the adulterous act he committed really is a matter between him, his family and God.
The only questions about which we should have ever been concerned are whether he lied under oath, suborned perjury and obstructed justice. Those are crimes and no president should be allowed to break the law and get away with it. He is neither above God or the law.
There is a message in this tragedy for us too. Most of us have been decidedly harsh in our judgment of the President. But Jesus told us that we should never judge and he warned us about what would happen when we do: “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:2) It may hard for us to trust God in this situation, but that’s exactly what we have got to do.
The Bible also warns us to be extremely careful about what we say with regards to the Clinton matter. But again, most of us have been outwardly critical when it comes to how we feel about him. Our comments suggest a lot more about where we are spiritually than where Mr. Clinton is. That’s what James meant when he said, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” (James 1:26)
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