The news about politicians, sports figures and other high-profile folks and their infidelities has become all too common.
It’s easy enough to condemn these public figures as cads and hypocrites and really turn up the heat on them with harsh judgment, especially if it’s a politician. The libs love to see a conservative fall, and the conservatives love to see the libs fall.
I don’t like to see anybody fall.
I actually felt sorry for Hillary and daughter Chelsea when Bill Clinton’s had has Monicagate. I couldn’t help but think of the family’s pain and public humiliation.
I actually feel sorry for the Republican governor of South Carolina’s family because of the enormous pain and public humiliation they are suffering still.
These things get into some really sticky areas–a famous coach gets a pass from fans because the coach is a winner in some cases. And when it’s a politician, the supporters on his or her side of the aisle will do all sorts of moral gymnastics to excuse the sinner’s adultery.
In addition, the late-night comedians and everybody pile on night after night.
We tend to become way too unforgiving and unmerciful–or way too merciful and forgiving in these matters, depending on whether it’s our Democrat or our Republican, our coach or our rival’s coach.
But it’s hard enough on spouses and children when these things come to light in the most obscure of families. For a spouse and children to have to endure the enormous public exposure and fallout would be almost unbearable, I would think.
That’s not to say that the adulterers–especially those who profess their religious faith at every turn from their public-office pulpits while carrying on affairs–should not be held up to the light of day and held to account. What I do want to say is that they and their families should be held in prayer and not bashed without mercy for political or any other ill-begotten reasons–not by Christians. We’re all broken, sin-sick people living in a broken world full of worldy temptations.
Anyway, here’s an interesting take on such “cheap shots” from Father Stephen Freeman, an Orthodox priest in Tennessee who blogs at a site called “Glory to God in all things”:
The news story is so common that the name can be left blank. ” N. confessed today that he has been unfaithful to his wife and children and let down his fans. ‘I want to say I’m sorry for what I’ve done and ask God’s forgiveness.’”
I do not believe that our nation is suffering a rash of infidelities. We are suffering a rash of cheap shots – easily made because the targets are too big to miss.A Basketball Coach, a Senator, a Congressman, a News Anchor – these, and similar folk, are all people that our entertainment culture has “writ large.” The few minutes of fame afforded certain figures usually brings additional wealth and influence. Many of those around them are eager to use the cache of their presence for their own ends – sometimes the ends even seem good. Thus the commonplace headliner at a local evangelical church – the popular coach or the football star. It carries a not so hidden message: ‘Jesus is a winner.’
With every winning headline the target gets bigger. When human frailty reveals itself, the headlines that follow are bigger still. That a football coach goes to Church and believes in Jesus is not news. That he does drugs and chases women on the side – that’s news.
Hypocrisy sells.
The popular-figure-as-Christian-leader is an American myth. For years our history books were filled with mythic tales of the righteous founders of our nation. Not even ancient Israel had such righteous leaders. King David was a murdering adulterer. George Washington could not tell a lie. The disconnect between these two figures is the disconnect between the traditional Christian faith and the American Christian faith. Jesus is not an American and He did not found our country. He also did not coach at Notre Dame.
Being moral does not make you famous – and being famous has nothing to do with being moral.
I am not a believer in traditional morality – because I think it’s a modern invention. Conventional morality thinks in terms of a moral code well kept. Think Immanuel Kant as business leader. Proper Christian morality thinks of death and resurrection. Jesus did not die in order to make bad men good – He died to make dead men live. Immoral people act the way they do because within they are filled with death and corruption. There is something fundamentally broken about the human being – and we often find our lives to be a mass of contradictions.
The moral man, in this understanding, is the one who acknowledges his utter weakness before God. Christ told His disciples, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Someone who believes this spends his life learning to depend not on himself but on the only Lord and Giver of Life.
In Alcoholics Anonymous, one of the 12 traditions teaches that anonymity is essential to the program. AA does not depend on famous spokesmen to sell its way of life. It wisely depends on men and women who successfully struggle for sobriety. What they do and who they are is of no consequence. All that matters is sobriety. Indeed a famous spokesman, returning to the bottle is just the kind of advertising they do not need.
The Christian faith is not helped by the endorsements of the rich and famous, the talented and successful. The resurrection does not need the testimony of dead men. For the Christian Church is a communion of dead men and women who cling to God because He alone gives life. We survive because we can share the good news of that life with each other. Anonymity is not a bad idea.
