It was awkward and painful listening to a US Congressman twist and squirm in a tense press conference in Washington DC, this afternoon. After more than a week of lying and stonewalling, NY Representative Anthony Weiner finally confessed what most people have suspected for days. He had lied about his Twitter Account being hacked, and had personally sent a lewd photo of his crotch to a young woman he had apparently never met. He had betrayed the trust of his wife, his family and his constituents. He had lied to any number of journalists and reporters on a daily basis. And he had falsely accused one particular conservative muckraker of setting him up and being dishonest.
We've known for days this press conference was coming. We knew it when the congressman announced his Twitter account had been hacked for an embarrassing prank, but did not summon investigators. We knew it every time he made one more sophomoric joke about his name, the awkward situation, or parts of the human anatomy. He should have realized this day was coming as well, but that's the strange thing about the human heart. It can be so callous and stony.
When reporters continued to batter him with questions like, "What were you thinking, anyway," the humilitated politician endlessly repeated phrases like "I sincerely apologize," and "It was a stupid mistake." Finally, in one fleeting moment of clarity, he said something like this: "If you're looking for a rationale explanation or a purpose, there's not one. I can't tell you why I did it."
Without even a whiff of rancor or condescension, I could have explained to the reporters why Rep. Weiner did what he did. The Apostle Paul described it this way: "For the good that I will do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, it is that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." (Romans 7: 19-20)
Followers of Jesus Christ don't delight in sin. Neither do most of us enjoy heaping scorn on human beings who fall victim to the seductive spell of wickedness. Mankind is uniquely susceptible. We can't help it. In our natural state, the will to defy authority and indulge the self is hard-wired into our system. I suspect it is intertwined with the survival instinct. The sinful impulse can be absolutely overwhelming, causing a man or woman to defy logic and rush towards destruction.
James put it this way: "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." (James 1: 14-15)
We've known for days this press conference was coming. We knew it when the congressman announced his Twitter account had been hacked for an embarrassing prank, but did not summon investigators. We knew it every time he made one more sophomoric joke about his name, the awkward situation, or parts of the human anatomy. He should have realized this day was coming as well, but that's the strange thing about the human heart. It can be so callous and stony.
When reporters continued to batter him with questions like, "What were you thinking, anyway," the humilitated politician endlessly repeated phrases like "I sincerely apologize," and "It was a stupid mistake." Finally, in one fleeting moment of clarity, he said something like this: "If you're looking for a rationale explanation or a purpose, there's not one. I can't tell you why I did it."
Without even a whiff of rancor or condescension, I could have explained to the reporters why Rep. Weiner did what he did. The Apostle Paul described it this way: "For the good that I will do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, it is that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." (Romans 7: 19-20)
Followers of Jesus Christ don't delight in sin. Neither do most of us enjoy heaping scorn on human beings who fall victim to the seductive spell of wickedness. Mankind is uniquely susceptible. We can't help it. In our natural state, the will to defy authority and indulge the self is hard-wired into our system. I suspect it is intertwined with the survival instinct. The sinful impulse can be absolutely overwhelming, causing a man or woman to defy logic and rush towards destruction.
James put it this way: "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." (James 1: 14-15)
Like most Americans, Rep. Weiner lives in a very secular world where the idea of sin has been abandoned, and where personal freedom trumps every remaining virtue. In our self-esteem generation, we have been brainwashed with the false assurance that anything we want is natural and normal, and therefore every desire must be fulfilled. Decades ago, our public schools swapped the ideas of responsibility and character for the illusions of self-esteem and and emotion. We spend our days wandering around a virtual reality theme park in which every one is his own god and there are no consequences. My avatar can even fly!
As it happens, that virtual reality theme park is grounded in a real world where secrets get out, photos are leaked, people go to the press, scandals sell newspapers, and crimes are punished. Like Icarus who flew too close to the sun, our sins eventually bring us crashing to earth in a society where wives feel betrayed, where sons and daughters are humiliated, where employers are scandalized, and where clients bail out of contracts.
This real world is the one where Sin is so insidious, so seductive, so overpowering. The problem with secular societies like ours, is that frail humans begin to believe their press releases and feel free to defy the Laws of the Creator. One of those laws makes a promise: "As a man sows, so shall he reap." This is why grace is not an option. We have to have it. People need the Lord for real-world reasons! Christ died on the cross for sinners, of whom I am chief.
The congressman's most tragic lie was the one he told himself long ago. It's the lie he was probably told as a young man. It's the falsehood that is perpetrated endlessly by the media who have now taken such delight in Mr. Weiner's pathetic pornography. That fatal falsehood promises, "Intelligent people don't need Jesus Christ." Wrong again.
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