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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman
Does Biblical morality really matter any more or is morality simply a
matter of "my own morality"?
Should we consider a person's moral behaviour when thinking of
trusting him or her? Does an
adulterous default on a marriage covenant matter any more?
Does immorality of any kind matter in the lives of politicians,
CEO's or church leaders? Most
claim to believe morality matters, but most don't live what they claim to
believe. When
President Clinton's default on his marriage covenant was exposed, the
Right was enraged. Knowing of
President Trump's adulterous defaults on his marriage covenants, the Left
rages on. Both sides of the
political platform are hypocritical finger pointers as they fight to
dethrone their political opponent, but of course, that never happens in
church, right? In
1987 I saw Larry King interviewing Jimmy Swaggart who was raging away
against PTL's Jim Baker for his immoral financial fraud.
As Swaggart was publicly pointing a finger at Baker for his
immorality, he was privately committing adultery in a motel room for which
he was exposed in 1988. I
guess immorality does happen in church after-all. Yes,
all kinds of covenantal violations exist in all segments of culture.
Knowing that, can we trust any openly immoral person to lead us?
If he or she willingly cheats on his or her spouse, will he or she
not cheat on his or her followers? I
asked that question in the Jimmy Swaggart days of the late 1980's, and
again in the Bill Clinton days of the 1990's.
I'm asking it again in these Donald Trump days.
Jesus
told us to "be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees,
which is hypocrisy" (Luke 21:1).
The Pharisees were cultural, political and religious Jewish leaders
of the day. They not only
defaulted on their marriage covenants, they defaulted on God's covenant.
They manipulated the Law of Moses so they could weaponize justice
to suit their own morality. That
being so, their public proclamations of being righteous were "simply
theatre". Such theatrical
performances are seen in America's Senate committee hearings and Canada's parliamentary debates. Both
are Pharisaic in nature that accomplish little to nothing of value. Defaulting
on any kind of covenant and then rebuking others for the same or similar
default is hypocrisy. Jesus
told us to be on guard against such hypocrites.
Clearly, morality matters. I
can't, then, fully trust a hypocritical immoral leader to not cheat on me.
Before embracing any leader, no matter their cultural setting, we
must seriously consider their morality.
I
leave it to you to figure out how to "be on guard" when it comes
to this matter. Embracing a
political leader, party or platform is a tough process to manoeuvre in
today's democracies. All
political platforms are morally deficient in some respect.
Knowing who to trust has become difficult in an era where deception
is running rampant. Although I
haven't done it yet, I have no problem writing "I vote for none"
on a ballot. You may call that
a wasted vote. I call it a
defiant protest vote due to the unacceptable immorality of all parties.
One thing I know is sure and that is Biblical morality matters.
It's the morality of Jesus, not "my morality".
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