Have We Learned?

I see a lot of conservative salivating over the scandals plaguing President Obama, and indeed, it looks grim for the man who ran on a hope ticket and promised unprecedented transparency.

The possibility of deliberate cover-ups or misinformation regarding Benghazi, the IRS targeting of conservatives, and federal snooping of select AP journalists, all put an undeniable cloud over this White House, and each day seems to promise more rain. The specter of Watergate is already being invoked by talking heads, not all of whom tilt right and we’re either on the verge of a national tsunami or an admission of “much ado about nothing.” Stay tuned, and of course, we will.

More admissions and revelations pour out, seemingly by the hour. (The IRS scandal is rife with those, and I’ll wager that one delivers Obama’s biggest headache, though Benghazi looks more immediately crucial to me.) And America reacts with predictable division.  As of today Rasmussen reports that 49% of potential voters approve of our President’s job performance; 49% disapprove.  And 65% of those polled believe orders for the IRS to scrutinize conservative groups during the 2012 election came from Washington, an alarming thought to most but not all. Actress Bette Midler, for example, in a classy homage to balance and diversity, publicly thanked the IRS for targeting the Tea Party. More disturbing is the fact that even 37% of the Democrats polled believe other government agencies might have been used to target conservative groups.

As a Christian first and a political/social conservative second, I have to check myself here. Much as I genuinely loathe much of what this administration has promoted and imposed, I have to ask myself if I’m grieving over possible corruption in my nation, or giddy over the fact that it (allegedly) comes from the Left. Because if I’m excited to see this president discredited, then am I not, in direct violation of Proverbs 24:17, rejoicing when my adversary stumbles?

For sure, if anyone, including the Top Man, is guilty, let’s get it out into the light and dealt with. But with tears, not relish. I remember so well the rejoicing I saw four decades ago when Nixon’s White House started to crumble, and so many of my more liberal friends all but declared a national holiday. I hope those of us in conservative circles will resist that pull, for a few reasons.

Our national morale and, to an extent, our international credibility, take hits when this happens, no matter which side of the aisle is to blame. Also, there are definitely believers who love the same Lord I do and are joined to the same Body I am, who are supporters of this Administration and his party, and I’ve no wish to delight in what must be hurtful to them. Besides which, haven’t we learned by now that the nation’s hope really doesn’t lie in the right party, the right Congress, the right man?

We had an openly Christian President, a Republican dominated Congress and a (fairly) conservative Supreme Court, none of which ushered the Kingdom in. (Full disclosure: I miss the comfort of those days when my ideology was dominant, so there, I admit it.) But the world, no matter how aligned to my social views, remains the world, not the Church. And certainly not Christ’s Kingdom which is, as He said plainly, “not of this world.” (John 18:36)  I may believe (and I do) that our nation is better served by conservative leadership, but hard experience should have taught us all by now that power for hunger and susceptibility to corruption are sins both parties are well acquainted with.

So yeah, there’s a carnal impulse in me that’s already entertaining impeachment fantasies. That’s an admission of sin, folks, and it’s nothing I’m proud of, so I’m working on that.

But I make no apologies for wanting the truth to come out, and for critical questions to receive unvarnished answers. Why was necessary backup withheld in Benghazi, and who’s responsible? What rationale could there have been for scrutinizing journalist’s records, and to what extent was it in the service of this Administration’s image? How far up did knowledge of the IRS’s evident antipathy to conservative organizations go? Some of us need to know. All of us deserve to know.

And yet in the broader sense, this is also a test of our nature as believers. Love doesn’t rejoice in iniquity (I Corinthians 13:6) nor does it avoid hard truth. So God help us to pass this test by honoring Him with our words and attitude as this season of scandal and inquiry reaches its peak. Whatever the outcome, may we see the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, blooming in response to whatever new information we’re presented with.

On that note, I sure hope you have a terrific weekend. Thanks for being here.

Love,

Joe