Forgiveness and public office
From Pastor Dan at Street Prophets ...
But most of all, let us not forget that it's not Jim Dobson nor Jerry Falwell who offers forgiveness, but only Christ Jesus. We pastoral types are authorized to offer forgiveness in His name (who authorized Dobson again?), but the theology is pretty explicit on this point: the human instrument is fallible. Believers must work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Given (Newt) Gingrich's serial problems, I'd say some folks have more work to do than others. You might say I'm wrong about that - but then, that's just the point. There's not one of us who can speak to the state of a candidate's soul, no matter how many of them come sniveling to the door seeking redemption. The best we can do is say that they are on the same road that all of us sinners are, and voters will have to interpret their records as they are, not as they might wish them to be.
... To clarify a little, if a Democratic candidate for president admitted to me in an interview that he/she had been unfaithful, I wouldn't comment on the state of their spiritual development at all. I'm not their pastor, and this is not the community they need to bring that concern to. If a candidate feels a need to work on his or her soul, he should take that to his or her pastor and their church. That's the proper venue, not in public with a media figure like Dobson.
I also don't believe that infidelity or divorce necessarily disqualifies a candidate from higher office. It's always been the hypocrisy of a fool like Gingrich that sticks in my craw.
But most of all, let us not forget that it's not Jim Dobson nor Jerry Falwell who offers forgiveness, but only Christ Jesus. We pastoral types are authorized to offer forgiveness in His name (who authorized Dobson again?), but the theology is pretty explicit on this point: the human instrument is fallible. Believers must work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Given (Newt) Gingrich's serial problems, I'd say some folks have more work to do than others. You might say I'm wrong about that - but then, that's just the point. There's not one of us who can speak to the state of a candidate's soul, no matter how many of them come sniveling to the door seeking redemption. The best we can do is say that they are on the same road that all of us sinners are, and voters will have to interpret their records as they are, not as they might wish them to be.
... To clarify a little, if a Democratic candidate for president admitted to me in an interview that he/she had been unfaithful, I wouldn't comment on the state of their spiritual development at all. I'm not their pastor, and this is not the community they need to bring that concern to. If a candidate feels a need to work on his or her soul, he should take that to his or her pastor and their church. That's the proper venue, not in public with a media figure like Dobson.
I also don't believe that infidelity or divorce necessarily disqualifies a candidate from higher office. It's always been the hypocrisy of a fool like Gingrich that sticks in my craw.
posted by Jmac at 9:28 AM
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