[455 words]
Sexual scandals among high-profile people in politics and the media don’t surprise us. We’ve heard so much of it that we’re sick of hearing about it. What else can we expect from Godless people who lie for a living?
A few generations ago there was a clear line between what should be mentioned in public and what should be kept private. That line was blurred by Hollywood movies in the mid-1900s. It was erased in the rebellion of the 1960s and 1970s. Now people don’t even have a concept of what is decent and what is shameful.
The Bible says there are things too disgusting to mention. When Paul warned about having fellowship with the works of darkness, he added, “for it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret” (Eph. 5:12). Just because a thing is true doesn’t mean we should listen to every sordid detail about it.
What angers God-fearing people is the lying and hypocrisy in those who make allegations and stir this news. There is a saying of Jesus that is often ripped out of context that does apply here: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7). The Lord did not mean a person has to be sinless before he can point out another person’s sin. He did not tell us to be silent about evil because we’re not perfect.
What he told those Jewish men was that they had no right to condemn this woman of adultery because they were adulterers themselves!
Politicians today are like those Jews in the Bible. They lie repeatedly and accuse their opponents of making false statements. They bring up charges of sexual misconduct while they themselves are adulterers and pedophiles. People like this have no conscience.
Are some allegations false? Of course they are. The story of Joseph is a good example. Joseph worked for Potiphar who trusted him implicitly. When Potiphar’s wife kept making advances toward Joseph, he refused to betray his master and sin against God. This scornful Woman lied and accused Joseph of trying to seduce her (Gen. 39)! She brazenly accused an innocent man of the very thing she had done! Joseph was thrown into prison because of her lie. His reputation and future appeared to have been ruined by a vindictive woman. But there is more to the story.
In time Joseph was released from prison and rose to a position of great prominence in Egypt, being second in power only to Pharaoh himself. His life in a strange land began in humiliation and ended in honor, but the woman who falsely accused him was forgotten.
Kerry Duke
Livingston, TN