“Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:17-20)
Before I delve into this subject and add my two cents to the national debate that is asking this weighty question, let me make an opening disclaimer concerning Mr. Clinton. President Clinton is not the problem with America and no other candidate that the two-party system presents to the American people for voting consideration will be the answer. America is way beyond a political, financial, and educational solution to what ails us. All that remains to rescue our beleaguered nation is a sweeping revival that will awaken the moral conscience of the American people. A move of God to usher in the much needed reformation to restore our land. No, Bill Clinton is not the root of the problem, he is the fruit of the problem. Bill Clinton is the personification of the moral or should I say immoral “State of the Union Address.”
He is first of all God’s judgment on our land. According to the Scriptural pattern, a sign that God is displeased with a nation is when he removes competent, righteous, valiant leaders and gives you over to weak, inept, wicked rulers. (Isaiah 3) He is also the Lord’s rebuke to the Church of Jesus Christ. Conservative Christians can demonize Clinton all they like, but that doesn’t remove God’s warning through this corrupt administration that the Church is going the wrong way and was a major contributing factor to Clinton’s rise to power. Allegorically, Bill Clinton is Balaam’s donkey that God used to speak to a wayward prophet that was about to head into a collision course with the dread Sovereign of the Universe. Balaam thought by beating the donkey that would alleviate his problems. So it is today, many Christian and conservative groups who fill their coffers by beating the President think they can alleviate the problems with America by pursuing this same foolish course. Unfortunately, many of us are just as blind as Balaam when it comes to the understanding that the president is not the problem, we are. The bottom line is, Bill Clinton is God’s x-ray into the heart of America that reveals the moral sickness that is plaguing our nation for abandoning God and for trashing His Laws. He is a prophetic warning that the bridge is out up ahead and we need to turn around before it is too late.
I believe it is imperative that the American people understand that Bill Clinton is not the only one being investigated and on trial here today. The truth is our entire nation is on trial. For us to even have a debate whether character counts is an admission of how far we have fallen. It is also an indictment against our inability for self-government, (the very cornerstone of our Republic) the breakdown of family government, the failure of church government to be salt and light to the culture, and the abdication of civil government to uphold God’s Laws. These sacred institutions that God established for our benefit and for His pleasure were to uphold what is noble and honorable amongst men and to restrain that which is base and destructive.
Here we have a nation that openly believes the president is a liar and an adulterer, but could care less about the implications of that belief. We pretend what a man does in his private life has no connection, nor any effect upon his public life. People actually believe you can be dishonorable in private and still maintain a facade of honor in public. That may work for Hollywood and the spin-doctors in Washington DC, but it is failing miserably as our nation has become an embarrassment to the rest of the world. Besides that, all the mental gymnastics in the world, all the double standards we invent, and all the spin we can conceive, will never be able to withstand the blazing scrutiny of God’s justice. Each of us will stand in the Court of the Most High God to give an account for our public as well as our private lives. Every thought, deed, and action will be exposed, weighed, and judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ and none of us will escape that appointment, not even Slick Willy!
Brethren, Jesus settled this issue a long time ago in the Sermon on the Mount. A good tree produces good fruit. What a person is in private will eventually reflect what he is in public. A corrupt tree produces evil fruit. Ultimately, everything done in secret will be exposed and be made manifest. (Mark 4:22) Jesus declared, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” (Matthew 12:34,35) The heart of man is the most private place in the world, but life with all its uncertainties, pressures, and challenges will always be faithful to show us and eventually the public what we are truly made of. In fact, the day will come when our own words will tumble out of our hearts to betray and expose us. Like a powerful prosecuting attorney our own words will declare us guilty of hypocrisy and condemn us for trying to live a double life. By the way, hypocrisy is what we’re promoting as national policy when we allow public men to separate their private life from their public life. We are endorsing the notion that a man can wear a mask in public that will shield us from the truth of what he is in private. This is an ill-advised policy that is a recipe for national disgrace and disaster. God help us!
This moral dilemma which has defiled the highest office in the land and made our nation the brunt of every lewd joke is yet another penalty for rejecting the standards of the Bible and the lessons from history. The Bible teaches that God holds leaders, rulers, and to those who instruct others to a higher standard. Their lives come under a greater magnifying glass. That is why there are certain requirements for civil and church leadership that are not required by God for lay people and the common citizens. It is also why God warns in James 3:1, “Mybrethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.”According to God, those in leadership are not called to uphold a lesser standard, but to uphold a higher one. They are to be aware that their lives will be subject to greater scrutiny and judgment as one who stands in the place of authority. That is why civil rulers are to be men who are just, ruling in the fear of God. (2 Samuel 23:3) In Exodus 18:21, the Lord confirms this criteria for civil leaders by declaring, “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, (this reveals a representative form of government) such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness…”
The reason for these requirements should be self-evident, but just in case you are a victim of public school, let me spell it out for you. God knows the propensity within men to err, sin, be selfish and to become completely depraved in their dealings with their fellow man. God knows the pressures, the special interests, and the financial incentives of bribes to distort justice, to blind the eyes of the wise, and to pervert the words of the righteous. (Deuteronomy 16:19) He knows that power has an intoxicating and destructive effect upon men who are not curtailed by the restraints, qualifications, and conditions that God expects from those who would dare to be leaders. Otherwise, men would naturally abuse their power to advance injustice and tyranny amongst the very ones they claim to serve and lead. In Proverbs 16:12, the Lord declares, “It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.” The word of God goes on to teach that it is this very righteousness that exalts a nation, that brings stability to a nation, that brings soundness to a nation ,and that brings peace to a nation. But sin, the willful breaking of God’s Laws, the disregard for God’s standards and the rejection of God’s morality, will inevitably bring reproach, instability, and chaos to any people. (Proverbs 14:34) Today’s headlines confirm this truth.
We will move now from the biblical perspective of “Does Character Count?” to the historical one. Our Founding Fathers knew the importance of private virtue as it relates to public service. John Jay, who was our first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, made this profound statement on October 12, 1816. “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Could you imagine the uproar and fervor that would be created if a Supreme Court Justice gave that same admonishment today? All the multi-cultural, diversity groups would politically lynch a judge if he dared to utter such “intolerable nonsense.” No! No one in today’s political climate would dare suggest that this nation was founded as a Christian nation nor proclaim that it would be beneficial for American citizens to elect Christians to be our rulers. No! None would dare suggest this, therefore America continues to wallow in the midst of the most corrupt administration to curse these shores.
But wait, I have even more shocking politically incorrect history to reveal. Before the current Constitution eradicated its practice, did you know that our other founding documents and State Constitutions required a religious affirmation to hold public office? Our forebearers were so convinced of the need to have godly moral men in public office they instituted a public confession of faith before you could be sworn in to serve in civil government.
Case in point, the Constitution of the State of Delaware stated:
Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust…shall…make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: “I_______do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.” Based on this criteria, I wonder how many people would remain in public office today? How about the State Constitution of Massachusetts which demanded a declaration of: I believe in the Christian religion and have firm persuasion of its truth? Or what about the Tennessee Constitution which stated: No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this State?
Brethren, the arrogance of the modern may think character doesn’t count to our national shame, but Biblically and historically it does, big time! Our private lives are the proving ground for our public life. Our private life is the test of our true character and all the media spin in the world won’t be able to sanitize it. We must awaken to the hard truth that we can’t export in public what isn’t working at home in private. That being the case, how about America setting a new goal? Instead of lowering the standards to see how far we can sink and still remain in power, how about raising the standards, so we can pass on something good and godly to the next generation. I believe it is high time America quit sacrificing our moral health at the altar of economic strength. By continuing to put financial considerations before morality, we are producing a nation that is rich, but has completely seared its conscience and can’t even enjoy the fruit of our labor anymore. We have become a nation that doesn’t know how to blush and our children are the ones who are paying the price.
By God’s grace, it can be turned around, if we as Americans would repent and summon the moral courage to change. I pray that from the White House to the Church House, we would all seek as a national goal for those who know us the best, to love and respect us the most. That we would all seek substance in our lives rather than mere image. That we would commit to pleasing God first and then our fellow man. If all of us would begin to seek these simple goals, then maybe, just maybe, God in His infinite mercy would restore integrity, credibility, and honor to His Church, our public discourse and to our political institutions once again. So Be It!
IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,
Rusty Lee Thomas