Mysterious Motivation and Integrity

I am purposely making no comment one way or another on the results of the Senate impeachment trial. Rather I want to explore the depths of the mystery of human motivation and integrity in Mitt Romney’s vote to convict Donald Trump, breaking ranks with fellow Republicans and knowingly invoking the wrath of both party and Trump loyalists. In a time when power and money speak, and everyone is assumed to have their price, the natural question is what would motivate Mitt Romney to vote as he did? He is already being vilified for capitulating to Schumer and Harris, and you know vicious vengeance will come from the White House for perceived disloyalty. What was the pay off? What did he expect to gain? Who could have met his “price” and for what purpose, since it did not affect the outcome of the trial? Does he actually believe this might be to his political advantage?

He cited his faith and integrity, which is already being mocked and ridiculed. Some have attacked the faith as faulty. Some have challenged the idea that faith could or should be given more credence than loyalty to party or country. Some have dismissed faith as a ruse to cover for something more nefarious. Some have questioned the integrity of his vote. I have no way of knowing what is in Mitt Romney’s heart or mind, so instead of criticizing or congratulating him, I want to ponder the depths of the mystery of human motivation and integrity that we all must face.

I am reminded of the line from Kris Kristofferson’s song Me and Bobby McGee. “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” In Mitt Romney’s case, he has four years left in his Senate term. Had he already decided not to run again? Did this vote give him a fresh freedom for those four years since he wouldn’t need party support to run again? Does he have other challenges he wants to make in the time he has left? In my career, I remember a difficult pastoral situation that I had been trying to judiciously finesse for some time. In my “lame duck” weeks, after I had resigned but before moving on, I felt a freedom from the entangling issues, which I purposely did not address, and a number of people said my preaching improved noticeably.

I am also reminded of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was safely in the US when the Nazi regime was becoming increasingly aggressive in silencing and eliminating those considered disloyal. He was encouraged to stay in the US until after the collapse of the Reich, but he chose to return to Germany saying that if he didn't participate in the struggle he would have no right to participate in the rebuilding. So perhaps Romney is willing to sacrifice himself in the short-term to have something to contribute to rebuilding after the inevitable collapse. Bonhoeffer was executed just as the war was almost over and the Reich was on the verge of collapse, so he did not get to be personally involved in the rebuilding. Nevertheless, his influence has persisted for 75 years. Germany’s journey since WWII has been both excruciating and wonderful. Though nothing like the heyday of the state church of “Christian” Germany, for those who imbibed of Bonhoeffer’s call for costly discipleship, it is still instructive. I am convinced that not just Bonhoeffer but the entire struggle for the Confessing Church in the face of the power of the German Christians speaks pointedly to the challenges facing the Church in the US today.

Mitt Romney is not my brand of Christian, nor does he speak my political priorities. Yet, I anticipate that in coming days when any of us who follow Jesus in just about any fashion invoke our faith and the example and teaching of Jesus for speaking and acting in unpopular ways, we can expect to be labeled as disloyal. We can expect to be told that our faith is not authentic, and that it must be subservient to party, politics, and nation. Perhaps the value of Mitt Romney’s vote is a stimulus for each of us to examine our motivations. What price could buy us off? What price are we prepared to pay? What drives us to speak and act? Do we need to adjust our motives? How solid is our integrity? It is vigorous enough to not only speak out but to persist in the face of mockery and ridicule, vilification and vengeance, loss of reputation and voice, abandonment by cherished relationships?