It Could Happen To Me

Date Published: 07/08/2009

Deciding which party to vote for is impossible based on a tally of the extra-marital affairs of prominent politicians. When liberal politicians like Eliot Spitzer and John Edwards are caught, we hear conservatives complain about lack of moral foundation. When conservative politicians like John Ensign and Mark Sanford get caught we hear liberals complain about hypocrisy. Of course, as we see with Silvio Berlusconi and Nicolas Sarkozy, the United States does not have a monopoly on philandering politicians.

Politicians are not the only ones who cheat on their spouses. I have had more than enough personal experience with clergy colleagues whose ministries and marriages have been destroyed by infidelity, some of them close personal friends.

In my blog entry of June 24, “No Fault Ministry,” I noted that the Apostle Paul expressed concern that after proclaiming to others he himself should not be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:27). In his press conference confession, Mark Sanford said that the relationship with his mistress started innocently enough as a friendship, and he observed that he supposed that’s the way these things often start.

To me, all of this suggests that the greatest risk is thinking I am safe, and the greatest security is the vigilance that comes with acknowledging vulnerability. As the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “If you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.”