Guest Post by Jack Pelham
Dear Politicians (of “both” parties)—
Imagine that your rhetoric were all going on the record, and that you’d be held completely accountable for it someday by someone with complete authority to put you where you belong. Imagine that your lies and exaggerations and cheats and biases and dodges and false accusations and fallacious defenses were all brought into the light of day and shown for what they truly are.
Matthew 12:34 ….For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
As a class, and with exceedingly few exceptions, you are corrupt people—and we likely disagree as to whether there’s really a God and whether he’ll really judge you for your bad behavior someday. But there are at least SOME of us alive who see you for what you are right now—who see through the masks you wear, and who are impervious to your twisted rhetoric (because we know better).
But you’re not playing to the few who see you for what you are—but to the masses, who are vulnerable to your manipulations, on account of how they do not love (or understand) the truth very well themselves. So while you strive to appear to them as heroes, please know that to some of us, you appear as fools and mockers.
Shame on you—on all of you who do such things—regardless of which party you’re in. In my novel, Benjamin True nails one of your sort with this line: “One big difference between you and me, Senator, is that I think that wrongdoing is wrong, even when YOU do it.”
You are not listening now, but if the Bible is right about God, you’ll have no choice but to listen later–when it is too late for you to change your mind and your ways, and when every knee will (finally) bow to truth and justice. And those who praise and support you will themselves be shown to have been in error for it.
But for now, we must endure all the ruckus of debates in which both sides are cheating, and of rhetoric in which both sides level the same charges against one another. You never get enough of lying and spinning. You never have your fill. There’s always one more fool to be won over by your rhetoric.
And you? You are utterly empty. Vacuous. Devoid of honor. Mockers and scoffers. You will not let the truth be settled:
Proverbs 29:9
If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.
There is no number of good acts or qualities that exempts one from accountability for this sort of bad behavior. You’re accustomed to being your own judges in such matters, excusing yourselves as you see fit. But you’ll eventually find yourselves in the hands of another judge who will judge justly and without favoritism or bias.
Why can’t this country replace you all with righteous people who would serve the good rather than serving self? Well, righteousness is simply not a high priority for very many of us here. That’s why. Otherwise, there would be LOTS of great candidates for public service. It’s just not that hard to do the right thing. You just DO it.
