Weiner to resign, but go easy on the chortles

NY Congressman Anthony Weiner is resigning today. I am glad for this.

Weiner has spent the last three weeks battling for his job, which is representing the people of his constituency. It might be said that he definitely failed the moral standard of proper representation. On May 27th, he posted a prurient photo of himself on his Twitter timeline, apparently making the mistake of publishing it to all 47,000 of his followers instead of to the young woman to whom it was intended privately. Oops.

Weiner's first response was that his account had been hacked. Then attempts were made to shift the blame to "conservative bloggers." Two days later, when reporters were pressing Weiner on the point, he refused to answer, even calling one reporter a 'jackass.' On June 1, Weiner went on national television and said that the photo was not of him. The boom was lowered on June 6th when Breitbart published more photos of Weiner sent to different women. He finally admitted that he did the deeds being reported. It turns out that he had contacted an underage girl, many times, and police investigated. A photo of his naked genitalia surfaced he'd sent to someone and was published on the web. He had sexted a porn star and then asked her to lie. Other women were coming forward to say that he sexted them also, one from the local area.

He said he had an "addiction." His colleagues said he needed "help."

The country was transfixed, giggling like junior high school boys and pointing fingers. An ethics investigation was ordered by the Speaker of the House. Allegations were made amid growing calls for a resignation.

Finally, three weeks after it began, it was over. Weiner quit today. Now he will return to the home that he shares with his pregnant wife, and try to pick up the pieces. All he ever knew was politics. No one knows what fallback plan Weiner has. I dare say, no one cares.

Let's list the sins: adultery, lying, lewdness, profanity, abuse of power, child endangerment, dereliction of duty. Wow. That's, that's...just like a sinner. The default condition of all unsaved people is a sinful heart, mind, and soul. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. "[T]he mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God" (Romans 8:6) and "“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Corinthians 2:14)."

What are we to expect from one who is dead in his sins? It is struggle enough when we have the aid of the indwelling Holy Spirit to avoid sin, as Paul well knew. (Romans 7:14-25). Without the Holy Spirit there is no hope to avoid the ever deepening descent into the pit of sin.

One wonders about the coming tortured silences inside the Weiner home tonight, as his embarrassed wife, pregnant and bulging with their child, considers her options. Without Christ, there will be almost 100% certainty of a divorce, adding another sin to the pile. With Christ, it will be hard enough for that couple...and their child.

We know the famous line in the bible, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:7). Even those of us who have the Spirit in us because we repented and were forgiven, are sinners. I don't like what he did, not one bit. I was disgusted personally and embarrassed nationally. But there is a cure for the sin nature, we can be cleansed and made a new creature in His likeness. Having so recently been on the side of the reprobate mind, at open hostilities with the Lord, I remember well the perplexing and unwanted draw of sin for a season, so sweet at first then so bitter. Yes, Weiner needs help. Yes, he has an addiction. His addiction is to sin and satan, and the help he needs is Jesus. I pray that many will pray for him and not mock him. Let he and his wife be bathed in prayer and let those Gospel seeds take root in them for a magnificent regeneration.

As John Bradford sat in his Tower of London jail cell in 1553, a reformer against the Pope, he looked down at the courtyard and saw a prisoner going to his execution. He famously uttered, "There, but for the grace of God, goeth John Bradford." That phrase is an idiom now, shortened to "There but for the grace of God, go I." At one time we Christians were all in chains, all being led to the execution and death of our spirit. But for the Grace of God we all go. But it is His grace that saves us. I pray that the grace of God shines on Anthony Weiner, a flawed, sinning, reprobate person in need of Jesus' intervention as much as we all do, and did. So go easy on the chortles, and pray for the man instead.








Comments

  1. i'm surprised that someone who is a politician is such a horrible liar...the moment he gave the first press conference about twittergate you could immediately tell this was just the beginning. He was just stumbling over himself. Oh Weiner! This is all for his own good, I hope in his place of distress (although well deserved) he will have an encounter with Christ. I just imagine that most politicians in DC are extremely sleazy and are doing things much worse than he is...he just flubbed and got caught. I don't trust any government as single individuals and as a whole. Can't wait for the kingdom of Christ where we won't have to deal with anything even close to this in any possible instance.

    Also, have you noticed the sudden lull in concern to Israel, the flotilla planned and especially Palestine going to UN in September? Suddenly global support is waning for it...very interesting...I love the way God works...I can't wait to see what happens next!!

    -Debbie

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  2. Isn't that interesting that the world came so close to the precipice of the unilateral declaration for a Palestinian State, then are backing away. I noticed that too.

    This article says Abbas is trapped, 'up a tree'
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144845

    Ashton urgint the Quartet to abandon unilateral moves:
    http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/eu-pushing-peace-plan-based-on-obama-s-1967-borders-speech-1.367512

    they've all peered down that cliff and didn't like what they saw...perhaps. The times are so interesting in that there is literally no way to see HOW we are going to get to the final state of things as the bible's description of the opening of the Tribulation shows, just that we ARE going to get there. God's mind is amazing

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  3. I, too, noticed the wane in the Israeli news in the past few days.

    I feel for Weiner. I can't imagine at all going through this publicly.... We should definitely be praying for him, I agree with you 100%. Why should be laugh at the disgrace of others? :(

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