In case you didn’t know it Newt Gingrich is a sinner as his wife Calista. Not a news flash unless you have been living under a rock. Now Newt’s ex has come forward to talk about it and just how bad he was! I won’t argue with her comments other than to say that carrying a grudge for many years isn’t healthy for anyone. But that is her business. The question for voters is: Why should we care?
First, for secular types that don’t believe in God, adultery is not a sin against God. And, secularists make their own moral rules don’t they? Free sex for sure. So what Newt did in their eyes should be a violation of a contract of marriage. Newt promised to be faithful and he wasn’t faithful. So with a breach of contract he was sued in divorce court and I would guess paid for the breach in the divorce decree. There are many breaches of contract going on every day. Talk to a banker who had a contract that said “I promise to pay”, or a landlord who had a renter default or a credit card company that had to settle a debt to move on. Bankruptcy is similar, people sue creditors’ even after promising to pay. If you are a secular person you probably think that government and law is the higher power and that courts are the solution to redemption. If someone settles in court doesn’t them absolve them of the infraction? Why should anyone hold it against someone who has paid for their breach of contract? Should we hold anyone accountable for a settled breach of contract? Isn’t that between the people in the contract? If we did it would be very hard for many to start over. I think that for the secular crowd that it is inconsistent and self righteous to not forgive any of these folks.
Secondly, if you are in the Christian community (or Jewish) you would say that Newt committed adultery and you would be correct. Both he and Calista did for that matter. But if you continue in the Christian tradition you should believe in God’s grace and forgiveness for anyone who confesses their sin. Newt claims to have done that and that is between him and God. I don’t know anyone without sin and for myself, and very glad God forgives and forgets! The question for the Judeo/Christian community should be why would we support a sinner and adulterer? Never mind that we are all sinners, this may still be an issue. Are we to disqualify everyone who has sinned? Won’t be many left! This is also inconsistent and self righteous for this community, we should forgive as God has forgiven.
One other idea is to go the Bible and see how God has used sinners over time. To name a few, we have David in the Old Testament, and Mary Magdalene and Paul in the New. Paul may be the biggest example of how God changed a guy from being a Christian killer to his primary message carrier. There are countless other accounts in the Bible of how God used people that are puzzling to human reason. Even how He brought his Son into the world was a surprise!
I haven’t decided whether to support New or not but will follow the race and make a decision when the time is right. I do believe that God is in control and that it will all work out in His plan. I won’t second guess Him; too many in history have tried and were wrong! He can and does use anyone He wants to be our leader. He can use anyone he likes to run the USA, He is God!
Go forth and sin no more!
You know, no one has the authority to judge another’s sin because we are judged by the same measure. However, we are to hold each other accountable, and we are to take responsibility for our own sin. As far as I’ve been able to ascertain, Newt hasn’t truly accepted responsibility for his sin. He calls it “mistake”, and he says “I need to ask God’s forgiveness.” But, that says to me he hasn’t asked for forgiveness yet. Why not? I ask innocently.
I have heard him say he has skd God for forgiveness on several occasions
Great article Rob,
Let him who has no sin cast the first stone comes to mind.
Great article Rob. I have wrestled with “on what do we truly rest our vote”? Character, charisma, or cleverness, clout? Truly, if we are looking for a sinless man (or woman), look no farther than Christ. Otherwise, that person does not exist. While it is true that we (as believers), are called to hold one another accountable,(I’m not sure how its done in the Catholic church) if an individual claims to have sought forgiveness from God, who are we to cast doubt on what is between he and God.
At one time, I held the attitude that if I were in need of heart surgery, and my choice was between a well-known atheist surgeon with a high success rate, but also a known adulterer, verses a surgeon of utmost character, but still wet behind the ears, I would probably choose the former. It would be ideal to have a strong Christian candidate, with the perfect family, strong ethical, political, and financial background, who never drank or experimented with drugs–but if that person exists, he’s yet to run for office. Well, Huckabee came close! 🙂
I’m like you Rob. Have not made a decision yet. Thank you for this article. Good job!