Seconds Away: What We Can Learn From Anthony Weiner and Hillary Clinton

Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? (Proverbs 6:27)

Two recent scandals in the public square have reminded me of a biblical principle: we’re all just seconds away from the destruction of our vocations and even our lives.

I feel zero need to go in-depth on these matters, but you’ve by now likely seen the latest trouble that Anthony Weiner caused himself and his family. One’s mind boggles at the foolishness of this husband and father, throwing everything away for a few minutes of perceived pleasure. On a different note, we’ve collectively witnessed the continual unfolding of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s email scandal. Weiner and Clinton do not face the same troubles, exactly, but the two of them have each left many of us questioning their personal integrity.

In an outrage culture, it’s easy to be incensed by the immoral behavior of these two public figures. It’s harder, however, to take stock of their situations and realize that we ourselves are only seconds away, seconds away, from our own personal self-detonation. This is not how the sinful–natural–heart thinks, of course. We naturally think that we are internally impregnable. No one can slip over our high moral walls. No momentary decisions will corrupt our ethical stronghold. But this is a lie, a pleasing lie. We love to tell it to ourselves.

Evangelicals have a fuller understanding of sin, to be sure. But too often we downplay our own sin and overplay “attacks” from the outside. We hear about a marriage in flames or a pastor who’s lost his ministry and we say to one another, “Well, the enemy sure went after him.” It is true that Satan seeks to destroy every marriage and every ministry career (1 Pet. 5:8). How badly do we need to remember this. But it’s also true that we have within us the seeds of our own destruction. It is not common to think this way in our permissive, ethics-light age, but even if no external temptation ever presents itself to us, we all are potentially locked and loaded for ruination.

Part of why marriages drift and thriving careers ebb is because we assume that our troubles have a long runway. By this I mean that we assume that we can always fix things later. Sure, the marriage is flagging; yes, we’re not treating our spouse with maximum love or respect. Okay, we’re making little compromises at work, pushing that conversation a bit, but it’s no huge deal. We have our eye on our sin, and though we’re letting it out of its cage for a little bit, we can always throw a bag over its head when we want. Again, the pleasing illusion is this: we control sin. But the problem with sin is that when you give it leash, when you let it free, it begins to master you. There are just two approaches to it, after all: either you are putting it to death (Col. 3:1-11) or it is seeping into your bloodstream. You could put it like so: either you are hunting sin down, or it is hunting you down. That’s it. Two options.

Pick one.

The Christian alone has power, lasting power, over sin. In union with the victorious Christ, sin has been crucified. It has been nailed to the cross (Col. 2:13). Its power is broken. This means that its hold over us is lost. It can still entice us, make no mistake. It can ruin us. Its power is lost, but not its presence. We must fight it until the day we die or Christ returns. But the incredible reality of Christ-in-us is that we can fight it, we can control it with ever-growing discipline, and we can find victory over patterns of sin (Rom. 6, 8). What incredible news this is. It builds, as I’ve written, an entire worldview.

This mindset does not breed laziness, though. It breeds gospel-powered vigilance. Every day, every single day, we must remember that we are but seconds away from total destruction. That God-given spouse? We could lose him or her in a day. Those precious children, who adore us and trust us to the fullest core of their being? We could wreak havoc on their happiness in an instant. The fulfilling career or vocation God has blessed us with? We could be out of our office in an hour flat.

We hear about the moral failings of Clinton, Weiner, and many others, and like so many around us, we scoff. How could they be so foolish, we sigh? What we do not recognize is that we ourselves are not far away at all from our own implosion. Personally, I am never far from total ruination, a spectacular flameout, the loss of everything I hold dear. But the good news is this: though I am a great sinner, I have a great Savior, and he makes me more than a conqueror over the sins that so easily beset me and that would, if allowed, seep into my bloodstream and poison me.

I, like you, am seconds away from failing. But if you look in that gap between me and my sin, you see Christ in the middle. That–and that fact alone–makes all the difference. There–and there alone–is my confidence.