Most Christians understand how important forgiveness is to their faith. As followers of Jesus, Christians are commanded to forgive. One doesn’t have to look too far in the New Testament to find scriptures on forgiveness. Matthew 6:14-15 states, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Just because it’s right there in the Bible, however, doesn’t necessarily make it an easy thing to do. And while Christians may understand the importance of forgiving friends, family members, and others they are close to, they may think they don’t have to forgive those they don’t interact with on a regular basis.
But Christians need to understand that forgiveness is not just about forgiving those who sin directly against them, it’s also about forgiving others for their immoral conduct. Unfortunately in this day and age, politicians do their fair share of conducting immoral acts.
Before Donald Trump became president, the media made sure the world knew about every scandalous word ever muttered by him. Plenty of other politicians have pleaded guilty to conducting immoral acts before getting voted into office. And whether they have committed adultery, admitted to substance abuse, were caught lying, or have been known to engage in other types of sinful behavior, there is one group of people that are increasingly more forgiving than any other – and that is evangelical Christians.
Evangelicals believe that despite committing an immoral act in their private life, a politician can still adequately do their job and conduct him/herself ethically while doing that job. This is the result of a recent survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). The survey asked respondents whether or not “an elected official who commits an immoral act in their personal life can still behave ethically and fulfill their duties in their public and professional life.”
The same survey was conducted six years ago, and at that time, only 30 percent of evangelicals said that even if a politician did something immoral in their personal life, they could still do an adequate job in their elected position. During a more recent survey asking the same question the number increased to 72 percent of evangelicals. Besides this increased number, evangelicals also went from being the group who were most likely to condemn a politician’s immoral behavior to ones who were the least likely to condemn it.
So what changed since 2011 with this particular group of people?
Some say that it’s because of Donald Trump (80 percent of evangelicals voted for him). According to a study from Brigham Young University, “Many Republican voters, including self-identified strong conservatives, are ready and willing to shift to the left if they’re told that that’s the direction Trump is moving.”
It seems nowadays it’s more about aligning with certain party leaders instead of aligning with the principles of the party as a whole.
Maybe though, it has more to do with forgiveness, and that evangelicals are now the most forgiving group of people when it comes to a politician’s immorality before getting elected.
Before the election, David Barton, an evangelical Christian, political activist, and the founder of the Texas-based organization, WallBuilders, LLC stated that not voting for Trump would be like not supporting Biblical leaders like King David because he committed murder and adultery or Noah because of his drunkenness or Lot because he was seduced by his daughters.
When it came to voting, Barton had also stated, “I can’t use the false standard of I have to have somebody perfect because there is nobody perfect except for Jesus and, by the way, when He was on earth, they didn’t think He was perfect; we only think He’s perfect now. Back then, they called him a winebibber and a glutton; he had all sorts of campaign ads run against him.”
Maybe since 2011 what it really boils down to, is that evangelicals have decided they should no longer look at one’s past in order to determine whether or not they are worthy of the office they are seeking. Whether this is wrong or right, it certainly speaks of forgiveness.
~ Christian Patriot Daily