Are You Smarter Than Anthony Weiner?
— Monday, June 6th, 2011 —
John Edwards cheats on his wife, impregnates his mistress, and thinks he can keep the child, and the affair, a secret…while he’s running for President of the United States.
Arnold Schwarzenegger also has an affair and an illegitimate child, and thinks he can keep it all a secret from his wife…while keeping the woman employed in their home for over a decade.
Newt Gingrich on the campaign trail admits that he cheated on his wife with another woman…while he was castigating the then-President of the United States for similar behavior and voting for his impeachment.
And now U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) is in trouble for allegedly sending inappropriate pictures of himself to a woman…via a publicly accessible social media tool…and only a few months after another congressman lost his career for similar pictures.
Crazy. Irrational. I don’t know the full story behind any of these, but, in every one of these situations, the behavior seems self-evidently self-destructive. So why do they do it? Why do people risk their families, their careers, their reputations, in such reckless ways?
The most dangerous thing we can do is to assume that these famous people are somehow crazy. They don’t lack intelligence or skill or foresight. They would have never attained the positions they have if they did. Something else is going on here.
As Christians, we believe that temptation isn’t merely biological. There’s something wild and wicked afoot in the universe. These beings have an ancient strategy, and part of that is to shield us from the future. Desire gives way to sin, James tells us, and “sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:15). Temptation only works if the possible futures open to you are concealed. Consequences, including those of Judgment Day, must be hidden from view or outright denied. That’s why in humanity’s ancestral sin the serpent told our mother Eve, “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4).
The tempting powers come after all of us in much the same way. Whatever our particular point of vulnerability is, they seek to distort the way we see our future. It doesn’t matter if I know that eating deep-fat-fried doughnuts every morning can raise my cholesterol levels, unless I can also imagine having a heart attack. I choose to give my children building blocks and not matches to play with because I can imagine what it would be like to see my house burning down.
Almost every adultery situation I’ve ever seen includes a cheating spouse who honestly believes that he or she is not going to get caught. The cheater often doesn’t want the marriage to end in divorce. Instead, like the characters in today’s headlines, he or she instead wants to keep everything the same: spouse, kids, and lover too. That’s irrational and completely contrary to the way the world works. Anyone can see that.
But you can convince yourself…or be convinced…that it will work for you. You’re special, after all. That’s the way temptation functions. We put consequences out of our minds, both temporal and eternal consequences. We start to believe that we are gods, with power over good and evil and life and death. And then we do crazy things.
This doesn’t have anything to do with intelligence. Satan is hyper-intelligent. And yet, even knowing that he will ultimately have his skull crushed, he rages all the more against Christ and his people, “because he knows his time is short” (Rev. 12:12). In terms of the most basic principles of military strategy, that’s crazy. What we need is not intelligence, but wisdom. Wisdom includes seeing where the way I want to go will lead (Prov. 14:12).
I don’t know who you are, reader, but I know you are probably not smarter than Anthony Weiner or Arnold Schwarzenegger or John Edwards. And neither am I. Both of us, you and I, are on the verge of wrecking our lives. We’re probably not on the verge of a situation quite like any of those men, but the gospel tells us we have vulnerabilities just the same, and they all can lead to destruction.
The answer isn’t found in talent or in strategy or in brilliance. It’s found in fear, the fear of the Lord and the vision of his future.
Lord have mercy.
38 Responses to “Are You Smarter Than Anthony Weiner?”
Trackbacks
- Considerations Concerning Congressman Anthony Weiner « Thompson Politics
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- The Fear of the Lord and the Tempatation of Life without Consequences – Justin Taylor
- Sin is Near-Sighted « Faithful Discipleship
- Fairdale Pastor » Blog Archive » watch yourself, be on guard!
- Conquering Temptation With Fear? « Antagoniz
- What I Read Online – 06/08/2011 (a.m.) | Emeth Aletheia
- Adultery and the Fear of the LORD | Thistletown Baptist Church
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Great insight/and wisdom! Readers would do themselves well to take this post to heart and live the life that God calls us to. We are to bring Him glory in all that we do.
Dr. Moore,
I am yet again shocked at how deceived our politicians are about being able to conceal sexual sin. I am glad you noted that it is both Republicans and Democrats that fall for the deception of “no one will ever know”.
If I may ask the question: is it better, in your opinion, that we should pray for wisdom (and salvation) for our politicians or pray for new, more wise and morally grounded politicians to replace them? I think it’s a little of both, but I’d like to hear which you think takes precedence.
Shocking, that a man who admits he doesn’t know the whole story on any of these issues would still be willing to put out an opinion piece and “justify” his opinion with yet further unjustified musings.
@Tusk Barnes, Dr. Moore is simply using public information to launch into his point, that temptation is often indulged when we think we aren’t going to get caught. Public figures are not excluded from this trap. Please read his last two paragraphs again.
Who needs soap opera’s when you have politics?
Thank you for another insightful article Dr. Moore.
A great reminder that we can all fall and that the enemy knows and will target our own weaknesses.
@Rodney Olsen, The only enemy in making moral decisions is the decision maker themselves. You either make the choice, or you do not. Live above temptation and no enemy exists. Nothing makes you fall harder than your own choices.
@Rodney Olsen, @Chris - Chris, your sin is pride. Christ was tempted, and did not live above it, and neither do you.
I think I am smarter than those guys, but I think you’re right about the problem having to do with vision, foresight, wisdom, than about the number of standard deviations above mean are needed to measure one’s intelligence.
The question I want to ask (or real comment I wish to make) is this - what if the serpent’s head has already been crushed? I’d guess at Calvary, interestingly (although not necessarily significantly in this regard) the place of the skull.
Best,
C.Tenn
Lord have mercy on us! Amen. Most of us “common folk” don’t experience the lures of temptation that go along with holding a position of power. What I like about this article is the call for humility. That’s what we all need in our life-callings: complete dependence on God to faithfully serve in the position he has given us. What is being revealed is very sad.
For righteousness sake, we are no better than the Weiners of the world, by our own actions.
I pray that the Lord would have mercy on him as He has on us.
But there are two kingdoms. In the one down here there are consequences for wrong doing and a price must be paid. We can’t have our elected officials doing these things, lying about it, and getting away with it unscathed (if it is on our time and our dime).
I’ll have to say I’m not smarter than Mr. Weiner either. I’ve heard it quoted that those who aren’t in trouble see the way out, but those in trouble won’t take it. I hope we all see before the temptation comes that when it does come our consciences must default to honouring God. Thanks for this reminder Dr. Moore. And if you’re wondering I got your letters in the mail from Southern.
And the answer is found in the Gospel, not mere behavior modification, but true embracing of the grace of God. Thanks for the words.
Thank you, Dr. Moore.
This is the best treatment of temptation and the folly of sin that I’ve ever read in a short article/post.
I find it interesting that Weiner is chastised for showing his parts in the same way that women do all the time in public. If Weiner is cheating by thinking he privately sent that picture to one woman, how much more are women cheating with every man at the beach? No one is immuned.
@Mark, Your post is an over-generalization of women. What Weiner did was simply immature and he’s a teen in a suit.
Hi Dr. Moore,
You’ve become one of my favorite bloggers and this post is awfully convicting.
Thank you.
In Christ,
Alex
You are basing your arguments on the existance of an imaginary being which can not be detected by any of the five human senses,why not simply stick to logical arguments to prove your point? The idea of a devil is even more absurd than that of a god,no need to qoute the bible, use your own ideas please.
I need to remember the part about wisdom.
Between the “rush” of power they get in their day to day political lives and (undoubtedly) the “assist” of Viagra, their brain chemistry altered to the point of feeling invincible and invisible. Then reality set in and ultimately a rude awakening. The spouses and children are the victims.
After identifying an issue (temptation) it is prudent to offer your readers guidance on how to deal with it (flee from the temptation) and offer an example (Joseph and Potiphar’s wife) and as always ask God through his Son for wisdom to know when to flee and the strength to do it.
Most people are stuck in the failure cycle of thinking they shouldn’t have temptations, thinking they can overcome them by force of will or choice, attempting to “be strong,” or even beating themselves up for (yet again) giving in to their temptations. None of these work.
@Torsten H., If u live in a GLASS House dont throw Stones….
Who r we to JUDGE, Leave all judgement unto God. We all have some skeleton in our closet it’s just time b4 it comes out.
Dr. Moore,
Great post, great points.
I am not too well versed in “politically correct” terms and usually don’t notice when something might be offensive to others. However, knowing your beliefs of adoption and how children must be protected, respected and cared for, I cringed at the term “illegitimate child”. I realize the term legitimate is based on laws and rules but the connotation seems to me to infer that a child born out of wedlock is somehow inferior to one born to a married couple.
Maybe it’s just my thoughts on the term but knowing that all children are important and loved by our God leads me to believe that there are some other ways to describe a child born to unmarried parents.
Nonetheless, keep up the great work, Dr. Moore. I love reading your writing.