Church Leaders issue statement on the Clinton crisis Presbyterian News Service Wednesday, September 16, 1998 Editor's note: General Assembly moderator the Rev. Douglas Oldenburg, General Assembly Council executive director John Detterick and General Assembly stated clerk the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick have issued the following statement on the presidential crisis. - Jerry L. Van Marter A Word to the Church on the Crisis in Our Nation Our nation is in a state of moral crisis. As no one else in our society, the President of the United States is the living embodiment of our nation's highest values of freedom, democracy and compassionate concern. Seen in the context of Reformed doctrine, the president is the epitome of the civil magistrate, a public servant ordained by God to be "God's servant for (our) good" (Romans 13). Every public official is sworn into office under the assumption that this is a sacred trust, with accountability to the people and to God. The admitted infidelity and lying by President Clinton are not only a violation of his marriage vows and the confidence of friends and colleagues. They are also a violation of that sacred trust with which the nation's highest office is endowed, and he must be held accountable for his actions. As a matter of Christian concern for a brother who has erred, the church must listen with humility and sensitivity to his confession of sin, remembering that we too are sinners in need of God's forgiving grace. The path to true forgiveness is marked with genuine contrition and the determination, with God's help, to turn from the sinful behavior - a determination that can only be revealed over time in faithful living. The judgment that adultery is immoral and contrary to God's will is clear. The availability of God's forgiveness is equally clear. What is not so clear is what will be required for healing to occur in his relationships with his family, friends, colleagues, and the nation he was elected to serve. In the face of the tremendous amount of energy and money being poured into this very important case of personal immorality, it is critical for those of us whose Christian faith is shaped by the Reformed tradition to keep the matter in perspective. Our particular faith tradition suggests that public officials who fail to tend the "widows and orphans" under their care are under at least as great condemnation as any who err in their personal behavior. Let us not forget to hold all our legislators to God's standard of corporate morality, even as we hold the president to God's standards of personal morality. Perhaps the most important thing we can do is pray. We call on all Presbyterians to join us in praying for the Clintons, the Lewinskys, friends and colleagues of the president, the members of congress, Special Prosecutor Starr and those who assist him, as well as those who will work to defend the president in the face of the charges in the referral from Mr. Starr. Let us pray that the work done by Congress in the days ahead will be marked by wisdom, compassion and integrity. Let us also pray for our nation to the end that we will be able to look beyond this crisis to the ordering of our life together in the interest of "the common good." Finally, let us pray for our own church and for the Church of Jesus Christ in every corner of this nation, that together we may be a community of hope for a discouraged people. May we renew our efforts to break from our cultural captivity and speak with a loud and clear voice on behalf of God's concern that we not only live holy lives as individuals but that we live for others, knowing that as we serve the most vulnerable among us, we serve our Christ himself. Douglas Oldenburg, Moderator, 210th General Assembly John Detterick, Executive Director, General Assembly Council Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly |
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