John Mark Ministries | President Clinton’s Sins Aren’t Private

Custom Search Search

Home About Latest Contact

APOLOGETICS

BIBLE
ON JANUARY 5, 2003 ⋅ POST A COMMENT
BOOKS

By FRANKLIN GRAHAM, WSJ 8/27/98 BOREHAM

BUSINESS
Few people have lived a more public life over the past 50 years than
CHURCH
has my father, Billy Graham. I can assure you that the Billy Graham you
see in public is the same one we children have seen at home. He has CLERGY MAIL

spent a lifetime making sure that his public ministry is confirmed in DEVOTION

his private behavior. FAMILY

FRIENDS
The topic of private vs. public behavior has emerged as perhaps the
central moral issue raised by Bill Clinton’s "improper HUMOR

relationship" with Monica Lewinsky. Much of America seems to have INTERNET

succumbed to the notion that what a person does in private has little ISLAM
bearing on his public actions or job performance, even if he is the
JESUS
President of the United States.
JMM

Last week Mr. Clinton told 70 million Americans that his adulterous LEADERSHIP
actions with Ms. Lewinsky were a "private" matter "
LGBTI
between me, the two people I love the most–my wife and our
LIFESTYLE
daughter–and our God." But the God of the Bible says that what one
LINKS
does in private does matter. Mr. Clinton’s months-long extramarital
sexual behavior in the Oval Office now concerns him and the rest of the MISSIONS

world, not just his immediate family. If he will lie to or mislead his MUSIC
wife and daughter, those with whom he is most intimate, what will NEW CHRISTIANS
prevent him from doing the same to the American public?
PASTORAL

Private conduct does have public consequences. Some of Mr. POETRY

Clinton’s defenders present King David of the Bible, one of history’s POPULAR
great leaders, as an example, as they call on us to forgive and forget
PRAYER
the president’s moral failings. Since God pardoned David’s adulterous
QUESTIONS & RESPONSES
act with Bathsheba, the reasoning goes, we should similarly forgive Mr.
SERMONS
Clinton. But forgiveness is not the end of David’s story. Huge
consequences followed immediately. The prophet Nathan confronted David SOCIAL JUSTICE

with the news that while his life would be spared, the life of his child SPIRITUALITY
would be extinguished after just seven days on earth. Bathsheba’s SUNRISE SUNSET
husband and others were killed in an attempt to cover up the illicit
THEOLOGY
affair. David, who confessed his sin when confronted by Nathan (perhaps
God’s special prosecutor), also witnessed a bloody coup attempt by his
own son, Absalom. He was never the same king. JMM Blogs

http://www.jmm.org.au/articles/4967.htm[5/5/18, 3:19:44 PM]

John Mark Ministries | President Clinton’s Sins Aren’t Private

JMM Videos
The private acts of any person are never done in secret. God sees
and judges all sin, and while He seeks to restore the offender with love Rowland's Facebook
and grace, He does not necessarily remove all the consequences of our
sin. As a boy, I remember my mother telling me of the consequences of
sin. Like a boat, whose wake can capsize other boats, sin leaves a wake. NFIB - Official
Just look at how many have already been pulled under by the wake of the Site - Small
president’s sin: Mr. Clinton’s wife and daughter, Ms. Lewinsky, her Business
Association
parents, White House staff members, friends and supporters, public
officials and an unwitting American public. Discover What Makes
NFIB America's
Leading Small
Mr. Clinton’s sin can be forgiven, but he must start by admitting to Business Association.
it and refraining from legalistic doublespeak. According to the nfib.com

Scripture, the president did not have an "inappropriate

relationship" with Monica Lewinsky–he committed adultery. He
didn’t "mislead" his wife and us — he lied. Acknowledgment
must be coupled with genuine remorse. A repentant spirit that says,
"I’m sorry. I was wrong. I won’t do it again. I ask for your
forgiveness," would go a long way toward personal and national
healing.

The scandal of Mr. Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky has forced us to examine Shop at Amazon.com!
the morality of public and private behavior with new intellectual and
spiritual vigor. There needs to be no clash between personal conduct

and public appearance. Throughout my life, I have seen consistency of

the two in the Graham house. I pray this will also be true in the White

Pray
for the
House.
Persecuted Church

2
     

Loading...

Bill Clinton's Adultery (Revisited) Billy Graham (Pastor in Chief) - Financial Accountability In Christian
January 5, 2003 Time Magazine Organizations
In "Family" August 20, 2007 January 12, 2003
In "Friends" In "Leadership"

http://www.jmm.org.au/articles/4967.htm[5/5/18, 3:19:44 PM]

John Mark Ministries | President Clinton’s Sins Aren’t Private

© 2000 - 2018 John Mark Ministries. ABN: 89 767 009 464

Articles may be reproduced in any medium, without applying for permission
(provided they are unedited, and retain the original author/copyright information -
and a reference to this website :-)!
26,607 articles online.
Protected by Akismet, Digital Ninjas and an Ion Cannon. Really.
Blog with WordPress

Ministry Information
Rowland Croucher
Web Site

Search
News
Tools

Sermons/Life Skills Bible Tools Internet

Spirituality/Religion Information Shopping

http://www.jmm.org.au/articles/4967.htm[5/5/18, 3:19:44 PM]