The Starr Report, as everyone alive must know by now, chronicles a dark period in our nation’s history as the sexual exploits of our president take center stage. It is a document that Brian Williams, anchor on MSNBC says is "not fit for broadcast."

The mantra of the defenders of the president is that this is "just about sex" and therefore we ought to back off. Of course, it is not "just about sex," but about lying to the grand jury about sex, among other crimes. Even worse, the president feigns repentance while continuing to lie. As the president was going on a "contrition tour," his lawyers were claiming he didn’t lie to the grand jury because he was laboring under a different definition of sex. Give me a break.

But what if it was "just about sex"? The kind of sex the president engaged in – the Bible calls it "fornication" (Gk., porneia) – is patently sinful (what an understatement) and I do not believe he has repented. Repentance calls for fruit worthy of repentance, godly sorrow and restitution where possible. He hasn’t shown me any evidence of repentance, at least as I write this in mid-September. It is profoundly sad that our nation can look at the actions of this man and wink at what he has done because "the economy is good."

If, by the time you read this, the man has once again pulled a political coup d’état, and is still in office, we should be profoundly ashamed. We, not just the president, have sent the message to our children that it is all right to lie and all right to commit unspeakable acts. We will have sacrificed our national integrity once and for all on the altar of indifference. As Alan Keyes said recently, someday we will look back at this time and curse the day we trivialized these treacherous acts.

If Bill Clinton has a scintilla of honor, he will (1) confess everything, without reserve; (2) call his White House wolves off Ken Starr, and (3) resign.

As a citizen, I’m concerned with the public consciousness of this country I love. I’m concerned about the future and about the kind of moral climate our children and grandchildren will grow up in. Prov. 14:34 says, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people."

Even more importantly, as a Christian, I’ve been around long enough to know that if something becomes commonplace and acceptable in the culture it will inevitably seep into the church, at some level, sooner or later. Where were female preachers in (so-called) churches of Christ 20 years ago? We are beginning to see them now in some churches – can homosexual "ministers" be far behind?

Having said that, I want to remind us – remembering that is a magazine for Christians – that what a president does has no direct affect on our spiritual lives. Bill Clinton is not my example, any more than Nero was an example for the apostle Paul. He is not a role model for me or my children. My sights are set high and only Jesus Christ fills that role. Furthermore, my citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20) and the kingdom of which I am a part is not of this world (Jn. 18:36). I should be able to put my Christian spectacles on, put everything on the landscape of eternity and view it from there.

So, while we do not have to dwell on what Clinton does or doesn’t do, but the present crisis should cause us to pause and ask a fundamental question: where is the sense of shame?

Flawed leaders

Shame was lacking in another leader, King Saul, and the parallels between Bill Clinton and Saul are striking (I Samuel 15). Saul was told to utterly destroy the Amalekites, which was to include the king and all the livestock – everything and everyone. But he didn’t do it. When he met Samuel, he lied about it: v. 13, "I have carried out the command of the Lord!" (v. 13). When Samuel asked about the source of the bleating of sheep and lowing of the oxen, Saul immediately shifted the blame: "they (the people) …did it," he said (v. 15). Samuel told Saul what the Lord told him, that Saul’s kingdom was over. "Why didn’t you obey God, Saul?" Saul, still clinging to his defense, responded: "I did obey the Lord." He implied that it was the people who really messed up (vv. 19-20). After another convicting speech by Samuel, Saul finally confessed that he had sinned (v. 24). But did he repent? Doubtful. In v. 30, after he again expressed his "sorrow" for the sin, he said, "please honor me now before the people" – help me save face! No shame.

Whatever happened to our sense of shame? "Shame on you, David!" I heard it often while growing up. Shame for an action done or left undone. I hung my head and the Lord knows that I was ashamed, not only for getting caught, but for the disappointment I saw in the eyes of my mother and father.

Sin and shame are tied up together. In Gen. 2:25, Adam and Eve were naked, but not ashamed. After their sin, they "realized they were naked…" (Gen. 3:7). Why? Shame was introduced. Their conscience was activated. They had disgraced themselves before God.

Why have we lost our sense of shame?

What happened? Where did shame go? We’ve lost it because we’ve abandoned the narrow way, and replaced it with tolerance. Tolerance is the idol of our age, the "last virtue of a decadent society," as someone so succinctly put it. It’s not new. Jeremiah complained in his day about the false prophets who ran around undermining the work of the true prophets, preaching "Peace, peace, where there is no peace." A modern day pundit observed that "it is false grace to preserve peace at the expense of truth."

Universal tolerance (the acceptance of any behavior or belief without judgment) is Christian heresy! President Clinton, speaking to a homosexual crowd on one occasion, said: "We need to broaden our imagination." He says we need to broaden the narrow way. But truth cannot be broadened. If you’ve heard someone comment on "Clinton’s version of the truth" just remember that there can be but one set of facts that comport with reality.

Truth is narrow, by definition. You’ve all seen or heard the old sermons on the subject: H2O is water: H3O can’t be water; N2O can’t be water. Truth is narrow. Truth cannot contain error, but this is where the devil has an advantage. Something that is known to be 99% error and 1% truth will usually be identified as error. The problem is that if something is 1% error, 99% truth, you still have error. Truth is always 100%. John says in I Jn. 2:21, "no lie is of the truth."

Put simply, we are not to be tolerant. Yes, we are to live and let live when it comes to our earthly citizenship. Intolerance of evil and untruth does not mean physical war: "for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal…" (II Cor. 10:4). But we must speak out wherever evil is found. It is cowardice to be silent and all cowards have their place in the lake of fire, right alongside the liars (Rev. 21:8).

You can expect to hear the judgmental judgment, "you’re being judgmental!" Self-righteous judgment is wrong, always. But to hold up the Scriptures and say that everyone must obey this standard, while applying the same truth to yourself, is not being judgmental. It is reporting: this is what God says to you and me. We understand that if a policeman stops you and says you were going 70 in a 50 mph zone, he’s not being judgmental: he’s reporting. He is telling you that you violated the standard. (Some of the foregoing thoughts are from a tape by Fred Smith, a well-known businessman-preacher).

Take heed…

As we judge the president for his folly, let’s take heed to ourselves, lest we fall (I Cor. 10:12). It’s easy to sit back and throw verbal stones at such an easy target. But why should the concept of shame be important to each of us, personally?

A heartfelt feeling of shame for wrongful acts is a test of character. Paul, with a clear conscience, still looked back in shame on his former deeds: "I’m the worst sinner," he said in I Tim. 1:15 (NIV). When Isaiah was called by God, he didn’t pontificate about the awful society in which he lived, but included himself: "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips…" If we are not able to see the shame in our own lives, we can’t be saved. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).

But cognizance of our own failures does not blind us to the acts of others. Ezra’s attitude is instructive: "O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens" (Ezra 9:6). We must constantly be evaluating actions and words in light of God’s word. In Psalm 15:4a, the Psalmist says that those who may abide in God’s house are, among other things, those in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honor those who fear the Lord. We love the same things God loves and hate what he hates. In Pr. 17:15, the warning is issued: "He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD." Paul said in Eph. 5:11 that we are not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather we are to expose them.

Without a sense of shame, we have no prospect of salvation, because we can have no cognizance of our sins. And without a sense of shame, we cannot be holy and without holiness no one will see the Lord (Hb. 12:14).

This is not abstract theology, but very practical. We demonstrate our understanding of the importance of shame in many aspects of life. For example, in how we dress: "I couldn’t wear that short skirt, I’d be ashamed" (I Tim. 2:9a); in the way we speak: "if I uttered the Lord’s name in a profane way, I’d be so ashamed"; in what we watch, listen to and read: "I’d be so ashamed to see the kind of vulgarity and profanity that is in that movie." Without a sense of shame, we are unlikely to improve in our service to God: "I failed to take advantage of that opportunity to teach: I’m so ashamed of myself, but I won’t miss the next opportunity."

Ask yourself whether you feel ashamed about the same things you used to feel ashamed about. If you don’t, ask yourself why. Remember that Paul warned against those who become so desensitized to the culture that their consciences become seared, as with a hot iron (I Tim. 4:2). Eph. 4:19 warns against those who, being "past feeling," give themselves over to lewdness.

Of course, we should not stop at feelings of shame, but should confess, ask for forgiveness and determine to improve. We can live lives of honor and integrity: Psalm 119:1-6 says, "How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart. They also do no unrighteousness; they walk in His ways. You have ordained Your precepts, that we should keep them diligently. Oh that my ways may be established to keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments."

Don’t be ashamed in the day of the Lord!