Well-known Raleigh News & Observer columnists, Rob Christiansen not long ago noted that once North Carolina had a good name for honest government. "Not so in the 21st century," says Christiansen; "Two dozen people involved in public life have either run afoul of the law in recent years or at least been suspected of doing so." Christiansen calls this time in North Carolina history, "The Tarnished Tar Heel Decade." [1]
Moreover, North Carolina's former U.S. senator, John Edwards, just admitted to having an affair while his wife was struggling with cancer and he was campaigning for the Democratic Party's nomination for presidency of the United States. The revelation was a blow to the nation, but it was especially hard on a state where so many public servants have fallen of late.
The reasons why leaders fall are as complex as human nature. Shakespeare was known for writing about tragic heroes that succumbed to the enemy within. Othello was a victim of his jealousy. Lear was a prey of his own irrationality and misdirected suspicions. Hamlet was a casualty of his indecisiveness. The sinful nature of mankind may be an antiquated concept in the mind of many today, but the relevance of the Bible's truth is constantly demonstrated among the great and the small: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)
For this reason leaders must be especially careful and zealous to guard their roles. God, in his sovereignty, graciously grants leadership for the sake of service. Unfortunately, however, those blessed with it often follow their lower natures - listening to the wrong voices and valuing the wrong things. Consequently, the losses can be profound.
Such was the case with King Solomon. Solomon was a great education leader who was responsible for an incredible collection of proverbs and wisdom literature recorded in the Bible. He was an exceptional diplomat increasing the power and property of Israel far beyond what his renowned father King David had accomplished. He was an economic mastermind, taking the nation of Israel to phenomenal heights by striking an alliance with the Queen of Sheba, supplying horses and chariots to Near Eastern rulers, establishing a shipping cartel with the Phoenicians, and instituting royal provinces that provided a month's provision for the royal court. Devoutly spiritual, he was best known for his crowning achievement of erecting the Temple of the Lord. So lofty and grandiose were Solomon's achievements that no kingdom has ever matched them since.
Yet the Bible says, "For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God..." (I Kings 11:4). As Solomon listened to his pagan wives, his value system was grossly distorted.
Despite the fact that God had blessed Solomon with unprecedented international success, the Bible teaches he intermarried with foreign women that God had strictly forbidden him to wed because of their idolatry. He then heeded their requests to establish shrines and places of worship to their gods. Thus, Solomon fell from the favor of God and set in motion a judgment that divided the kingdom under his son, Rehoboam. Sadly, the nation would never again enjoy its former glory.
Samson is another example of a leader who did mighty exploits before he also fell. He served as a judge in Israel for 20 years and was a war hero in conflicts with Israel's arch-enemies - the Philistines. God's favor on him was demonstrated in his superhuman strength. Yet "it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah." (Judges 16:4) Continue >>
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to mark creech
why are you only focus on the democratic party? what about the republican party whose corruption, lies, cronysm, war-profiteering, greed, hypocrisy, arrogant foreign policy, injustice, irresponsibility, political bias to their own party is evident. sin is sin!! don't preach something that is one sided. YOU HAVE SIN OF OMISSION & SIN OF COMMISSION! why don't you also expose the sins of the republican party.