Crazy Faith Ministries
According to the information in the now-infamous Mueller report, the president demonstrated behavior that supported the opinion that he obstructed justice. His former attorney, Michael Cohen, identified him as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a number of situations, as reported by WBUR.org, and yet Congress is hesitant to begin impeachment proceedings.
There is so much that is disturbing about all that is going on in this government, including the name-calling, the sycophancy of so many in the GOP, the biased summary of the Mueller report by Attorney General William Barr, and the silence of the GOP overall. But what is really troubling is that, while so many conservatives claim to be Christian, their behavior exposes either ignorance of what the Gospel says about those who seek to save their lives, or a willingness to completely ignore the lessons Jesus the Christ gave while he walked this earth.
Specifically, in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus says, “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” In Matthew, it is worded a little differently: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” But the message is clear: If we who say we believe in Christ are more concerned about keeping our status – even at the expense of those who need the skills, the power, the connections in order to have a better life – we lose the opportunity to do something for God.
The Democrats are supposedly worried that if they begin impeachment proceedings against the president that they will lose reelection and open the door to an ultimate Trump victory because the GOP Senate will never vote to approve impeachment. In the upcoming elections, the GOP will claim victory for the president, and the president will annihilate the Democrats for what he will call a “failed” witch hunt.
In a nutshell, the Democrats are more concerned about their lives and their livelihood than they are concerned about the state of the country whose Constitution they promised to “preserve and protect.” They are afraid – and not without merit – of a vicious campaign waged against him by the president that will result in their losing their seats in Congress.
The Democrats do not want to lose the House, and they would like to take the Senate, especially if the president is reelected. They are looking forward, trying to protect their professional lives even as they further expose the things the president has done, which rise to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Some political analysts say the Democrats are conducting a campaign and issuing a strategy that will, ironically, result in their losing the very positions they are seeking to protect, as noted by The Atlantic. Speaker Pelosi says she doesn’t want impeachment, but rather wants to see the president in prison, according to Politico.
Who knows what will happen when he is finally out of office – but what is clear is that a growing number of Americans are tired of the strategy, tired of seeing this man and his cabinet systematically dismember the Constitution, and tired of waiting for the Congress to do what it is supposed to do.
Without congressional action, this president will continue to flaunt his disregard and disrespect of the Constitution and of the concept of democracy in the faces of all Americans and in the world. He will continue to undermine the work of people who have worked for decades to “make the world safe for democracy.” He will continue to act like a toddler, eroding the trust important allies around the world have always had for this country. He is putting everyone in danger.
The president is a bully, true, but the Democrats need to step up and risk losing their jobs in the 2020 elections for the sake of a larger good. As many of the lawmakers claim to be Christian, they need to practice their Christianity even as they do the work of government.
Just as Mordecai asked Esther, who was in the position to save her people from an evil regime, who knows but that God put them in office “for such a time as this”?
Esther stepped up and risked losing everything – even her life – for the good of her people.
I hope the Congress will do the same.
Rev. Dr. Susan K. Smith is available at revsuekim@sbcglobal.net or visit http://www.crazyfaithministries.org.