The world seems to operate on the premise that people are intrinsically good, whereas the Bible teaches exactly the opposite. This irony becomes clearer to me each instance in which I look at the news, and the dominating story is the moral failure of some famous person in Hollywood or in the political arena, and the world seems shocked. I might also add that the occasion for this kind of news seems to be more frequent these days.

I don't want to be sarcastic about this matter, but since when has it been a prerequisite for movie stars to live above reproach? And consider the fictitious, yet highly possible, scenario in which a 50 year old politician is on the campaign trail, and his opponent digs up some evidence that 30 years ago, his then-20 year old opponent smoked marijuana when he was in college. And the media gets all over it. Wow! Even God doesn't go back that far looking for dirt, and He is the Creator, and the Judge of all the earth.

If the requirement is that politicians have to be born saints, we're gonna have to fire everyone in Washington from the President on down, and no one else on earth will be qualified to fill the vacancies. On the other hand, I must admit that it boggles the human mind when a person works so hard and so long to reach the top of his field, and then blows it all for an illicit affair or white collar crime. "What in the world were they thinking?" we ask ourselves.

The fuel that drives the craziness of our behavior is our depravity, brought on by Adam's disobedience in the garden. Paul the apostle puts it this way: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not" (Romans 7:18). Now tell me, how many people in the world do you think will admit that this verse applies to them? Nonetheless, it fits us to a tee.

The bottom line is that every one of us was born messed up, and unless we become born again through faith in Christ, we are prone to making a mess out of life. Because of this, I am not shocked when powerful men fall at the hands of their misdeeds. Giving a person a title of honor along with a charge to be good--with his hand on the Bible--does not make one do the right thing. On the other hand, no one works for decades to become successful just to play the part of a fool and lose it all. No, they don't just wake up one day, and decide to do one deed that will literally destroy their life.

I believe the intent of those who pursue public office desire to do the right thing most of the time. I do not question their motives. So what's the problem? I don't think I can state it any better than what Paul the apostle was inspired to write, so let me paraphrase: the desire is present with us, but how to perform that which is good we find not. That's what's wrong with us. And that's what Christ came on earth and died on the cross to fix--and He did!

Frank King

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