CREEDE HINSHAW: We control our own integrity

“Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day…” (Romans 13: 12-13)

Are you walking in daylight or walking in darkness?

What if somebody hacked your email account? Would you be embarrassed?

What if somebody hacked your texts? Would you have anything to apologize for?

What if somebody discovered that the things you said to your closest friends or to your spouse directly contradicted the things you said to others? Would you have explaining to do?

What if you were captured on tape telling crude jokes or denigrating or dehumanizing women or minorities or any group? Is there anything you’ve said in private that you hope would stay private?

What if people could see your tax returns? What if somehow they could see whether you under-reported your income or took questionable deductions? What if a correctly filed return revealed you weren’t the person you boasted to be? Would you have some justifying to do?

These questions do not arise out of a vacuum. They are the issues that dog Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. They are issues of honesty, integrity and transparency.

I am leading a Bible study on Paul’s letter to the Romans. A diverse group of men, Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative, has been studying this book for months. Our group does not always agree on the meaning of a particular chapter or verse. But a deep sense of respect and trust makes it safe for us to have differing understandings of faith and life.

Until this week, I have assiduously avoided mentioning the words “Trump” or “Clinton” during our Bible study. I wanted to create a refuge from the constant cacophony coming from two of the most disliked presidential aspirants in the history of polling.

But Romans 13 would not allow me to remain silent any longer in our group. And so I posed the following questions in light of the rapidly deteriorating political discourse:

— What would it mean for our candidates to lay aside the works of darkness (Romans 13:12)?

— What would it mean for our candidates to walk in the daylight (Romans 13: 13)?

The responses to these questions were wide ranging, but nobody shouted down the other and the eight of us felt secure enough to express our opinions in light of each person’s understanding of sin, faith and grace and politics. Thankfully, nobody tried to convert the other.

My final observation and question was this: We have no control over the integrity of our presidential aspirants, but what about us? Are we personally walking in darkness or light?

It’s easy to demean Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, and plenty of voices are raging about them. The challenge of following Jesus, who also employed the metaphors of light and darkness, is meekly acknowledging our own love of the dark, humbly confessing our sin and consistently striving to walk in the light publicly and privately.

Email Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].