Some Things I Learned from the Kavanaugh Hearings

Please do not stop reading. This post is not intended to be political. It is not intended as a commentary on the moral condition of our society. It is not written because I have an “ax to grind” about anybody involved in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings which were (are) intended to determine whether or not a particular individual is qualified to serve on the highest court in our nation.  Like most who may read these words, I have some opinions about all of those things. 

However, I would like for all of us (yes including me) to think of some things that I learned. It might be more appropriate to say that I was reminded of some things. Please think along with me.

I learned that, if I never take my first drink of alcohol, there are some things about which I’ll never have to worry. Here are some of them:

I’ll never have to deal with people who wonder how I will act after drinking.

I will never have to wonder what my “limit” is.

I will never have to try to remember how many drinks I had on a particular date or at a specific location.

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
and whoever is led astray by it is not wise (Prov. 20:1).

Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
In the end it bites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.
Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart utter perverse things.
You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.
‘They struck me,’ you will say, ‘but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I must have another drink’ (Prov. 23:31-34)

I also learned that, if I am careful about those with whom I associate, I could save myself a lot of trouble. If I make it a policy to never go to events like the ones described in the hearings, there are other things about which I’ll never have to worry.  Among them are:

There will never be any question about whether or not I was at a particular party where something either did or did not happen.  People will know that I was not there and that I would not be with the kind of people who would be there. 

The chances are very slim that I would ever put myself in a position in which my actions would be questioned.  It is one thing for people to say, “I can’t remember if he/she was at that party or not.”  It is an entirely different thing for people to say, “I am certain he/she was never there and was not with those people.  He/she never does anything like that.”

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33).

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation (1 Peter 2:11-12).

Abstain from every form of evil (1 Thes. 5:22).

There are many other things that come to mind, but I will close with one last observation. My decisions and my actions have consequences. Some of those consequences may not be huge.

However, some of those consequences may be much larger than we may want to consider. If we haven’t learned anything else, maybe we should have learned that:

…godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for life and also for the life to come (1 Tim. 4:8).

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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn