Embattled in Maine
Graham Platner, the Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine, is considering withdrawing from the race after additional allegations of sexual misconduct. Platner denies the specific accusations but was already plagued with numerous allegations and has acknowledged shortcomings in previous relationships. If he chooses to withdraw by July 13, Democrats will select a new nominee to replace him on November’s ballot. The Maine seat is considered pivotal in the larger nationwide race to control the U.S. Senate.
Analysis and eternal perspective: Scandal and politics seem at times to be ubiquitous. As a Jesus follower endeavoring to invest in the welfare of your community, your city, and your nation, it can be a discouraging reality.
Remember, however, that yours is a story of rescue and redemption from scandal! Your sin once threatened to condemn you to an eternal separation from your Creator and Savior, but the astounding—and even scandalous—love of your God wiped away your sentence and put in its place the gift of eternal life!
In light of this undeserved but unqualified gift, you have the ability to inject eternally redemptive optimism into a story like this one. The core of that optimism is not rooted in any candidate, nominee, or elected official, but rather in the truth that each of us is a sinner in need of a Savior, and that Savior has already come!
Regardless of who ultimately prevails in Maine or which party controls the U.S. Senate, your God is on the throne, and He has given you work to do!
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Lk. 19:10).