Nothing Is Hidden From His Sight

If the presidential campaign teaches us anything it is that everything you say and do can and will be held against you. Everyone likes the word experience, but experience comes with a record, and every record comes with imperfections. In the age of easy information and infinite examination every vote, every speech, every article, every informal comment, every off the cuff remark can live forever on the internet and be the subject of endless scrutiny.

I know there is little sympathy for politicians but you do have to feel just a little sorry for them. There are plenty of You Tube videos of President Bush saying all manner of jumbled, hilarious things. And now there are videos of President Obama with a litany of stutters and “uh’s” and awkward comments. Hopefully presidents have thick skin and the ability to laugh at themselves. You have to if all your public communication is to be recorded and archived year after year. Imagine how many dumb remarks you’d have to live down if someone kept track of your speech for five months or five years or five decades.

Which brings me to my point. There is no one on the planet who would look better if every word, thought, and deed were known for all the world to see. Sure, some folks would have a lot of hidden good deeds to be proud of. But taken as a whole, we could all be taken down by a 24/7 camera and an internet connection. Anyone with bad motives (or good I suppose) and enough intimate access could paint a thoroughly unflattering picture of our lives. To know absolutely everything about a person’s entire history is to see that every person is conflicted, flawed, and sinful. If nothing else, the presidential process ought to remind us that we are fallen people electing fallen leaders.

Moreover, the process should serve as a warning to us all: there is Someone who knows and sees all that we do and all that we are. No creature is hidden from God’s sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Heb. 4:13). Or as Proverbs says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Prov. 15:3). Most people say they can’t imagine running for President because who wants that kind of scrutiny for you and your family? And yet, we will all face the most perfect, most exacting, most knowledgeable scrutiny of all time when we stand before the judgment seat of God (Heb. 9:27). We will have to account for every careless word we speak (Matt. 12:36). Everything will be laid bare. We will be laid bare.

The next time you roll your eyes at the negative ads and the relentless oppo research or another unflattering revelation dominating the day’s news, take it as the Lord’s kind reminder to repent. For the campaign trail may not have a lot of grace, but God does. Call on him in faith and he’ll bury the accusations against you for the sake of his unburied Son. He’ll give you something better than a president on your side; he’ll give you a King to stand in your place on the last day.