Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, is shame the same as repentance? This is prompted by an article I read on CNN's website about Larry Summers. Larry Summers is an economist, works at Harvard, has been in leadership roles at Harvard, and has been a major player in Democratic politics for a long time. An advisor, most recently to President Biden on economic policies. This is a powerful guy who exists in elite circles in our country. He's also a guy who from 2013 to 2019, was a pen pal with, with Jeffrey Epstein, now deceased and disgraced financier we all know was involved in human trafficking. And by the way, these email exchanges ran at a period of time where Summers would have known that Epstein was an accused and most likely guilty trafficker of young women. But that didn't stop him from email exchanges that detailed, among other things, Summer's own sexual advances and extramarital affairs. Sexual seeking Epstein's advice. So Epstein was first convicted for of sex crimes in 2008. Five years after that, one of the most powerful men in American politics began emailing him and went on to do so for the next six years about pursuing women. This is obviously horrific and shows that a guy who is at the center of government should never have been there. Now, as a result of the backlash that's come out, the Summers is stepping away from any political and public role, only gonna teach at Harvard, not play any leadership roles, even though many people, including, for example, Senator Elizabeth Warren, are saying he shouldn't even be allowed to do that. Now Summers is saying he's resigning from public roles because he's, quote unquote, deeply ashamed. But you and I know why he's really doing it. He's stepping away because he was caught. And this is yet another example of how our culture does not understand repentance and how that lack of understanding is destroying us. So let me just challenge this. Look, I don't really care about Summers. I mean, it's awful that someone at the center of government, it was such a despicable person. But let's be honest. Are we surprised? You're not? I'm not. But I want to make sure that we don't share Summer's view of repentance. Let's just start here. Remorse is not repentance. Feeling sorry, feeling dirty, feeling guilty is not the same thing. As what the Bible means when it says repentance. And for this, let me just point you to Luke 19 and the story of Zacchaeus. Jesus goes to Zacchaeus's house. Zacchaeus is a thief. He's an extorter. He's a corrupt government official. Jesus goes to his house. We're not told what they talked about. I imagine they. They talked about what Jesus always talked about. Sin and judgment and the need for forgiveness. And Zacchaeus, as a result of hearing that message, goes and liquidates half his assets, pays back everything he stole times four. Understanding that had he not stolen it, people probably could have made money on it. identifies himself as a thief and gives to the poor, also acknowledging that he spent years not actually being generous. You see, his sadness over his sin resulted in the action of making things right. That's repentance. It's a change of mind, a change of purpose, a change of action. Can you imagine how Luke 19 would read if Zacchaeus said, you know, Jesus, you've made some great points, and I'm gonna resign from my position. I'm, deeply ashamed at what I've done, but that's it. Well, how would the poor understand his repentance? How would the people he stole from understand his repentance? Do you think the victims of Jeffrey Epstein or the women that Summers was going after with Epstein's advice or Summers own wife believe he's repentant? Absolutely not. Crying is not the same thing as actually making things right. And that's not just true on an individual level. That's true on a systemic level. elite rot is a systemic problem in our churches and in our country. Leadership being corrupt, eventually leads to institutions and countries and churches being corrupt. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, Bad company corrupts good character. And if that's true of the people you hang out with, how much more so is it true of the people you work for when who are in leadership? of you? Listen, we have got to hold our leaders to a higher standard of moral living. I'm not talking about an unattainable standard, but a simple standard that says, you cannot lead us. You shouldn't have influence if you are yourself corrupt. And here's the truth of it. And Summers is discovering this now. We'll all discover it eventually. Hidden sins will be revealed. Luke 8:17. Jesus, the king of the universe, says, is this. Nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest. If that doesn't keep you up at night, you're not in Tune with your own sinfulness. Jesus says, hey, everything eventually comes out. Which means that part of repentance is living a life where you're saying, let it come out. I've got nothing to hide. In the words of one of our staff members here, and I love this, he says, hey, one of the best things I can say is, I have no secrets. Is that true of you? Is that true of me? Is that true of our leaders? Listen, if it's not, then the first step towards repentance has to be exposure. Ephesians 5:11 says, to expose the deeds of darkness. I hope that for this, for Somers, this is a turning point. I hope it ultimately leads him to find the grace of Jesus Christ. But I also hope for my life, for your life, and for our culture, more corruption is exposed so that we can turn from our sin and begin the work of making things right. Enough of this. Tears are not repentance. I don't want Summers to be deeply ashamed. I want him to begin the work of making things right. But I also want that for myself. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

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