The Flaws of the Man
David was God’s chosen King of Israel. But David was a deeply flawed man who slept with a married woman and then had her husband killed. He then rose up and presided over a great kingdom for God, from whom God built an eternal dynasty.
Peter hung out with the Lord. He saw the transfiguration. A few days later, Peter denied knowing God multiple times before a rooster crowed. God then built the church through Peter.
Washington was not a very astute military leader in the French-Indian War. He bribed people with alcohol to get himself votes. He then answered the call of the Continental Congress, left his home, built a nation, then walked away from the job in which he could have been king.
Churchill was a racist and regularly both arrogant and wrong in his youthful exuberance. His insistence on being right caused his alienation from his own colleagues. He was seen as an opportunist only out for himself. It turned out he actually was more right than wrong, met the challenge of the Nazi evil, and led his nation to victory.
Every man and woman who is called to lead and serve will reveal his character in hardship. It is not the easy times that show us who someone is, but the hard times.
In the United States today, a movement on the right is rising to smear President Zelensky of Ukraine as a corrupt authoritarian we should not be helping. Zelensky is, in fact, a deeply flawed man. He ran against corruption, but the system seemed to swallow him up. What he could not get rid of, he embraced.
He is no saint.
The Americans who are attacking Zelensky are not Russian propagandists. They are Americans who do not want World War III and do not want to go to the mats for someone they see as really no better or worse than Putin himself [Editorial note: Typo alert. It originally read “do want World War III.” The “not” ran away and I’ve put it back]. They are isolationists afraid the fevered support for Zelensky will drag us to war at a time they’d rather we give up the world stage altogether.
Unfortunately, knowingly or otherwise, they are doing Putin’s work for him. At a time of overwhelming bipartisan unity to help Ukraine, they are sowing seeds of division willfully and knowingly to advance their isolationist agenda, an agenda Putin would prefer.
The American people seem to intuitively understand Zelensky is not the bad actor here. Putin is a bully and Americans do not like bullies. Zelensky may be a deeply flawed and arguably corrupt politician, but neither he nor his country provoked Putin’s invasion — Putin stormed in to restore Russian glory and lands Putin believes are historically Russia’s.
One need not smear or trash a man daily being hunted by assassins as he struggles to keep his country together. We should be able to appreciate the desperate times he is in and his desire for other countries’ assistance.