Does a leader’s past really matter?

Recently the Daily Mail serialised Lord Ashcroft’s new book ‘Call Me Dave’ which they said would expose salacious details about the life of David Cameron, the Prime Minister. 

The unofficial biography, allegedly contains untrue allegations of drugs and debauchery though the truth of such claims has yet to be established and the book will be released on Monday 5^th October 2015.

Even murkier are the motives of the prime author.

He had been a key financial supporter of the Conservative Party - giving millions. 

In return he had been elevated to the House of Lords, despite disputes over his status as a ‘non dom’ (non-domiciled) tax payer or as a resident of the UK.

The breaking point between the political allies seems to have been the kind of role on offer in the previous Conservative Government.

Certainly, no one doubts now the genuine loving care the Camerons showed for their son Ivan, who tragically died suffering from a host of disabilities.

David Cameron has managed to win two elections and been Prime Minister since 2010.

He has represented the nation on the world stage and led us through economic and political turmoil, ranging from Scottish Independence to the Syrian war and the current refugee crisis.

But does a leader’s past really matter?, let’s take a look at some Old Testament leaders:

·         Abraham had a child by his wife’s maid rather than waiting for God to keep His promise of an heir.

·         Noah got drunk and exposed himself to his children.

·         Jacob tricked his brother and his father, stealing his brother’s blessing and birthright by offering hot stew to a hungry Esau and disguising his appearance with goat skins to fool his father Isaac.

·         Moses was a killer, and not even in self-defence, taking the life of an Egyptian slave master who was beating a Hebrew slave.

·         And finally, David arranged the death of a leading soldier to gain another wife for himself.

Many of the Old Testament leaders were hardly paragons of virtue, their past and history revealed all too human accounts of sex, alcohol, lies, cheating, violence and murder.

Most of that is in just the first two books of the Bible and when it comes to the book of Hebrews, all of these less than perfect men are affirmed as men of faith, genuine leaders and examples for us all.

We are, of course, shaped by our past, our genetics and what happens to us in life.

This is no determinism or excuse for how we now live.

Freedom means that we can choose to be and to become the women and men we ought to be, we can rise above our past and allow our mistakes and indiscretions to make us better human beings.

What matters is not so much what happens to us, but how we respond to it.

All of us including leaders, are not defined by our past and are certainly not the sum total of the choices we made in our youth, what matters is our goals and how we get there.

Lay aside every weight and the sin that clings to us.

Run with endurance the race set before us and look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

He promises that no matter our past, with Him, the future shall be glorious.