DESTROYING OR PRESERVING THE MONUMENTS? by Mark Pfeifer
/Editors Note: The following is in response to recent events throughout the Unites States perpetrated by radical socialists who are trying to fundamentally change the nation. This post is relevant to our international members as the same types of events are being reported in many nations as Marxist/Socialists are trying to displace all voices or governments that oppose them.
Watching people pull down monuments and hearing the debate of whether or not they should have been erected in the first place reminds me of something we all know to be true.
Human beings are fundamentally flawed.
When Nicki and I visited Monticello last year with another couple from our church, we all were struck with the enigma that was Thomas Jefferson. On one hand, he was a brilliant man that helped forge a system of government that has inspired and changed the world.
He penned the immortal words of our Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
And yet, somehow, while writing these words, he was able to petition off in his mind that the definition of “all men” did not include men or women of color. As a slave owner, he felt justified in supporting an economic system that was built upon buying and selling human beings. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” did not apply to his slaves.
The people at Monticello [in photo] did an outstanding job at presenting the perspectives of the slave families who lived and worked there. Among them was a young girl named Sally Hemmings, whose descendants live here in Chillicothe, Ohio. She was a 13-year-old domestic servant when Jefferson began a romantic relationship with her that lasted the rest of his life. He fathered six children with her, four of which survived to adulthood.
Herein lies the conundrum of one of our Founding Fathers. He was a brilliant man whose scope of expertise encompassed everything from political science to botonny. And yet, this brilliant man supported the idea that owning another human being as personal property was appropriate and by our present legal definition, was a pedophile. Wow! An enigma, indeed!
But was he that much different than other great men and women of history?
Of the Bible, for that matter? Abraham lied about his wife and impregnated his female servants. Noah got drunk and passed out naked in front of his family. Moses had anger issues. David sexually manipulated another man’s wife and committed murder to cover it up. Peter was a racial supremacist and needed special revelation to associate with anyone besides Jews – and according to Paul never really got over it. This goes on and on.
Which makes me wonder if anyone is worthy of a monument.
Maybe altars and arks and tabernacles and paintings and sculptures that memorialize and commemorate human achievement should all be eradicated…
…or at least contextualized…
…within the scope of understanding that human beings are fundamentally flawed.
A comprehensive accounting of anyone’s life will turn up many defects, shortcomings, blind spots and misdeeds. Mine does for sure! How about you? From the Bible to our nation’s history, one thing remains clear, great men and women are all human and are best seen in the light of human deficiencies.
Greatness works alongside weakness.
That’s what makes them relatable. That’s what makes them no different than us. That’s what gives us the hope that we might achieve some level of greatness despite our own shortcomings.
And this is why we all need Jesus!
He was the only perfect human being and was murdered in spite of it. Yet His death paid the penalty that we all owe because of our humanity. This goes for Thomas Jefferson, me and you!
That’s why the cross is the only real monument that can stand the test of perfection and the only one worth living for and dying for.
I think this is why Jesus taught us not to throw stones as each other. We all live in glass houses and stone throwing will only lead to mutually assured destruction.
Our Founding Fathers were imperfect and so were the generations that preceded them and followed them. That’s what makes us human. That’s why we should all be amazed that any of us can achieve something great in the midst of our own personal failings and imperfections. Grace is needed by all!
So, the next time you see a monument to any human being, just remember that it is a testimony to the amazing grace of God and an encouragement that we all are capable of doing great things, despite our humanity.
© 2020 Mark Pfeifer, ICAL International Director /
