Last week a Nashville, TN Metro Councilman was arrested in an undercover prostitution sting at a Nashville area hotel. Brady Banks, who is serving his first term in his elected position also held a state government job in addition to his public service duties. He announced earlier this week he has resigned from his full-time duties working for the state.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Banks arrest unleashed a fury of media attention unlike anything he has experienced thus far in his short political career.<\/p>\n
His situation is not the first time an elected official or someone who holds a position of high moral authority \u2013 such as a pastor \u2013 has found themselves encumbered by sexual sin. History tells us it probably won\u2019t be the last.<\/p>\n
Banks, who has a Master of Divinity degree and whose wife is an associate minister at an area church, has to face the reality of a series of poor choices that will impact his life for the near term. But what I hope Banks and his wife understand is that it doesn\u2019t have to permanently alter the course of their marriage or their future.<\/p>\n
No two situations are exactly the same. But after having to endure a similar experience and knowing others \u2013 both male and female who have also fallen to sexual sin – I am going to pray that Banks and his wife are able to use this time to allow God to repair and restore their lives and more importantly, their marriage.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know personally know Banks, but I hope someone close to him is offering the following suggestions.<\/p>\n
1)\u00a0\u00a0 First and foremost, sit down with his wife and tell her everything \u2013 and in a single conversation. Having multiple discussions and dishing out his sins a little at a time is not something I would recommend. Repairing and rebuilding trust in their marriage should be his first priority and this is a first step.<\/p>\n
2)\u00a0\u00a0 Next, he and his immediate family need to stop reading news reports of his exposed sins. He knows what happened \u2013 what really happened and he doesn\u2019t need to read factual or non-factual accounts of the situation. Plus, the overwhelming percentage of people who comment on these types of articles are not praying for his marriage, offering him forgiveness (even though he may not have done anything to warrant their forgiveness) or hoping that he can get back on his feet as quickly as possible. If they are hateful and mean in their comments, then chances are they are the same when they turn their computer off. It is them who deserve our prayers.<\/p>\n
3)\u00a0\u00a0 Find a Christian marriage counselor with a reputation of restoring marriages.\u00a0 He and his wife have a young child and preserving their marriage will be the best gift they can ever give their children. Believe me, children suffer much more from a divorce than the parents ever will.<\/p>\n
4)\u00a0\u00a0 Be repentant, not just remorseful. When you have repented of your sins, you can ask God for his forgiveness and you will be restored to His amazing grace. It is the most wonderful gift you will ever receive.<\/p>\n
5)\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t make rash decisions. Now is not the time to resign from office or make other major, life-altering decisions. People are forgiving and if they see you are genuinely sorry for your indiscretions and have turned away from your past sins, most will open their arms to you. But a word of warning; some of those who are giving you advice are doing so because it will benefit them, not you or your family. It is not your responsibility to make life easier on others during this time. Banks should focus on himself and his family.<\/p>\n
I am praying that Banks and his wife stay together. I know dozens of couples that have endured similar experiences, and many have incredible stories of reconciliation and forgiveness. Plus, they have stronger marriages and deeper relationships with Jesus.<\/p>\n
There can be better days ahead. And it’s not just another political sex scandal. It’s someone’s life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week a Nashville, TN Metro Councilman was arrested in an undercover prostitution sting at a Nashville area hotel. Brady Banks, who is serving his first term in his elected position also held a state government job in addition to his public service duties. He announced earlier this week he has resigned from his full-time duties working for the state. Unfortunately, Banks arrest unleashed a fury of media attention unlike anything he has experienced thus far in his short political career. His situation is not the first time an elected official or someone who holds a position of high moral authority \u2013 such as a pastor \u2013 has found themselves encumbered by sexual sin. History tells us it probably won\u2019t be the last. Banks, who has a Master of Divinity degree and whose wife is an associate minister at an area church, has to face the reality of a series of poor choices that will impact his life for the near term. But what I hope Banks and his wife understand is that it doesn\u2019t have to permanently alter the course of their marriage or their future. No two situations are exactly the same. But after having to endure a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[28,44,327,340,450],"class_list":["post-564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-paul","tag-author","tag-brady-banks","tag-paul-stanley","tag-political-sex-scandal","tag-writer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n