Abuse of power longtime problem
One of the greatest problems we have both in our country and around the world involves the abuse of power. You know what I mean. The military commander says, “Do it.” The law enforcement officer says, “I’m your commanding officer, do it.” The principal says, “I don’t care what you think; just do it.” The politician says, “I’m sorry, but I’m in control now and you must do it my way.” And the list goes on.
With the abuse of power comes the abuse of our personal morality and sense of goodness. Unfortunately, most of us have to work for an income and usually under some authority. We don’t want to get fired or demoted, so we just knuckle under and do whatever we are told to do without challenging the issue. Most of the time, this is okay; but what about the times when such a response is simply wrong? There are normally rules which say you don’t have to follow commands which are wrong, but we all know that not following them makes you subject to the consequences.
What about the abuse of power over those around us who are weaker? With hundreds of Roman Catholic priests and now hundreds of Southern Baptist leaders being charged with sex crimes — mostly against women and children — it is obvious that power over others has been abused. Yes, it’s against the law, but sometimes it is difficult to enforce the law.
Law enforcement personnel are sworn to uphold the law in both their home state and the United States of America, but what happens when you are commanded to break the law? Do you go ahead and follow your officer’s commands? What happens if the person in charge happens to be a racist, someone who feels white people are supreme, who exhorts the value of men over women, or perhaps someone who has sexual problems? What about the law enforcement officer who feels wearing a badge makes him or her “the law” and not just the enforcer of the law? You say this is not supposed to happen, and you are right; but it does happen, unfortunately, too often.
I really like what the Bible says in Romans chapter 12. Here are some of the things the Apostle Paul had to say to the Christians in Rome (from MSG Version). “Here’s what I want you to do … Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-towork, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering … The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what He does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. He then follows this up by saying, each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around … If you preach, just preach God’s message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond … keep a smile on your face.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if people in authority (and most of us have some form of authority) just stuck to their responsibilities and did not attempt to enslave those under their authority? Wouldn’t it be nice to realize that we are all in this together instead of a “them versus us” mentality? Wouldn’t it be nice to know people are working for you instead of against you?
Let me be emboldened. When the framers of our nation penned the Constitution, they decided that three branches of government would work out best — the Executive Branch, Congress and the Courts. Each would have separate powers, but they would all need to work together in order to run the country and to take care of its people. Although they built in checks and balances, at no time did they envision that the three branches of government should exist just to fight one another to see who has the greatest power. The goal was to form a governing body that would work for the people, not that the people would work for it.
My persistent prayer these days is for our government to abandon its quest for power and to focus more on how people may work together in order to take care of the people who really make it great.
PS: If you receive an unknown phone call from any of these area codes, they are likely coming from the Caribbean and are bogus: 268, 284, 876, 809.
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