Power and Authority - Don't Abuse It!
Last weekend, while reading the Jacksonville Times-Union online, I was looking up an obituary of a fellow Toastmaster who recently passed away.
I found the obit I was looking for, but while I was there, I found the following story on the front page of the website:
Pastor collected child porn, police say
It saddens me when those who are in positions of power and authority do not hold themselves to higher standards.
While the Bible says that we have all sinned and fall short of God's glory, we are still obliged as adults to know what's right and what's wrong. Child pornography, and the possession thereof, is not, and should not be, something that a civilized society should allow. How we treat and raise children is a yardstick which we, as civilized people, measure ourselves by. If we do not treat our children with love, respect, and dignity, then our society will ultimately implode upon itself.
Unlike the Roman Catholics and their child sex abuse scandal, however, the United Methodist Church did a very good job of "self-policing" for the sake of their parishoners. While I do not believe that Catholics and their clergy are all bad, I do fault the Vatican for doing more to protect clergy than their parishoners. BTW, I am a United Methodist and I commend both the Jacksonville church in question and the leaders of the Florida Conference for their vigilance.
I believe that we, as a society, should respect authority, but in a free society, we, the people, need to take responsiblity to assure that those who are in authority over us (politicians, public safety, clergy, etc.) are held accountable for their actions. If we are in any kind of position of power and authority ourselves, then we must take responsibility for our own actions and hold ourselves to a higher standard.
Power, if left unchecked, corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Look at people like Hitler, Stalin, and Saddam, and you'll know what I'm blogging about.
In the meantime, I pray that the Jacksonville church in question will rise above this controversy and carry on the work He commissioned us as Christians to do.
That's all for now. Thanks for visiting and please come back again.
I found the obit I was looking for, but while I was there, I found the following story on the front page of the website:
Pastor collected child porn, police say
It saddens me when those who are in positions of power and authority do not hold themselves to higher standards.
While the Bible says that we have all sinned and fall short of God's glory, we are still obliged as adults to know what's right and what's wrong. Child pornography, and the possession thereof, is not, and should not be, something that a civilized society should allow. How we treat and raise children is a yardstick which we, as civilized people, measure ourselves by. If we do not treat our children with love, respect, and dignity, then our society will ultimately implode upon itself.
Unlike the Roman Catholics and their child sex abuse scandal, however, the United Methodist Church did a very good job of "self-policing" for the sake of their parishoners. While I do not believe that Catholics and their clergy are all bad, I do fault the Vatican for doing more to protect clergy than their parishoners. BTW, I am a United Methodist and I commend both the Jacksonville church in question and the leaders of the Florida Conference for their vigilance.
I believe that we, as a society, should respect authority, but in a free society, we, the people, need to take responsiblity to assure that those who are in authority over us (politicians, public safety, clergy, etc.) are held accountable for their actions. If we are in any kind of position of power and authority ourselves, then we must take responsibility for our own actions and hold ourselves to a higher standard.
Power, if left unchecked, corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Look at people like Hitler, Stalin, and Saddam, and you'll know what I'm blogging about.
In the meantime, I pray that the Jacksonville church in question will rise above this controversy and carry on the work He commissioned us as Christians to do.
That's all for now. Thanks for visiting and please come back again.
posted by Georgia Road Geek at
5:52 AM
