Power tends to
corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. – Lord Acton
“Corrupt” doesn’t necessarily mean to make evil. A corrupted
file on the computer is not evil, it just quits working as it was intended.
This same effect can be seen in men and women who come into great power. Notice
that the correct quote is that power “tends to corrupt.” This implies that not
all people will fall prey to the negative influence of power.
This thought occurred to me this morning as I was praying
for President Trump. (Remember that we are commanded to pray
for our leaders.) He seems to be one of a few Presidents (and congress-persons)
who have not tended to be corrupted by the power of the office. He was lewd, crude
and bossy before he was elected. He didn’t change much, although of late, I
think he has grown into some of the restraint the office requires. And conservatives
must applaud all he has done for religious freedom and economic revival.
Some others appear to have remained unaffected by the power:
Abraham Lincoln, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush. These men were
simple folk (more or less) when they entered the White House, and they stayed
true to their principles. The media mocked each of them for their simple ways,
but it didn’t change them. In fact, in the cases of Lincoln, Reagan and Bush,
it served them well. The same cannot be said for Carter, but he was to his own
self true, for whatever that is worth.
When I think of people like Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama,
Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, or Jesse Jackson (Where is he?) I see what power can
do to corrupt. These people live lives of incredible license and luxury, and
they condescend to the rest of us as if they were one of us. Then they place
demands on us from which they exempt themselves, sometimes openly, sometimes
secretly. Their lives are corrupted in the manner Paul describes in his letters
to the Romans
and the Ephesians.
Politicians are not the only people who are subject to the
corruption by power. Christians in this country are especially prone to the
allure. I mean this in a different way than you might imagine. The power of
wealth, that is the power to make our own way (like most Americans) corrupts
our devotion to Jesus. I think many Christians have allowed their power/ability
to make it on their own to corrupt their commitment to their Lord. Especially
in America, we have it so easy that we forget we owe everything to Jesus.
The question becomes how one shows appreciation/love for
what Jesus did. Jesus' command, “Do
this in remembrance of me” regarding communion is only symbolic. What is
the real remembrance? What is the real devotion? I want to suggest that true
devotion involves living in remembrance, living as Jesus lived. That means a
life of sacrificial giving and love for everyone, especially the ones who don’t
know Jesus (yet).
It is wonderful when we gather as the church at Easter or
when we share in the Lord’s Supper, perhaps shedding a tear when we think of
all he suffered on our behalf. But we must go from that emotional gathering
into our world with the good news announced by that suffering. .
We cannot let our power – our ability to live comfortably – corrupt our devotion
to the cause of spreading the gospel. When I say, “spreading the gospel,” don’t think
preaching; think living like Jesus. When Jesus shared the gospel, he met a physical need almost every time. We need to find our neighbors’ needs and
meet them in Jesus’ name.
The Bible has much to say about corruption by the world (Philippians
2:15 for example). We usually think of this as being drawn into active sins
– being corrupted by evil. But the Bible also says
to know what is good and not do it is sin. Do not let the subtle power of
comfort corrupt your faith. Be Jesus to a needy world everywhere you go every
moment of every day. That’s the uncorrupted life.
