Television stations, radio shows, online blogs, news papers and magazines have been bombarded over the past few months with news of pastors, government officials and social activists behaving in a manner that would make anyone question their true motives. Do they really believe in what they preach or are they merely putting on a show in order to get favorable reviews? Perhaps i am being naive or overly critical of individuals in power, but i personally believe that my thoughts in regards to this issue is shared across various spectrum. Truth is, we all have said or done things in our past that we would not feel proud to admit. In fact, most of the times we live our lives with feelings of guilt, because we are forced to come to grips with not been able to undo the hurt or pain caused by our actions. Nevertheless, the implied law of man states that “we all make mistakes” and “we are not perfect.” True. But does this law also apply to pastors and public officials even though they often portray themselves as “perfect” in their actions and words? I think the only possible answer to such a question would be “yes,” for the simple fact that they are all humans and just as flawed as the stranger that lives next door.
As a child growing up in a family whose values were deeply rooted in the church, it was uncommon for a child, teenager or adult to question the pastor’s interpretation of the bible. To most, the pastor’s word was as solid as the final order of a Supreme Court Judge and if you should ever challenge the views of your pastor would often be greeted with nasty facial expressions from both church elders and parents. Pastors, like us, are humans and will from time-to-time say or do things that would not be considered acceptable according to moral and social standards. That been said, the issue i have and what i think most people fail to address is a failure to not only hold leaders accountable of their actions, but also challenge their views/ideas. Too often i have seen individuals consciously allow themselves to be misguided by persons who claim to be leaders, because they are fearful of what others might think of them. For example, a pastor’s interpretation of one or more scriptures in the bible during church service goes totally against what you would label as sensible. Should you suppress your burning desire to seek a more sensible interpretation or remain silent like 95 percent of the congregation? I am hopeful that you are one of the 5 percent who isn’t afraid to respectfully challenge the pastor’s views regardless of what others might think.
A few weeks ago i was having a candid discussion with my father about pastors and the effectiveness of their ceremonies. During our discussion he decided to use the church to which he is an active member and stated that from time-to-time he would disagree with the manner in which his pastor conducted ceremony. Out of the blue, he proceeded to give countless reasons why his pastor wasn’t doing a good enough job in saving souls, but most importantly his failure to explain the word of GOD in a way that makes it easy to understand. After listening closely to everything that he had to say about his pastor, the first question that came to mind was: Why did it took you over five years to realize that your spiritual adviser is not doing a good job? Predictably, his response was typical to what an active member of a church would say. “Sometimes in order to keep the peace or not create a scene, it is best to not say anything.” What? You must be kidding me. How on earth would a person consciously allow themselves to be misguided in the name of pride? In case the 95 percent is not aware of this, but there is such a thing as “constructive criticism” and any pastor who is unable to welcome the idea of making small adjustments to his delivery should resign. Mind you, i am not implying that we should create conflicts within the church, but the point i am trying to make is that we should be mindful of the type of people we choose to follow.
In recent news, the highly energetic Jesse Jackson was quoted using the “N Word” and also making careless “off camera” comments threatening to cut off Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama’s Nutts. And in another unrelated incident, Charles Rangel, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee paid way below market price for four apartments in rent stabilized buildings in New York – one of which he unlawfully used as his campaign office. In Mr. Rangel’s defense he stated “i did not have any idea that it was wrong.” Sure. Keep in mind that rent stabilized apartments were initially put in place for senior citizens with fixed incomes and families whose incomes were not sufficient enough to rent at market price. So for him of all the persons to use a government safety blanket for the poor to house his political campaign is not only sad, but it shows that he, like many other politicians feel as though they are above and beyond the law. Respectfully so, Jesse Jackson and Charles Rangel were both tremendously instrumental in the civil rights movement, but when all is said and done; they ARE politicians. People knew that Mr. Jackson was a man of “colorful words” and also that Rangel was using rent stabilized apartments for his own financial and political gain for many years, but decided to turn a blind eye and deaf ear until now.
It is not uncommon to read on the covers of news papers and magazines that an influential leader in the church and public eye mislaid citizens into believing that they meant one thing when in fact it was the opposite. Pastors, like politicians, are in some cases not different in their goal to generate as much support behind their cause as possible. Their carefully crafted speeches or ceremonies often share two common goals: 1) to generate an infinite number of followers and 2) to inspire followers to “indirectly” finance their lavish lifestyles. In all fairness, there are a lot of leaders, who with no selfish or egotistical attachments are having a positive impact on the lives of many individuals. But unfortunately, a lot of these positive leaders are often not featured in fancy titled magazine articles and television shows. The leaders that we all should be extremely cautious of are the ones whose posters are plastered on subway cars, buses and are almost always at the center of any excitement that is considered “good for television.”
Copyright, 2008 by Mark Dixon
