Something seems to be
happening in America and I am happy about it.
There is no doubt that there are some dangerous waters ahead, but never
the less, it is better than staying where we are.
For a long time now America
has been the capitalistic market for people that hunger for power. If you are willing to pay the price, you can
get above the lazy, the common and the ignorant. Once atop, you can have a better life of
luxury, feasting on grand food and feeding your other appetite as well. Your appetite to control people, to be right
and be in charge of things. To bless
those that bless you and hurt those that hurt you. It is the flesh at it’s greatest. It is human nature.
As these cycles go. People first don’t realize what is happening,
then they ignore it out of denial and laziness, a few try to stand up to abuses
of power and they are crushed by those with the power, then the people begin to
develop a system where abuses are over looked, considered baked into the game
and only the most egregious offenders are dealt with. Eventually most of the power to abuse is
controlled at the very top by just a handful that are considered insulated and
almost un-touchable. This is basically
true whether it be business, politics, family, church, gang or club.
If you look at the eventual
swell that has come from the people themselves over the last several years in
America, you can see where the anti-power is coming from.
Roger Ailes, who built the
Fox News empire, was taken down. Bill
O’Reilly was taken out. Police are being
called into question all over the country.
Some abuses are definitely being discovered. Even terrorist groups like ANTIFA are
garnering their power to continue to influence our culture from the
anti-establishment ground swell. A
boisterous, showman is in the White House pushing buttons and tweeting tweets.
All because the people have had enough of the abuses of power.
The strength of this ground
swell is what allows people to come forward against people like Harvey
Weinstein. When most of the power is at
the top and the people are all basically sedated and in no mood to fight it,
then abuses of power are rampant. When
the people begin to be agitated and win a few small victories here and there,
then power begins the process of leveling out again.
There are many dangers of
this continued occurrence throughout the history of humanity. One is that there will only be changes in
those who hold the power and not changes in the power structure, thus starting
the slow but sure cycle all over again.
Another fear is that good men
will be taken down with the bad. There
are always extra casualties. Yet another
danger is when the people rise up, they get caught up in taking down those that
are doing wrong and forget to focus on a better system of doing it right. They get more of a mob mentality and it
becomes all about hate and revenge and less about a correction.
In business, family and
ministry, I have learned my lessons the hard way. There are basic rules to protect yourself
against being one who abuses power and or being an enabler of one who abuses
power.
First, being an enabler. Do not let yourself get lazy. Do not believe things because they were told
to you by good people. Believe them
because you found them to be true. Do not
allow yourself to worship men, places or ideas.
This is the greatest danger that most people will find themselves
in. Being in AWE of someone to the point
of attaching your worth to being attached to their worth. Love great men, admire them, follow them and
have confidence in them. But judge for
yourself every single word, work and deed.
When a man is right 50 times and then wrong twice, those two wrongs are
just as wrong as anyone else’s. You
greatly harm the youngest generation that is present, when you pretend that a
good man’s mistake is not a mistake because he was a good man.
As far as abuse of power…two
things. Spread the authority and spread
the wealth. No one man will always be
right. Nobody is so good at anything
that they won’t make mistakes at it from time to time. If you are at the very top of an entity with
no direct oversight you are in the greatest danger of abusing power. If there are 2 or 3 of you at the top and you
get little to no input, oversight or corroborating with others, you too are in
jeopardy, perhaps not quite as much.
Surrounding yourself with
peers, elders, oversight and constant input that you will listen to, is one of
the greatest things that you can do for your success, your chances at being
right and for the health of those under you.
Lastly, no one ever needs a
10 bedroom house, 250,000 dollars worth of vehicles or to have a personal worth
of tens of millions of dollars. I have
had friends that meant well and tried to do good and great things with large
amounts of money but they ended up hoarding it, keeping total and complete
control of it and they ended up believing that they were the only ones that
knew best how to use it. Some of them
just slowly developed fancier and fancier lifestyles and absorbed much of the
wealth to themselves. One man had the
means to do great and incredible things with an abundance of wealth but the
people that he wanted to share it with wouldn’t “obey” him enough so he never
surrendered any of it. He died a
wealthy, lonely and greatly mistaken man.
When you have what you need,
find the best possible causes that you can and spread the rest around. Use wisdom, do some research, but get it out
there and give it a chance to do good.
If mistakes are made it is not the end of the world. I have found that the mistakes of the sincere
are often times more successful than the successes of the insincere.
Ministry leaders, be wise and
beware. This isn’t the good ol boys family
church days anymore. The people are
coming back to their causes and their senses.
It happened with Luther, it happened with Washington and the continentals,
it happened with Trump and if it keeps up…it will happen at the churches, in
the meetings and in the fellowships. It
is scary, but it is mostly a good thing.
Take head, make notes, use
wisdom young people. Pray through and
follow Christ and Christ alone. Brother
Todd is staking everything he has on you.
