Comments from employees of a large company
involved in massive corruption:
I am incredibly nervous that we will
implode in a wave of accounting scandals, … I have heard one
manager-level employee from the principal investments group say, 'I
know it would be devastating to all of us, but I wish we would get
caught. We're such a crooked company.'
1
This company was Enron – now out of business
because of massive fraud and corruption driven by the highest officers
in the company. Its Chairman, Kenneth Lay, was convicted (among others)
and died of a heart attack just months before sentencing.
How does it make you feel when you find out the
leader of your company is exposed as corrupt – morally, ethically,
financially?
What does it do to a company when it has
corrupt leaders?
Corruption in leadership impacts a company,
church, a whole country in the same ways:
- Always ends up hurting people in the
organization
- Always diminishes trust among people
- Always promotes corruption among people
(that’s what leaders do)
Back in the prophet Micah’s time, there was a
culture of corruption among the leadership in Israel. God took note of
it. Through His prophet, Micah, God gave a stinging rebuke and a
promise (no longer a warning) of impending doom for the whole nation.
1. Outward Corruption Driven by Unjust Leaders
1
Then I said, "Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of
Israel. Should you not know justice, 2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones;
3 who
eat my people's flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones in
pieces; who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot?"
4 Then they will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer them.
At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they
have done. (Micah 3:1-4, NIV)
Who is Micah speaking about in this text? The
“Leaders” and
“Rulers” of
Israel (v1). This refers to the king and all the government leaders of
the nation. He goes on to point out three issues with how the leaders
were leading.
A. Failure to Listen
Good leaders listen to a variety of sources. They should listen to
the people for whom they have responsibility. They should listen to
other leaders in similar situations. They should find trusted advisors
to help them plan. The Bible says,
“Plans fail for lack of
counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22, NIV).
But most importantly, leaders need to listen to God. Again, the Bible
says, “Commit to the LORD
whatever you do, and your plans will succeed” (Proverbs 16:3, NIV).
Israel’s leaders were not listening to God’s word nor to His
prophets. As we studied last week in Micah 1-2, the failure to listen
to God is the path of rebellion. The government leaders were long gone
down this path.
How would you rate the success of your own life plans if you measured
them by how well you listen to God?
B. Wobbly Scales of Justice
The LORD asks, “Should
you not know justice…?” (v1). One of government’s basic
tasks is to enact justice.
What does justice mean to you?
Sometime justice is portrayed as a set of scales – the scales
represent a fair judgment of cases looking at both sides equally.
Justice demands a balance of righteous laws and righteous enforcement of
laws. And the law should apply to everyone – particularly the
government leaders.
- Good example: Remember the tale of King Arthur and his knights
of the roundtable? The concept was wonderful. To administer the
affairs of the land and enact justice, the king set up a round table
where he and the other knights would sit. No one was at the head of
the table – all seats were equal. Everyone was given an equal
voice, even though the king had a right to dictate whatever he
wanted. The legend of King Arthur is an extraordinary (though
idealistic) view of how government leaders should lead.
- Bad example: The prime minister of Iraq recently stated that
corruption in his government was as big a problem for the country as
the sectarian violence that has killed so many people. “Iraq cannot
prosper and become stable until it deals with rampant public
corruption … We need cooperation between the people and the
government to confront the corrupt and the bribed people who are
manipulating public funds.” 2
Note that Prime Minister al-Maliki said the country cannot become
stable, much less prosper, until the corruption problem is resolved.
And resolving the corruption requires the cooperation of the people
governed as well as the government leaders. Why is that? The people
have been corrupted by the corrupt leaders. Until a moral stand is
taken – the proverbial line drawn in the sand – the problem will only
get worse. If the country cannot stabilize, it will fall.
What are some ways you can enact justice in your own family?
- Set specific limits on how much each of you can spend on your
own without talking to your spouse first.
- Make sure children know about the boundaries of right and wrong
BEFORE you punish them
- Make sure the punishment fits the crime (never punish in anger
but with a desire for righteousness)
C. Upside-down Morality
The 3rd issue Micah raised about the government leadership is a
twisted view of right and wrong. They
“hate good and love evil”
(v2). In such an environment, good people are treated like
criminals and criminals are treated like celebrities (especially if the
criminal is a famous Hollywood figure). In such an environment, there
is no set of values to live by – choices are made without accountability
and without regard for consequences. No choice can be considered
“wrong” and no one has the right to criticize it.
What do you think about the reaction to Miss California’s response on
the gay marriage question?
It is ironic that in a society that supposedly cherishes the “right”
to do or say anything you want, a contestant in a beauty pageant would
be so castigated in the media. How dare she say such a thing?
And so, here is the consequence of these leadership issues: people
are consumed. Look at the poetic imagery in Micah 3:2-3. It shows that
people are consumed with great cruelty by injustice and immorality.
These are big issues in families today. What happens when family
leaders fail in these areas: not listening to God, failing to enact
justice, upside-down morality?
- Husbands have adulterous affairs, wives have adulterous affairs
- Fathers and/or Mothers are cruel to children, no sense of
fairness
- Fathers and/or Mothers play favorites with one child over
another
- Illegal and/or prescription drugs are used for recreation
- The list could go on forever
At some point, God will say, “Enough!” He did this in Noah's day
when the whole world was corrupt. He showed this same frustration
with Israel:
Then they will cry
out to the LORD, but he will not answer them. At that time he
will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.
(Micah 3:4, NIV)
There are times that God will
simply not answer your prayer. There was no mercy for these unjust
leaders. Their evil influence was too great.
Have you considered how many
people you influence and the impact of your personal leadership?
What steps can you take to
further justice and morality in your own life?
2. Inward Corruption Driven by Spiritual Leaders
5
This is what the LORD says: "As for the prophets who lead my people
astray, if one feeds them, they proclaim 'peace'; if he does not,
they prepare to wage war against him. 6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets,
and the day will go dark for them. 7
The seers will be ashamed and the diviners disgraced. They will all
cover their faces because there is no answer from God."
(Micah 3:5-7, NIV)
Political leaders influence
outward corruption – how we behave. Spiritual leaders influence inward
corruption – what people believe as well as how they behave.
Here the LORD speaks to the
“prophets” (v5).
A prophet represented God to the people, primarily by proclaiming God’s
word and His will. A priest, by contrast, represented the people to God
as an intercessor. The influence of a spiritual leader cannot be
underestimated. A spiritual leader gets at the heart of a person’s
beliefs. And belief drives behavior – over the long term.
If the inner beliefs are
corrupted, the outer behavior will be corrupt. Without an inner change
in a person, the outer behavior will continue to be corrupted.
“You were taught, with
regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is
being corrupted by its deceitful desires” (Ephesians 4:22, NIV).
Unlike the line in the Christmas song, you cannot
just “be good for goodness sake.”
Outside of church, where do
you hear of God’s reality and His righteousness proclaimed?
The sad truth is that few
government leaders speak about God and His standards of right and
wrong. And there is little talk outside of church or Christian
communities about God’s righteousness.
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the
law, happy is he. (Proverbs 29:18, KJV)
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but
blessed is he who keeps the law. (Proverbs 29:18, NIV)
The word translated
“vision”
or “revelation”
speaks of a revelation from God – a word from the LORD. Without God’s
word, people cast off all restraint in their life choices – and perish
spiritually and often literally as a consequence.
In Israel, there were a few
prophets like Micah, Isaiah, Amos and a few others at the time who were
godly prophets. However, most of the so-called prophets were corrupt:
“the prophets who lead my people astray” (v5).
When the spiritual leaders
act unrighteously, they lead the congregation to do the same.
The news is filled with
spiritual leaders today who are corrupt. In fact, the media seems to
take special delight in such “big” news:
-
Ted
Haggard, former president of the National Association of
Evangelicals and pastor of a large church in Colorado, forced to
resign due to allegations of homosexual sex and drug use. His church
and his family is in shock and disgrace.3
-
Recently a popular Hispanic Roman Catholic priest was caught in a
relationship with a woman – a sexual relationship he later
admitted. Now he is thinking of renouncing his vow of celibacy and
leaving the priesthood – now that he was caught. But the damage is
done.4
-
Roman
Catholic priests in general have a severe “black eye” over rampant
child molestation charges around the world.5
-
Televangelists with sexual improprieties and financial greed.6
But it doesn’t take “big”
corruption to damage the people of God. I followed a popular radio and
television preacher for many years. He went by the title “Dr.”
However, he had no earned doctorate. All he had was an honorary
doctorate – only a piece of paper – from a school he supported. Yet he
held out his credentials to everyone as “Dr. ….” I did not found out
about it for a long time. When I did, I lost total respect for him as a
spiritual leader. He was just plain lying to everyone about his
credentials. Unfortunately it is an all too common practice.
Looking at the state of
spiritual leaders today, it can get pretty depressing. There are two
responses needed by Christians:
-
Keep
in mind that the mainstream media outlets exploit corruption news,
especially in spiritual leaders.
- And they are right to focus harder on
spiritual leaders.
- There is little shame or shock value
to what people do today but there is still some left when a
spiritual leader falls.
- Remember for every one reported, there
are thousands of faithful, righteous pastors who will never make
the news.
- Do no become cynical but keep
believing in the difference Jesus makes.
-
Keep
your own eyes on Jesus as THE spiritual leader.
- God chooses to use imperfect human
vessels to deliver His message and carry out His work.
- Accept the fact that no pastor is
perfect – mistakes, both unintentional and intentional, will be
made. Any pastor who says he never sins does not deserve the
office.
- Get the plank out of your own eye
first - then you can make right judgments:
2For
in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the
measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3"Why do you
look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no
attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say
to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all
the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You
hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you
will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
(Matthew 7:2-5, NIV)
The world today needs
prophets to declare God’s word to the people. Is that you? If not you,
then who?
There is no plan B – God
needs His people (this means Y-O-U!) to take His message of
righteousness to a corrupt world. That requires that we get cleansed
from unrighteousness by the LORD Jesus (1 John 1:9) and draw a line in
the sand for yourself, your family, your church, your business, your
country, and your world. That line is a stand against corruption both
inside and out. Change always starts with just one person.
Copyright 2009, Randy
Lariscy.
End Notes
1
Duffy, Michael et al. Time.com. What Did They Know And...When Did
They Know It? Retrieved 5/16/2009 from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1001698-1,00.html
2
UPI.com. Maliki urges campaign against corruption. Retrieved
5/16/2009 from
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/10/Maliki-urges-campaign-against-corruption/UPI-75401241958771/
3
Gallagher, Delia. CNN.com. Church forces out Haggard for 'sexually
immoral conduct.' Retrieved 5/16/2009 from
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/03/haggard.allegations/index.html
4
Gorski, Eric. Boston.com. Celibacy questions plague Hispanic priest
at heart of scandal. Retrieved 5/17/2009 from
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/05/17/celibacy_questions_plague_hispanic_priest_at_heart_of_scandal/
5
Quijano, Elaine. CNN.com. Pope calls church sex abuse scandal a 'deep
shame'. Retrieved 5/26/2009 from
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/16/pope.wed/index.html
6
Wikipedia.org. List of Christian evangelist scandals.
Retrieved 5/26/2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_evangelist_scandals
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