Close to home
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:08 pm
This one hits close to home. What are the dynamics that cause someone who presumably has a genuine heart and calling for the ministry to become a self-serving abuser? I think not only of my own recent experiences of this, but also of the recent scandal in the Catholic church of sexual abuse by priests. I think of Matt 23, where Jesus essentially rebukes the Pharisees for being bad shepherds. Thomas Cahill says that every Christian leader should read Matt 23 each morning just to remind themselves what they are capable of becoming, and I think he’s right.
I think also here of Jesus’ sobering words: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.� (Mark 10.42-45)
I think also here of Jesus’ sobering words: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.� (Mark 10.42-45)