Imagine a drunkard driving a school bus. Then imagine a drunkard who doesn’t drive at all. Who should be stopped first?
I don’t like to give such examples when I am talking about something different, because allegories have their limits, but I’m sure you got the point. Once someone becomes a leader or authority over anyone else, they are putting others at risk, and are most certainly the bigger danger than someone who simply sits in the bus minding their own business. For the driver, the safety of their passengers is and should be their whole business.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. — Ephesians 6:11-12 (NIV)
Our struggle is “[…] against the leaders and the powers and the spirits of darkness in this world. It is against the demon world that works in the heavens.” (Ephesians 6:12 NLV) The enemy hits where it hurts the most. A dirty bomb is placed where it does the most damage. A mafia syndicate gets control of organizations, not street peddlers. The higher up the evil is in the heavenly realm, the higher up it reaches in the physical. If you are struggling to manage your own household (1 Timothy 3:12), how do you think you will manage as a pastor when the bigger demons get involved? I am meaning to scare you, I really am. The danger is real, not academic or trivial. Not a mere principle, but a concrete threat that won’t be settled by saying it shouldn’t be so.
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! — Matthew 18:6-7 (NIV)
So, can a bad pastor or world leader be forgiven by God? That’s actually a strawman argument in this context and not our business to estimate. Of course we don’t know everything about their lives and we can’t know if they whispered a prayer of repentance on their death bed. But we do know they ruined a lot of lives. Innocent lives, lives of people who trusted them, lives of people who had no choice but to live with the consequences caused by them and their ilk.
3 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. — James 3:1-2 (NIV)
Look at the country you’re living in and look at its leaders. Church leaders, municipal leaders, kings, prime ministers, elementary school teachers, recruiting firms (the modern-day slave traders?) Add anyone in a position of power in there. The poor and the disenfranchised are blamed for not earning their share but who is really sabotaging things on a big scale?
This is not a game
The enemy does not play by the rules. He doesn’t ask if he has a right to attack, he attacks when he can. It’s not fair. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (John 10:10) He doesn’t ask, “Hey, do I have permission to enter?” He doesn’t look for a door or a bank vault or victim that is challenging enough for the gentleman thief. A predator attacks the weakest, and it is the job of the leaders and elders to protect them, and you can bet the enemy who wants to slaughter a busload of people will aim his fiery arrows (Ephesians 6:16) right at the person at the driver’s seat.
I know many repeat the old saying “even the devil is God’s devil” and all that, trying to pass the ultimate responsibility for everything that happens to God, but we are not machines or automatons, and a sure way to lose under attack is to think it’s ordained by our Father.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. — 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV)
Think. If you know you’re not qualified to fly that airplane, whatever you do, please don’t take passengers.
God bless you, Dear reader.
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