It is vital that all of us, whether or not we hold positions
of leadership, are held accountable for personal transgressions. Accountability becomes even more important when those who wield authority – politicians, clergy, business leaders
and others – abuse that authority for personal gain. In the language of the church, we are talking
about matters of sin. All of us, at
various levels, fall short.
A century ago, Walter Rauschenbusch, talking about the
Social Gospel movement that remains an important source of inspiration in the
theological life of the church today (using the language of the time that was
non-inclusive) noted that sin is not just about mistakes made by individuals
but also about mistakes made by societies and governments that harm the common
good:
Walter Rauschenbusch
"The social gospel is the old message of salvation, but
enlarged and intensified. The individualistic gospel has taught us to see the
sinfulness of every human heart and has inspired us with faith in the
willingness and power of God to save every soul that comes to him. But it has
not given us an adequate understanding of the sinfulness of the social order
and its share in the sins of all individuals within it. It has not evoked faith
in the will and power of God to redeem the permanent institutions of human
society from their inherited guilt of oppression and extortion. Both our sense
of sin and our faith in salvation have fallen short of the realities under its
teaching. The social gospel seeks to bring men under repentance for their
collective sins and to create a more sensitive and more modern conscience. It
calls on us for the faith of the old prophets who believed in the salvation of
nations." (Rauschenbush, A Theology For The Social Gospel, 1917)
Still today, we pay far too much attention to personal sin –
often times matters that should remain private and within the confines of
family conversations with clergy and perhaps therapists. This is not an effort on my part to excuse
bad behavior. Sometimes such behavior
crosses such a threshold that it remains impossible for people in positions of
authority to maintain their positions because for their personal gain they have
used their positions to further relationships or financial dealings, or engage in abuse, that is unethical and raise questions about overall judgment. We have seen this from certain Wall Street bankers, clergy pedophiles, and politicians like Bob Packwood and others.
As a society, however, we fall short in recognizing societal
sin and the role we all play in that.
Which is the worse sin: the politician who engages in an affair with
another consenting adult or the politician who votes to cut food assistance to
children or prenatal care for pregnant women (or the public that re-elects that
politician)? If a politician misuses
their office for personal gain perhaps they deserve the 24/7 news cycle that
inevitably follows. In a more moral
society, however, that same news attention – that same sense of scandal –
should follow those political, business and religious leaders who participate
in or advocate for sinful economic systems that create poverty, climate change,
war and other forms of human suffering.
Recognizing that, in theological terms, we all sin, perhaps
in addition to holding our leaders accountable when they fail we should throw
fewer stones and find ways to offer compassion (hard as that might be) even as we take steps to restore
the public trust when it becomes broken.
There is too much glee in throwing people in with the lions when all of
us, and I include myself, fail to measure up to the covenantal responsibilities
put before us to make the world a better and more just place.