BBD 11.12.09 Abuse of Authority (Classic from 2002)
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
(A Devotional Classic from 2002)
Welcome to the 1247 new subscribers since January 1, 2009
11.12.09
Abuse of Authority
Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord. .before they
burned the fat the priest's servant would come and say to the man who
sacrificed, 'Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take
boiled meat from you, but raw.' Therefore the sin of the young men was very
great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. .Now Eli
was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how
they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of
meeting. So he said to them, 'Why do you do such things? For I hear of your
evil dealings from all the people.' - 1 Samuel 2:12,17, 22-23.
The General Medical Council of the United Kingdom had to deal with an almost
unbelievable problem of bad conduct on the part of a surgeon. The Council
said, "Dr. Mohannad Al-Fallouji's conduct has rightly been described as
bizarre." The news media described the doctor as "a walking terror in a
white coat." The doctor once told a patient, "you have cancer, I have
asthma, we all have to die some time." He would occasionally grope female
colleagues and make lewd remarks. He tried to arrange a date with an
underage female patient without her parents finding out. To the credit of
the General Medical Council they have barred the doctor permanently from
practicing medicine.
Have you noticed how often people who are given authority or power over
others abuse it? The sons of Eli were entrusted with a sacred position of
authority just as many priests and pastors are today. The sons of Eli used
their position to intimidate and take advantage of those who sincerely came
to worship the Lord. Many priests and pastors today are doing the same. Sin
is still sin and the Bible describes this sin as being "very great" because
they "abhorred" the offering to the Lord. Not only did they abhor the
offering of the Lord they did many other evil things taking advantage of
those in vulnerable positions. God was not deceived and judgment came upon
them.
It is terrible that some priests and pastors take advantage of the weak but
they are not the only ones. Many doctors, bosses, CEOs and those with a
little bit of power (including politicians) have abused their privileged
positions using those positions to take advantage of others. The sins of the
sons of Eli were and are shocking! No less shocking were the abuses of Dr.
Mohannad Al-Fallouji. But even those abuses of power, which are not
shocking, are still wrong and harmful.
If you are in a position of authority to any degree, and you are abusing
that power be warned that God is not mocked. God knows exactly what is going
on and judgment is coming. For those of us who may be on the receiving end
or have knowledge of the abuse of authority - what do we do? If we have
within our power what is necessary to stop an abuse of authority or power
and do not do so, we are enabling that abuse to continue. God held Eli
responsible for the abuse of authority by his sons. God warned Eli, "In that
day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house,
from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will judge his house
forever for the iniquity which he knows because his sons made themselves
vile, and he did not restrain them (1 Samuel 2:12-13.)."
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