By Dr. Aldon D. Tull
One of the most popular choruses that can be heard across Barbados at this time is “All politicians are corrupt!” It is one guaranteed to be #1 on the Rum Shop Charts as we move into the Xmas holidays and well on into 2022.
But before you join the chorus, here is some food for thought to go along with the music.
Nature of Politics
As Dr. George Bell and the ever-increasing parade of political scientists will tell you, politics is about power. A certain Lord Acton once cynically observed:
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
Perhaps you have heard this before. But what you may not have heard before is the remainder of Lord Acton’s statement:
“Great men are almost always bad men!”
Interesting? Agreed.
Updated for political correctness, gender balance or gender neutrality (take your pick), Lord Acton’s statements applies to all who are in positions of power.
Let us examine these two propositions, “All politicians are corrupt” and “Great men are almost always bad men”.
If we were just interested in philosophy and logic here, we could easily reject both propositions by arguing that both have been made too restrictive by using or implying “all” rather than “some”.
So, as a test of their illogic, all we would have to do is find just one leader with power who was (is) NOT corrupt and that would destroy the argument. I leave that exercise to those with a penchant for history.
Oil and Water
But our interest here is a little more practical, indeed a little more scientific, in that we want to know whether or not there is any causal (cause and effect) link between two, that is between “power” on the one hand and “corruption” on the other.
In other words, is it a foregone conclusion that because you are a politician (whatever that really means) that you are destined to be corrupt?
Let’s call the above, Proposition A.
Put another way, Proposition A is asking: Are politics and morality unmixable? Indeed, is it the case that the twain, politics and faith, never shall mingle?
Dumping Determinism
Those who say “yes” to Proposition A are guilty of what we might call political determinism.
Determinism is the idea that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes outside the the individual.
This is in stark contrast to our discussion on the sovereignty of man in a previous article. There we explained that we have been given a free will and therefore, the ability to choose our courses of action.
However, as we also explained, we cannot determine the consequences; for the most part, they are “hardwired” into our choices.
Take note, however, that this idea that we cannot control the consequences of our actions is not the same as saying that we do not have free will, which is what some proponents of determinism suggest.
What we are saying is really the familiar notion that “as you sow so shall you reap”. As the lyrical master, calypsonian Red Plastic Bag has intoned:
If you plant potatoes,
You will reap potatoes;
That’s what they mean when they say:
You reap whatever you sow!
Mixologist Found
Now, it is a scientific fact that water and oil do not mix. But with the right chemical agent, water and oil can be made to mix to form a solution called an emulsion. Not surprisingly, that chemical agent is called an emulsifier. Relevance to this discussion?
There is need for a bridging concept or force, an emulsifier of sorts, that allows people of faith and integrity to hold political office without being subject to the determinism embodied in the idea that “all politicians are corrupt”.
We posit that that concept is the notion, indeed the truth, that all authority, political or otherwise, stems from God who, apart from being all the other wonderful things that He is, turns out to be our consummate mixologist!
Starting from the delegation of authority to the first man, God is the source of ALL authority on earth.
This concept that all authority emanates from God is not well understood, even by some Christians. Be that as it may, it applies equally to anyone in authority: husbands, civil servants, politicians, presidents, pastors, teachers.
Therefore, anyone in any authority is acting as a steward or minister of God’s authority. Ergo, any such person is accountable to God for the use of that authority.
If what we are saying is correct, politics cannot be corrupt by nature. It is the acts of political office holders that render them corrupt or honest; just or unjust. Jesus put it another way:
Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them. Mark 7:15 NIV
It is like sex. God created sex, yet some people are taught that sex is dirty. How can that be? Sex is a God-given activity whose primary purpose is to reproduce the species and whose secondary purpose is provide deep pleasure and bonding between partners within the arrangements made by God. But can sex be abused or corrupted? Do birds and bees fly?
In the secular world in which most people perceive themselves to be moving and having their being, the concept of God being the source of all authority will be ridiculed.
So it is really not surprising that the same Prime Minister who intimated that “all big works come through her” can state, without challenge from the ecclesia, that “we walk by sight not by faith” notwithstanding the fact that the Scripture says the exact opposite (2 Corinthians 5:7) and that furthermore:
By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. Hebrews 11:3 NLT
Corruption
Now that we have clarified what politics is all about it is time to examine the true notion of corruption.
At its core, corruption is the abuse of authority. Period!
Therefore, anyone who abuses a position of authority – husband, civil servant, politician, president, pastor, teacher- is guilty of corruption. I know it is a very tall order but God was never about mediocrity.
In the political arena, God is not really interested in which party holds political office. He does not take sides. He is interested in the purpose for which that authority is used; more particularly, in how individuals use that authority.
It follows then, that those who believe that the biblical injunction to pray for a government means condoning its evil deeds, are missing a point which I carefully explained here.
As Martin Iles has so insightfully pointed out in his video God and Politics, “God will judge rulers based on their attitude to righteousness and the right and the wrong that they perpetuated”. According to him, God’s summary epitaph of the kings of Israel was either:
They did that which was right in the sight of God all the days of their life and they died or they did that which was evil in the sight of God all the days of his (sic) life and…died.
Therefore, the question is whether we, Christians or non-Christians, understand the awesome responsibility of political power or political authority.
In our view, the awesomeness of that responsibility requires that we mix and mingle faith, morality and political power while holding true to godly principles.
Daniel the Civil Servant
There is no better example of this desirable mix than Daniel and the three Hebrew boys who served in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court.
They sought to keep their cultural diets in spite of being offered the courtly delicacies offered up to idols. Daniel himself defied the King’s unwitting edict aimed at shutting down his prayer life and emerged from the lion’s den unscathed.
It is men and women of Daniel’s character that are needed at this time in our public life, be it at the highest level in parliament or in the civil service; men and women who are not prepared to buckle under the pressure from individuals or interest groups to do wrong or dispense injustice.
Competence Required
But we are not so naive to think that integrity is enough. One must also be competent to manage. Check for yourself that Daniel’s conspirators could find no fault either with his integrity or his administrative competence.
That is why we must oppose the granting of positions of authority to the managerially inept which has been the practice in this era of politics in this country.
If you grasped the definition of corruption we gave earlier, you would understand why this practice represents a double dose of corruption! And corruption is costly, as we have seen!
Moses, mighty leader though he was, had to be taught by God about span of control and delegation, both managerial techniques, so that he could adjudicate the problems of his people without experiencing fatigue. (Exodus 18:21 – 25)
Incidentally, this gives the lie to the current fad, prevalent also in some sections of the church, that glorifies leadership and demonizes management. The implications for training are obvious but I am not sure that the current management curriculum is at all adequate and/or appropriate.
I highly commend Dr. Miles Munroe’s video here to our goodly church folk.
I also concur with management scholar, Henry Mintzberg that leadership is just an element of management:
I want people to recognize one component of management is leadership but there are lots of other components — information, action, how you involve yourself, how you connect, and all sorts of things. Management Issues
Did you realize that the first job ever done by a human being was a management job?
Conclusion
Those who care just about power and the personal benefits that can accrue, will find it very easy to offer themselves as political candidates; those who are interested in being good stewards of God’s authority will not find it so easy. Some sacrifice will be necessary.
But what such individuals must bear in mind is that, while God can deliver from every difficult moral situation in the political arena, the secret is to hold on to such positions lightly. Then, should He choose not to produce a lion’s den moment, a gracious letter of resignation will signal surrender to His perfect will.
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Dr. Aldon Tull is a retired educator who holds a Master of Science in International Marketing and the Doctor of Education.
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About the Author
Good morning. Very relative article As I would say, titles and positions when it gets to one’s head would lead to the misuse and abuse of authority
You are so right…titles and positions getting to one’s head. A good dose of humility is the antidote to that poison!