Bishop Eddie Long, the End of the Super Preacher?
By now, most of you have heard the story (NBC News) of the great Bishop Eddie Long, the mega-preacher from Atlanta who is being accused of seducing young men with cars, clothes, jewelry, and electronics. He is accused of utilizing church funds and even scripture in an attempt to justify not only preying on young men starting at the age of 14, but of having sexual relations with them. To make matters worse, Bishop Long outwardly and vehemently opposes homosexuality, and believes and preaches that homosexuality is curable; yet by his very precedent his actions reflected just the opposite.
So far, there are four accusers, but in all likelihood more accusers will surface. He follows a long chain of leaders who portend that their moral compass is holier than thou, and yet refuse to take responsibility for their actions. We see it in politics (think president Bill Clinton or Larry Craig), sports (Roger Clements and Alex Rodriguez), and in religion (George Alan Rekers, Ted Haggard, and the Catholic Church) to name just a few. Eventually they will be forced to take responsibility for their actions – but only after the true damage is done. Power absolutely has an impact on the way people think. There is a great study of the power corrupting from Deborah Gruenfeld a psychologist at the Stanford Business School. She studied how positions of power affect our reasoning. Her research suggests that when power corrupts, it can be without conscious awareness.
George Alan Rekers was the foremost anti-gay activist in the United States – that is until he was caught with a gay male prostitute earlier this year. Bishop Eddie Long told to his congregation what to believe, how to live, and portended to live a God directed life, yet in the end appears to be a hypocrite and miscreant – a person without true moral scruples.
Atlanta has a median household income of $47,464 and about 21.8% of the population live below the poverty line (American Community Survey). Not Bishop Eddie Long – his flamboyant lifestyle includes among other things a $350k Bentley, a $1.4M home, and when he travels, its in his private jet. When church funds are used not for helping those in need, but instead for allowing their religious leaders to inconspicuously flaunt excess and greed, there is a clear misappropriation of priorities and a lack of spiritual follow-through. These are not the leaders that we need in our religious institutions – we need leaders whose actions are in alignment with their teachings. We need leaders who are humble, and whose purpose is service – true divine service.
This abuse of power is rampant in our society, but we do have the power to change it. Who are these very leaders that we rely on to give us guidance, whose moral compass we look to for direction? For starters, they are human beings just like you and I. They make mistakes just like you and I. Regardless of their job title: priest, rabbi, or Imam – the one thing they have in common is that they are all human beings, and as a result they are prone to make mistakes and bad decisions. Just remember that nobody is closer to God than you are. Nobody is holier than you. Nobody is closer to your spirituality than you are. It doesn’t matter where you live, or what you do for a living, your access to God or the greater universe is available to you where and when you are open to receive it.
We inherently desire and require leadership, to be guided and to be led. But when our leaders continue to defy the very morals and values they preach,what does it say about us? In order for a leader to be a leader, they need followers – which is obviously where we come in. Regardless of whether these leaders or role models are in politics or religion, we need to hold them accountable for their actions. We need to implement a higher standard and demand more from those who tell us how to live and what to believe.
No matter what we are taught, we must follow our inner guidance for the truth that we desire. We need to question our belief system and what we’ve been taught to ensure that it is in alignment with who we are and who we choose to be. We can no longer blindly follow – we need to listen with an open mind and an open heart, and then to follow the path that we know to be true in our heart and in our soul. Religion plays an important role within our society, but we must pay attention and ensure that the path we follow is in alignment with our inner truth.
We need to stop outsourcing our faith! If there is one thing that we need to insource, its our spirituality.
(Seth David Chernoff is the award-winning author of the new book, Manual For Living: Reality, A User’s Guide to the Meaning of Life.)
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I don’t!
it’s a pitiful shame for the media to post such critical info on this man especially if they don’t even know if these four guys were “supposedly” sexually influenced by this man. i wouldn’t have been suprised to hear about a big time preacher being accused of something and making it out of a big deal…..until the real truth come out, i’m just going to say that may God bless those young men and bish. and forgive them for all their wrong doings and get over it.
It is true that in this country we are innocent until proven guilty. However, it unfortunately has become commonplace for persons in a position of trust to abuse their place and to take advantage of their trustees (especially when in happens to our children). To add insult to injury – when those who are abused finally garner enough courage to confront their accuser, instead of being rewarded or acknowledged for their courage and honesty, the abused are often met with confrontation and condemnation. The victims are subsequently themselves often accused of lying or manipulation. My position is simply that we need to hold our leaders to a higher standard, and when they abuse their position of trust, they may be able to reconcile with their victims or with God, but they need to be removed from their position immediately.
We can only hope that Eddie Long turns out to be innocent and that this entire situation was an unfortunate misunderstanding. Sadly, I don’t believe that will be the case…just as the Catholic church initially denied for decades the many accusations of abuse. I am not sure that people even to this day understand the gravity of the hardship and victimization that was caused by the Catholic church. In 2004, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) commissioned a study that reported that 10,667 people in the US alone had made allegations of child sexual abuse between 1950 and 2002 against 4,392 priests. Can you imagine – 10,700 allegations of abuse in the United States alone? How many across the globe? Something needs to change in our society, and it must begin with each and every one of us.
In the bible God said do not touch my anointed, but there is no smoke without a fire
Are many of us too quick to cast the first stones. I think what many people are looking for in this is for someone to commit suicide. This means that in the mist of all our Christian understanding we are still seeking fulfillment in that which is not Holy also. This situation is one that has surfaced and has been denied. It must never be decided by the same book of law that once labeled those on both sides of this issue as less than human. It must be decided by the scriptures- since it is scriptural interpretation( used as a basis for the alleged unholy acts- according to the accusers)- and therefore that which is deemed by the Church as true Holiness- that is essentially on trial here. Are the Church and the scriptures a lie?? If the scriptures are not a lie and if Newbirth is Gods house it must be shown. The Church must and should work through this in the coming weeks. It must do so because as many of us know, whenever things got too off track in the scriptures, God sent in Angels to eradicate, and restore.
Awesome article. Awesome.