Edwin Edwards, Fidel Castro and me

Note: I wrote this back in 2011, I think. It has been collecting dust in the "Drafts" file. I decided to polish it up a bit and hit the "Publish" button. 

It seems everyone jokes about the corrupt nature of Louisiana politics. And who gets named more than former Governor Edwin Edwards? No question, he was a crooked politician. Some would say "crooked politician" is a redundancy. Well, that's a gross generalization and not always true.

Living in north Louisiana, the Baton Rouge crowd of political leaders were only names and images seen on the news or in the paper. They weren't real people to me. But, one of my friends down in Baton Rouge has shown me a different perspective. She agrees that so many of them are corrupt now but she and her family have known a lot of these guys when they were starting out. And they were nice guys.

She says they didn't start out bad. But that bad crept up on them.

I also read an article about the sister of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. She said he wasn't so bad at first. His initial intention was to help, not to become some brutal ruler. But, in order to remain in power he had to get lined up with the communists. That's when the brutality really came on strong.

Although I was never a fan of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, I have a feeling they started out wanting to share the Gospel with people. Making gazillions of dollars and living a truly rude lifestyle (including gold plated bathroom fixtures and an air conditioned dog house) wasn't part of their life plan when the young couple was in college. They were probably doing revivals and retreats, ministering wherever they could. But, they got bigger and bigger and somewhere along the way, they got off track. Way off track... but I contend with at least a sliver of good intentions still hanging on.

The same could probably be said of Jimmy Swaggart, Larry Lea and a host of other preachers who grew a bit big for their britches. Bob Tilton? I don't know. I get the feeling he's always been a crook. But, that's just my opinion.

Standing on the outside looking in, I get the feeling these people of power (political or religious) probably started out heading in the right direction. But somewhere along the way, all that power and prestige took over. And decadence crept in.

I'm no gardener, but it's like they kept growing their garden bigger and bigger. And while they were busy expanding their territory, they didn't notice the weeds starting to grow. Before long they were growing more weeds than crops. No longer did they have anything good like fruit and vegetables.

So, was all that growth worth it?

In looking at these public figures, I have a feeling they became surrounded by people wanting to ride the wave of their notoriety for a slice of fame as well. And the adrenalin rush of power closed their ears to reason. Pride is a tough act to follow.

Does that mean we can't grow our business, career, ministry or life big time? Not at all. It's just a tougher gig. The bigger you get, the harder it is to juggle all those balls in the air. Through a series of hard times, I've found out rather painfully that I have a limit on how many things I can juggle at the same time. But, that doesn't mean you can't juggle a load more than me.

I look at stories about Christian teacher and author Joyce Meyer. The St. Louis Post Dispatch did a scathing series of articles on the lavish lifestyle and general lack of accountability by those closest to Joyce. If half of what they wrote was true, the ministry had big problems in the wisdom department. And what happened? From what I can gather, Joyce and her family realized they were screwing up. In all the bright lights of big time conferences and book sales, they had allowed themselves to get off track. They cleaned up their act and Ive heard they brought in some accountability into their program.

And they got back to the business of preaching and teaching and helping people. Sounds like a plan to me.

I've heard Benny Hinn has done somewhat the same. Frankly, I haven't heard anything out of him in a while. No problem there, his hair always gave me the creeps. And I'll go ahead and say it... I didn't like his style. We may be brothers in the Lord, but his shows repulsed me.

From what I've read about Billy Graham, he always surrounded himself with people of integrity with the purpose of holding him accountable for his actions. He invited godly perspective to keep him in line. I've heard he wouldn't even be in an elevator alone with a woman. Nor would he be seen having dinner with a woman who wasn't his wife or immediate family. He set a course and didn't stray.

I see one word making the difference: accountability. We need an outside set of eyes to look at our lives and our business operations. Not as a judge or control but as a healthy mirror. It's easy to cheat on our diets when you see all that candy at the checkout counter. But, knowing you've asked someone to check out your receipts for items not on your diet can be a healthy motivation to resist the temptation.

In ministry, they have an organization called ECFA- the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Members invite independent auditors to come in and look at their books to make sure they aren't getting off track. Sometime go to www.ecfa.org and look for your favorite big time ministries. Looking over the member list, I'm not surprised by many I see. Dallas Theological Seminary, Billy Graham, Luis Palau and others. But, I'm often surprised when I can't find folks on there. Do they have something to hide?

Even those of us who are not in the limelight can learn from these high profile blunders. But accountability is easier said than done. Thanks to Promisekeepers, a lot of men started accountability groups where they were challenged to get gut level honest with each other in hopes of keeping each other on the right path. I've heard some great testimonies out of accountability groups. But, I've also experienced a bunch that never got any deeper than dinner party conversation. I know it takes time but I think it also takes something most men don't have... a willingness to be seen as stupid from time to time. Or evil. Or sneaky. Our we don't want anyone to know about our secret sin(s).

Without full disclosure, there can't be real accountability. You can't have two sets of books. But you can't be afraid of showing your good sides and your bad sides as a person. It's tough. But I think it's worth it.

I think an attitude of grace is needed. My ex-wife was of the attitude that you were either all good or all bad. I started out all good. And, in time I shifted over to the "all bad" designation. I don't agree. I contend that we're a mix of good and bad. We're in the process of being renewed and some days we do better than others.

When I was a new Christian back in '72, I attended a Campus Crusade event up at the University of Arkansas campus. They compared our hearts to a South Pacific island during WWII. The Marines landed and established a beachhead. They would advance from there. Some days they gained territory. Some days they lost. But they never lost that beachhead. That's the way it is for us who have invited Jesus to be Lord. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside our hearts and He won't leave. But, we have a choice as to how much of our hearts goes to Him and how much is still controlled by ourselves or by the enemy.

An attitude of grace and accountability understands that we WILL drop the ball along the way. The point is to learn from yesterday's mistakes and keep moving on. After sneaking that one candy bar, don't end up parked in front of the candy aisle at Wal-Mart. Learn and move on.

Grace and accountability. They are partners I want in my life.