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ACCUMULATION AND MAINTENANCE OF POWER AS IDOLATRY
by Larry Colleton, Ruling Elder, Washington Shores Presbyterian, and Anti-Racism Committee Member

Webster’s Dictionary defines idolatry as the worship of idols or excessive devotion to, or reverence for some person or thing.  In Matthew 22:36-39, Jesus responded to a question posed by a lawyer who asked “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”  “Jesus said unto to him thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it.  Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.”

It is common for us all to say that we are humans, and we fall short of God’s expectation of us.  We continue to say that it is through God’s grace and unconditional love that we are saved and blessed when we repent.

When the subject of idolatry is discussed, many envision some object, person, or a thing of value.  Today, it seems the excessive devotion is to the accumulation of and maintenance of political power at the local, state and federal levels.  Those who seem to covet this power the most are those who proclaim that they are disciples of Christ.

This accumulation and maintenance of political power is a contradiction to Jesus’ teaching.  The people who suffer as a direct result of this accumulation and maintenance of political power are the poor and the historically marginalized in our community, state and nation.  Nearly a decade ago, the State of Florida had the opportunity to expand Medicaid to the working poor through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).  These were people who could not afford to purchase health care coverage.  The expansion of Medicaid would have benefited 740,000 Floridians but the governor at the time refused the expansion along with the majority of his party in the House and Senate.

Earlier this year, the Governor called a Special Session of the Florida Legislature to submit a new Congressional Districts of Florida
redistricting plan.  The Florida Legislature had spent months preparing the original redistricting plan following the receipt of the results of the 2020 Census.  The Special Session was three days.  In the three-day period, the Governor’s Redistricting Plan was passed by the Florida Legislature and approved by the Governor.  The impact of the Governor’s Redistricting Plan was the reduction of majority Black Congressional Districts from 4 to 2. 

The maintenance of political power by any means necessary is quite revealing when one looks at those who profess their Christian faith and at the same time abuse power and treat the marginalize as lesser and with contempt. In Matthew 16:26, the question is asked:  “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his soul?”  Truth is the great loser in the accumulation and maintenance of power.  The truth is that to love political power more than God is in fact to make that love of political power an idol. It has been said that whatever we treasure more than God (like political power) dulls our spiritual hearing and hardens our hearts to things of God. We are witnesses to this hardening of hearts.
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