Aesop wrote this: “We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.” This is the standard understanding of corruption: that a person who takes bribes, steals, looks the other way, or misuses power is corrupt. We have tons of laws about corruption, and some of them get used, on occasion. Justice is often meted out based on power and privilege, and those with the gold make the rules. Every so often, someone comes into office and tells us that a clean sweep is about to happen – a new dawn of honesty and virtue! Family values will once again abound, and God will smile. Those promises, while sometimes well meant, are mostly empty. We must be ever vigilant against corruption.
What about spiritual corruption? With the slow demise of organized religion, there aren’t as many words being produced to warn about the decay of the soul. And when those warnings are lifted up, the listeners accuse the speaker of being judgmental, which is a constant danger. Nobody wants to go back to dissenters being burned as witches; at least, I don’t. The problem with moralism is that it can produce its own kind of corruption. As is often quoted, power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Apostle Paul wrote that “As our outer bodies are dying/wasting away/corrupting, our spirits are being renewed every day.” (2 Cor. 4:16). Fear corrupts the soul, and what makes us more afraid than death?
As we move through life, our bodies will become more challenged, but this is no reason to be afraid. This is not God’s punishment – this is the way of nature. Too many people allow these fears to make them frantic and panicky, but God has given us a way out. Not death – sharing life! The most spiritually amazing people I know are the ones who work to make the world a better place. They are thankful, and from that thankfulness comes generosity. Those who are afraid of death, or are afraid to lose their wealth, live in fear of everything and everyone. In the end, all we have is our soul. All we have is our relationship with God and each other. Corruption puts things above people. God puts people above everything else.
Prayer – Holy God, we come into this world with nothing but our God-kissed image – help us to leave with it too. Amen.