The Corruption of a Leader

Admiral Marcus

Ok, I know I have already posted about Star Trek's new movie, Into Darkness, but I wanted to reflect on the topic I had planned to discuss before I went to see the movie and became distracted by the overwhelming message of friendship bonds.  I was interested to see how the character that had risen up the ranks of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, Admiral Marcus, became so twisted in his thinking patterns and so off track of the original purpose of Starfleet.

Admiral Marcus was so consumed by his hatred for the Klingons that he created a hidden purpose within Starfleet, a supremely military purpose.  He used subversive means to get his hidden agenda across, so that no one was aware of what was happening.  He planned the regeneration of a historic super-villian, Khan, for his ability to craft a super military vessel.  He was going to sacrifice the Starfleet flagship explorer vessel Enterprise to start a war with the Klingons.

How did he get that way?  Does that really happen to good people, and good leaders?  Do we really lose our purpose and go down a dark path?

Yes.

Let's look at a biblical example.  King Saul was given God's blessing to become Israel's first leader.  However, he soon lost the blessing of God, due to disobedience.  God expected full obedience of his people, and was disappointed.  David became the chosen leader of God.  Saul became consumed by his jealousy of David, and then plotted to kill him.  He was blinded by his sins.  I do believe Saul was a good leader for Israel, since God had chosen him, but he went down a path into darkness.  He never recovered.

Christians, and even church leaders are not immune to darkness.  We are often targets of Satan's attacks.  Sometimes the attacks are in the form of things that we want (temptations).  Sometimes the attacks are in the form of hardships, illness, or pain.  If we allow these things to consume our thinking, we will wind up in the dark places of our being, and we risk losing our connection with God.  How do we keep ourselves protected?

We need to stay connected to the Word of God and to His people.  We need to study daily His Word and meditate on His purposes.  We need to stay connected to His people by attending a church that encourages conversation and discussion about the things of the bible.

I encourage you to find a group of people you can study with and discuss the purposes of God, as well as our attacks and responses (both when we succeed, and when we fail).  If you want help finding a small group, please comment.  I would be happy to try to help you.

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name (Jesus), there I am in the midst of them." ~Matthew 18:20 KJV