If you’re in a position of power and you’re only “accountable” to friends and subordinates, then you’re not actually accountable to anyone at all (humanly speaking).

That doesn’t mean you’re up to no good—it means you could be, and there would be nothing in place to stop you.

It means that if you were abusing your power, and you’re any good at manipulation, or charm, or leveraging interpersonal dynamics to get your way—i.e., if you have precisely the sort of skill set that abusers tend to possess—then your victims would be powerless.

It’s really shocking (but sadly unsurprising) to see the very people who resist institutional reforms react to rampant abuse with, “But for the grace of God.”

If you really think abuse can happen that EASILY, why wouldn’t you favor a system of *actual* accountability?

Rules exist to protect the powerless from the powerful. That’s the only reason to have rules: to stop people from taking advantage of others’ vulnerability.

So if you acknowledge that these vulnerabilities exist, and that it’s easy for those in power to take advantage, the only reason to resist genuine accountability—i.e. institutional reform—is that you just don’t want to be bothered (assuming you have nothing to hide).

It’s a lot like refusing to wear a mask for the sake of the vulnerable. Look at the analogy. “Well I’m not worried about COVID. So I’m not wearing a mask, which is my right as a red-blooded American. To each his own.”

Similarly, “Well I’m not abusing anybody, and I never covered up any abuse. So I shouldn’t have to bother with answering to any denominational rules. People just need to do better. To each his own (autonomy).”

This misses the point. We answer to rules not because we are bad actors, but because bad actors EXIST, and they threaten the well-being of vulnerable people.

The rules aren’t for you, or because of you. Rules are for the vulnerable, because of people who would take advantage.

If you think it’s unfair that you’d have to follow rules for the sake of the vulnerable, because of abusers who have nothing to do with you, you’re right. It’s not fair.

But I’m more concerned about protecting vulnerable people than I am about fairness for myself. Aren’t you?

It’s unfair that I’ve been wearing a mask for 6+ months because others couldn’t be bothered to follow public health guidelines 6+ months ago, and still can’t.

But I care more about the vulnerable than I do about fairness for me. So I just wear the mask.

Sometimes we have to follow rules because other people can’t be trusted to do the right thing. Even unbelievers understand this.

If you care more about fairness for you than protection for the vulnerable, perhaps you just shouldn’t be a pastor—or anywhere near leadership.