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In this episode of Wake Up, Look Up, Pastor Zach examines the growing use of license plate cameras and the questions they raise about privacy, accountability, and the misuse of power. He challenges listeners to look beyond the actions of those in positions of authority and consider how they use the influence and power they have in their own lives. Through the example of Jesus, who used his power to serve and bless others, Pastor Zach reminds us that Christian power is ultimately about serving others rather than ourselves.
Have an article you’d like Pastor Zach to discuss? Email us at podcast@ccchapel.com!
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What is Wake Up, Look Up?
Check out new episodes of our daily podcast, Wake Up, Look Up, with Zach Weihrauch as he interprets what's happening in our world through the lens of the gospel.
Hello everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, what do you do with power? This is prompted by an article I read recently in the Washington Post about Flock safety cameras, something we've been talking about a little bit here on Wake Up Look Up. Flock Safety is a company that operates over 120,000 license plate cameras across roughly 6,000 communities in the United States. Now, that produces about 20 billion license plate scams every every month. Think about that. 20 billion. And basically what Flock says is that constantly getting people's license plate numbers, they pass through intersections or down busy streets, creates an opportunity for law enforcement officers to better prosecute crimes. What Flock will say is, it's easier to be precise with people that commit crimes when you can show their car was in the area, when you can show when it was leaving and coming. It's easier to exonerate innocent people. Flock says, if you can show their car wasn't in the area or was in a different area, they actually argue it will lead to a better justice system. Of course, first, though, the counter argument to that are the privacy concerns. And at least in this article, what the writers pointed out is that it is a bigger problem than you think. Not just because you wonder, don't I have a right to not have the government know where I am all the time? But also because human beings work in the government. And what the Washington Post discovered is that at least 50 cases in the United States of law enforcement officers using flak cameras for their own purposes, including stalking ex girlfriends, wives, romantic partners, or even women they wanted to meet. One story, for example, looks at a police chief in a suburban town who did over 600 searches for his ex girlfriend in order to monitor where she was, who she was spending time with, and even kind of creepily sending her text messages that made it clear he knew where she was all the time and was monitoring her. That actually led to, stalking charges being filed. Another story was that an officer actually flagged a license plate of a young actress so that whenever she drove through his area, he would know and could then pull her over to have interaction with her in the hopes of pursuing her romantically. Pretty creepy stuff. All of this prompted and at least made available by the Flock cameras. In other words, if police didn't have access to these cameras, they wouldn't be able to do these kinds of things, which Begs the question in society, who polices the police? Who's making sure, these powerful tools are not being misused? And man, that is a super relevant conversation and one that will only become more relevant as technology advances. But of course, this is a podcast where we think about things from a gospel lens. And so when I read this, I think this is really more about what human beings do with power. And it's good to ask who holds the police accountable. But from a Christian perspective, I want to always start with me. Remember, Jesus said, don't worry about the speck in your brother's eye if you haven't dealt with the log and your own first. And so the question I think that each of us should be wrestling with is not what are they doing with their power? But most fundamentally, what am I doing with mine? You know, Jesus said it this way, whoever would be great among you must be a servant. What he was saying is that a Christian understanding of power is not what it can gain me, what it benefits me, how I can, get what I want or achieve an outcome, but rather the purpose of power is to bless and serve others. All of us in some capacity have power. Whether that's power over the family calendar, the family budget, the people we manage at work. All of us have some control, some influence, something that can be leveraged. The question that this article is asking, I think in a gospel way, is what do we do with that power? Because I can shake my fist all I want at police that abuse their technology. but I'll maybe be a little slower to worry about that if I have to worry about how I use my own technology. As I say all the time, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. We should be holding people in government accountable for how they use power. but I just don't want to get so angry at them that I'm self righteously looking past my own. If power is a tool for service, a tool for blessing, then each one of us are going to have to ask whether we are seeking to serve ourselves or to seek others. And of course, from a gospel perspective, a Christian perspective, a biblical perspective, we're reminded the Son of God used his power not to enrich himself, but to bless us. So maybe while we're asking really hard questions of those in government, we'd be asking those questions of ourselves. And if both those questions get answered, man, wouldn't we be in a much better place. Hey, thanks for checking out Wake Up, Look Up. For more content. Be sure to visit the Christ Community Chapel app or website cccchapel.com.
Have an article you’d like Pastor Zach to discuss? Email us at podcast@ccchapel.com!