“Honest intentions dread not a public cognizance.” – Matthew Henry
Recent information on City Director of Strategic Innovation Thomas Whitley surfaced. The information shook not just the local government but also our Christian neighbors. Since publishing our original post on this topic, we are hearing from many of our Christian neighbors. Many speaking to a bigger issue, the impact of Cristian elected Leaders in Tallahassee’s local government.
This post is written by a Christian team member, specifically for our Christian neighbors. Non-Christians are welcome to read as well but what is discussed is for those that subscribe to the Christian Faith.
January 2016
Thomas Whitley, in an online blog, wrote about how 2015 was a good year for writing but he was back on the job hunt again. In August his wife Trinity would become an ordained Pastor of their church, Faith Presbyterian. This is the same church which Mayor John Dailey attends and later in 2016, Dailey offers Thomas a job as an aide.
Just a year and a half prior to Pastor Trinity Whitley becoming ordained, Thomas wrote a dissertation Who is Carpocrates? In his dissertation he defends Carpocrates and his teachings. To be clear, as Christians we don’t believe in Jesus because the Bible tells us to, we believe in the Bible because Jesus tells us to. Carpocrates teachings are not in the Bible (multiple partners, reincarnation). Carpocrates also rejected the Old Testament, but Jesus tells us that the Old Testament testifies about Him (John 5:39). As Christians we believe that we should not add to the word or take from it (Deuteronomy 4:2).
Churches And Their Enmeshment With Local Government
Thomas has been the Director of Strategic Innovation since June 2022. He was offered the job by City Manager Reese Goad. When Commissioner Porter questioned the choice citing cronyism. She cited that he had been the Mayor’s aide however, we could even call into question Thomas being the husband of Mayor Dailey’s Pastor. Which brings us to the concern that many of our Christian neighbors are expressing which is the enmeshment of churches and our local politics.
As a Christian, their concern is not only valid but biblical. Jesus did not come to change the laws of Rome (Matthew 5:17). Who are we to believe we should be doing something Jesus didn’t do? We are to be in the world but not of the world (John 17:14). This doesn’t mean that we, individually, don’t become elected officials or work for the local government. It does mean that the church’s focus should be on relationships with people and not involved in Roman government. Jesus came for the relationships with people, he came for the homeless, widows, and the orphans. The church should be spiritually feeding their congregation so that the people go out and illustrate God’s love through their actions and relationships with others (John 13:35).
Likewise, we as Christians, should be looking at how our leaders who proclaim Christ as their King conduct themselves. They are a direct, public reflection of us and our tenants, which is to love God and love others.
Furthermore, those of us placed in powerful positions have the opportunity to affect how others are cared for. They should always strive to live by the tenants of our faith.
How Our Christian Leaders Are Leading
Mayor Dailey, a professed Christian, voted against exploring the idea of affordable housing. After Dailey and Dianne Williams-Cox voted against affordable housing, Williams-Cox referencing James “Faith without works is dead” when lobbying for another road to an airport, which Dailey supported. Dianne Williams-Cox failed to recall the verses directly above that which illustrate a fellow human destitute and all you say is thoughts and prayers but you do not help them, what does it profit? The entire meaning of this verse is that it’s impossible to have faith and not want to live by the virtues of God.
Living under the New Covenant, Christians have been given two commands, love God and love others. Jesus spoke numerous times about helping the poor, orphans, and widows. When we, as Christians, have the position to pay people a fair wage, help those needing affordable housing, or even to just provide comfort to our neighbors the answer should never be difficult.
The book of James warns us that not all of us should become leaders. Leaders are the lighthouse for the people. Their choices and actions guide us and set course. Our current city leaders proclaim their faith, which is respectable. Matthew tells us we will know them by their fruit. Galatians explains the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Do our current leaders possess these fruits or do they have bad fruit?
When our actions are done through love, how could we not approve affordable housing? How could we not provide livable wages, we adjourn meetings early, or not listen to the people before us? To be clear, our job as Christians is not to judge someone’s salvation. We believe salvation is the Lords. We are to judge the impact of their actions and use that to discern if we continue to follow their leadership or allow them to represent us. Christians still have a duty to vote and to vote for the candidate that most closely aligns with our values: Taking care of people.
There are two true Christians on the City Commission…Matlow and Porter… if your actions not your words speak your truth on caring about those among us in need. My husband and I founded the Loved by Jesus Family Church in 2017 and live our faith in the way we work and care about the wellbeing of children and families in our community.
Dailey and Williams Cox have shown themselves to be bullies and all three_ including Richardson, have always put the interests of those with wealth over the needs of the poor. They readily violate ethics to do the bidding of wealthy developers instead of making investments in saving struggling parts of our community. Sounds like what is happening on a larger scale at the federal level.
Stop. Neither of those two are followers of Christ, nor do they pretend to be. Just stop with the sanctimonious nonsense. Yes, those are your little friends who tried their best to bully you onto the commission. But they failed. Dust off and move on.
The Tallahassee Democrat and n Tallahassee Reports chose to look the other way at this obvious cronyism of the hiring of Thomas Whitley. The sudden promotion to a non-needed position at City Hall at an exorbitant pay raise was on the surface ridiculous and fiscally irresponsible. Had the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee Reports published the resumes of the candidates applying for the position this would have been exposed that Whitley did not meet the requirements for the position and other candidates did. But, the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee Reports bowed to corruption… Steve Stewart getting paid by the City of Tallahassee city manager to do so. During the election the corrupt Curtis Richardson, Mayor John Dailey, Dianne Williams-Cox, and City Manager Reese Goad were misusing city funds to advance their agenda that the progressives were evil and that’s why you had to vote for level-headed Democrats like Curtis Richardson. Nothing could be further from the truth. They were pushing the “evil progressive” agenda to cover up their own corruption. I urge anyone interested in restoring fiscal responsibility and morality to Tallahassee to report the long list of misdeeds to the FBI. This is totally out of control.
Very good article.
How does everything always lead back to Goad?