The Love of Power and the Power of Love

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!"  (Philippians 2:5-8, NIV)

Power.  It's something we all love.  If you don't think so, just try going without it for a while.  I was reminded of just how dependent we are upon power a few winters back when we lost all power for a few days.  It's something we take for granted until we don't have it, then it becomes something that is always at the forefront of our thoughts and effects our attitudes and actions.  Go without it long, and there are many people who will do just about anything to acquire it.

The love of power and the lack of power has created havoc throughout the years.  Church history is blighted with the use and misuse of power.  One could make a case that the Reformation was, in part, a movement against what many at the time believed to be the abuse of power by the Roman Catholic Church.  Unfortunately, it wasn't long until those who were "protesting" took a page out of the "power play" book themselves and committed their own set of atrocities in the name of God.  It would seem that regardless of where power resides, it has the potential to corrupt even the purest of intentions and institutions.  Truly, power does have the potential to corrupt, and absolute power, the opportunity to corrupt absolutely.

Why do we long for power?  Is it fear of not having control?  A fear of losing personal liberty and being controlled by another?  Is it a hunger to determine one's "fate" or a desire to "protect" the well-being of others according to one's own definition of "the good life" or "right and wrong?"  One thing we do know, power is a force to be reckoned with, and if handled poorly, the collateral damage leaves wounds that sometimes never fully heal.   

I've been preaching through the Sermon on the Mount at One Life Church on Wednesdays for the last couple of months.  If I've learned anything (and hopefully I've learned something!) it's that being a Christian is a weird way to be alive.  Some have referred to it as living out the "upside down" Kingdom of God in the midst of other defining stories that purport to be "right-side up."  As a people who are called follow a particular "way" of living, i.e. "the way of Christ," we are to go about our use of power differently.  And of course, our model is Jesus Himself.

The passage from Philippians above is perhaps one of the oldest Christian hymns that we have.  Many scholars believe it was in liturgical use by the church very early in its existence and it hits on a key concept in the example and "way" of Christ - self emptying.  Known as the "kenosis" passage, we are drawn to the illustration of Christ's self-emptying.  Other translations emphasize that Christ did not "regard equality with God as something to be grasped" (Phil. 2:6, NASB).  No grasping for power here.  No clinging to rights and privileges.  No clamoring for attention.  No "schmoozing" for position.  Just sacrificial service and suffering love.  A death to self so that others might live. 

In recent weeks there have been stories flooding the web and social media concerning the use of power.  The ones I'm most concerned about are not found in the halls of the Capital building or in the assembly of world leaders.  My concern, my pastoral confession today, is that my heart has been excessively burdened by stories concerning the use of power within the Church of the Nazarene.  Within a short period of time we have received reports concerning NPH, MNU (demotion of Randy Beckum) and most recently from the halls of NNU (firing of tenured professor Thomas J. Oord).

I do not claim to know all of the facts concerning any of these situations and there have been goodly amounts of content published online in the forms of blogs, essays, public relations releases and Facebook posts aimed at convincing the reader to take one side or the other.  I believe the reality of leadership, regardless of position, is one of making decisions that not everyone will agree with.  Sometimes leaders have to make difficult decisions based upon information that is unknown or unavailable to a wider audience and were we to have access to such information, we too might be inclined to make the same decision.  However, experience has shown that some decisions were actually "power plays" masked in the pristine language of good public relations, knowing that the good-hearted individuals who support the institutions will receive them with seemingly little reason to question the validity and motives of such actions.  This in itself is an abuse of power for its desire is to coerce another into a perspective they might not have come to otherwise.

The few "hard" facts I do know surrounding the aforementioned situations and circumstances have led me to ask a different set of questions, first of all of myself as a pastor who has "power" to make decisions, but also of the institutions and people that I love and respect.  These questions are asked by Dr. Dan Boone, President of Trevecca Nazarene University, in his book Preaching the Story that Shapes Us, p. 154:

• Will we side with the weak or the strong, the rich or the poor?
• Will our words be coercive or comforting, manipulative or corrective?
• Will our policies dehumanize or liberate?  Will we discriminate or be just?
• Will our attitudes be shaped by majority opinion or by Jesus' likeness?
• Will we skew the facts to secure our power base or tell the truth?
• Will we worship money or God?

The answer to these questions, in my opinion, will reveal a great deal of the "defining narrative" that is informing our perceptions of things like "right and wrong," "ethics," "power," and "leadership."  As I look at Christ's example, I don't see a love of power, but I most certainly see the power of love.  It was the power of love that was fully demonstrated to us on the cross of Calvary.  It was the power of love that communicated to the world (including the leaders whose abuse of power had put Jesus on the cross) the extent to which the stubborn love of God would go.  It's the power of God's love that has changed history.

I'm a firm believer that God's love is the greatest "power" in the world.  It's the power of God's love that can transform people, systems, even all of creation.  The love of Christ functioning and rising up within us gives us the power to die to self and self-interest and self-aggrandizement for the sake of the well-being of another...even those whom we deeply disagree with.  Perhaps it could be said that "love" is the true test of our use of power.  Perhaps it could be said that the "power" of our love is the true test of what Kingdom we're participating in.

So where do we go from here?  What brave routes do we take in this world filled with complexity and the challenges that come with the use of power?  Professor Oord's own words give us good counsel:

    When we choose the best to which God calls in any particular moment, we act in holiness.  In that moment, we are "perfect...as [our] heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48).  In that moment, we love.  Responding appropriately to God's prevenient call in any particular moment is a response of love (Relational Holiness, p. 82).

Heavenly Father grant us all the "power" to choose the best in any and all moments of decision that we might respond appropriately... in the way of Christ... the way of humble servitude and sacrificial love.  In your mercy, give us grace to humbly confess the gap that exists between our love of power and the power of your love.  In our confession Father, close the gap that exists between who we are and who you want us to be, that the name of your son Jesus might be glorified and the image of your character firmly imprinted upon our lives.  Let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen.