relevance. spectacular. power. PART III

power. i might as well just copy the whole chapter about power straight from nouwen since what i say could not possibly do justice to the eloquence with which he explains the corrupting and destructive nature of power.

"the temptation," nouwen says, "to consider power an apt instrument is the greatest temptation of all...we keep hearing from others as well as saying to ourselves, that having power - provided it is used in the service of God and your fellow human beings - is a good thing." reading this, i can't help but to think of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by jrr tolkien. certain characters (gandalf, aragorn) understand the destructive force of power in our lives and live to flourish while others (boromir, saruman) desire to use it for 'good' and are deceived by it and are destroyed. few other stories represent the destructive force of power so well.

but its hard. our world, our culture, our media, sometimes even our pastors and mentors teach us to love power - to desire it, to want it, to take hold of it. they are wrong to do so. a great example is our culture's desire for money. as the saying goes, money equals power. but Jesus (knowing the corruptive nature of money) has something different to say in matthew 6:24. he knew people with money had power problems and he knew that power would interfere with their faith so he warned against it.

the beatitudes are another prime example of jesus' view on power (see Matthew 5) the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted - these are the people who inherit, who will be comforted, who will be filled, who will see God. its not the powerful, the rich, the relevant or the spectacular.

the same is true for the church body itself. nouwen suggests, "if there is any hope for the church in the future, it is for a poor church in which its leaders are willing to be led." in other words, the power of the church is not in its riches or the number of people who attend, but in the willingness of the church to pick up its cross and die to one another.

lastly, i would be amiss not to point out one more very important and strategic point, or rather i should let nouwen do it in his own words concerning the leader. "the most important quality of the Christian leader... is not a leadership of power and control, but a leadership of powerlessness and humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Christ, is made manifest. i, obviously, am not speaking about a psychologically weak leadership in which Christian leaders are simply the passive victims of the manipulations of their milieu. no, i am speaking of a leadership in which power is constantly abandoned in favor of love. it is a true spiritual leadership. powerlessness and humility in the spiritual life do not refer to people who have no spine and who let everyone else make decisions for them. there refer to people who are so deeply in love with Jesus that they are ready to follow him whereever he guides them, always trusting that with him, they will find life and they will find it abundantly."

this my friends is power. it is found in putting on our selfish ambitions aside and serving others, loving others, knowing our Lord Jesus Christ and loving him with all of our hearts, minds and strength. it is giving up US for HIM.