The past 2 weeks we have looked at 2 weapons the enemy uses to knock us out of the ring and they were sex and money. Tonight we want to look at the third blow the enemy uses to destroy lives and that is the misuse of power.
The dictionary defines power as: ability to act or produce an effect; possession of control, authority, or influence over others
History is filled with examples of people who have sought after power to be able to control, have authority and influence over others. The election campaign for the Presidency of the USA is a prime example of what people are willing to do to be able to gain what some consider to be the most powerful position in the world. According to the Huffington Post the amount of money that has been raised for the Presidential candidates as of August 31, 2008.
Barack Obama: $468,841,833
Hillary Clinton: $247,793,590
John McCain: $250,057,920
Total: 966,693,343
This amount will increase dramatically as we get closer to the election date. It is a staggering amount of money but the opportunity to have your candidate in power is well worth the expense for many people.
Power in the hands of someone who is looking out for the best interests of others and unselfishly works to achieve goals that reflect this is a good thing. The problem lies in the fallen nature of man that seeks to use power for selfish, immoral and ungodly purposes to influence, control or destroy other people.
One of the stories in the Old Testament that exemplifies the devastation that happens when power is placed in the hands of someone who is not mature and is not seeking to please God is the life of Rehoboam (1Kings 12).
Rehoboam was the son of Solomon and was heir to the throne. When he came into power he was confronted by the people who appealed to him to lighten the heavy load his father had placed upon them. Solomon had major construction projects and had many wives, concubines, servants and workers that had to be supported through the taxation of the people. It became a heavy load to bear and they wanted tax relief. They asked Rehoboam to make changes and he said he would give them an answer after some consultation. The elderly counselors gave wise counsel while his younger counselors gave him bad counsel and wanted him to make things more difficult for the people.
Rehoboam had the opportunity to use his power to serve the people or make the people serve him. He chose the first option and the result was rebellion against him.
Our fallen nature has a desire to be in control of other people and have power over them to make them do what we want them to do. In order to get control and keep control we have to find a way to coerce and/or force people to do what we want them to do.
Another familiar story from the Old Testament exemplifies what happens when someone wants to control others. In the book of Esther (Chapter 3) we read of the problem that Haman, who was the Prime Minister, had with Mordecai, the uncle of Queen Esther. The Jews were not allowed by their laws to worship anyone but God. The king had commanded all the officials to bow to Haman whenever he passed but Mordecai refused and this irritated Haman. He could not control Mordecai and this caused rage to rise within him. He went to the king with his report and convinced the king that it was in his best interests to destroy not only Mordecai but all of the Jews. Haman was a very proud man, he believed he was someone very special who was given great power. People in power often can be filled with pride and when they do not get their way they can respond in rage and act accordingly. But God has a way of humbling the proud which is exactly what happened to Haman. The gallows he made to hang Mordecai were eventually used for his own execution. God is a God of justice and those who use power for evil will have their day of reckoning either on the earth or at the final judgment.
The early church was faced with issues of power and control. The Apostle John wrote his letter to Gaius (3 John) to address a problem with Diotrephes.
9 I sent a brief letter to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the wicked things he is saying about us. He not only refuses to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.[1]
Diotrephes used his leadership position to control who could come to the church to teach and who could be a part of the church. His name says a lot about his character. His name means “nourished by Zeus or Jupiter”. His inspiration to use his power in a corrupt way was from the devil and not from Christ. People who are consumed with power often love to be in the position they are in, they live to be in control of people and situations. They also are resistant and rebellious toward others in positions of authority, they want to be their own boss accountable only to themselves. They also speak evil of others to elevate themselves and pit people against those opposing their leadership. They will spread rumors, create lies and do whatever it takes to discredit those who oppose them.
The early church struggled with people who wanted power and used power to control others. This has been repeated throughout history in both the Catholic and Evangelical churches. The Catholic church has a sordid history of using the power of the papacy to control and influence the people to do things that have no scriptural basis for the purpose of gaining money. Paying for indulgences was one of the most abusive usages of power to collect money. Richard Hooker explains the concept of indulges in an article in Catholic-pages.com :
Indulgences were originally created by the church for one and only one reason: to collect money. The medieval Catholic church was the source of almost all social welfare and charity and all this social welfare and charity needed to be paid for. Beginning in the twelfth century, various hospitals and other organizations affiliated with the church would send people out begging for money—they were called proctors —begging for money, however, was not a highly effective way to raise money. In the late thirteenth century, the church came up with the idea of indulgences. In the spiritual life of sinners, indulgences function exactly the same way money functions in their economic life. Here's the logic: since the expiation of sin involves temporal punishment and this temporal punishment involves the doing of good works, why not substitute someonelse's good works for the good works you're required to do? Why not pay someone else to do the good works demanded of you as temporal punishment? Church officials argued that clergy were doing more good works then they needed to; they had, you might say, more than good works in their spiritual accounts than they had sins to pay for. Why not sell them? So selling the good works of the church was precisely what the church did. With the approval of the pope, individual bishops could sell indulgences which more or less paid off any temporal punishment or good works that the individual believer had accumulated in the previous year. It substituted the good works of the Catholic clergy for the good works required of the individual believer. Proof of this substitution was in the indulgence itself, which was a piece of paper, like a piece of money or a check, that certified that the good works of the clergy had paid off the "good works debt" of the individual believer.
This was one of the factors that led to the Protestant Reformation spearheaded by Martin Luther.
The Evangelical church is not without its faults and misuse of power. We have all heard or heard of preachers who use their position of power that comes with their claim to be God’s spokesperson to influence people. Some have claimed that if you send in a certain amount of money you will receive a 100 fold return. Other preachers have declared that unless they receive a certain amount of money God will take them home. The misuse the power of the pulpit to coerce and influence people to do things that are not based in the Word of God and do not accomplish the purposes of God has done great damage to the church and individual believers.
One of the worst scandals in the church today is the sexual abuse that has taken place between clergy and children. The clergy have used their power to perpetrate these crimes and have successfully been able to keep the victims silent for many years.
It is hard for us to believe how much control and influence a single person can have over an entire country. Adolf Hitler was able to convince many in his country that the Jews were less than human and that they should be exterminated. Those who opposed his leadership were arrested, imprisoned or killed. Hitler thought he was doing God’s will by destroying the Jews. He used his power to destroy lives and eventually took his own life when his grand plan unraveled and was in imminent defeat.
People in power or groups desiring to gain power and control often resort to violence, murder and destruction to accomplish their goals. Currently in India in the state of Orissa there is a radical group of militant Hindus who are destroying churches, homes of believer and even killing Christian to try to gain control over their country. They are upset that people are leaving the Hindu faith to become Christians. Many who are converting are in the lowest class of people, the Dahlites who are considered to be less than human and do the dirty work that no one else will do. The Hindus are losing control and they are taking drastic measures to try to regain control. It is a struggle over power to control.
We look at these example of abuse and misuse of power and are repulsed by them. Yet we too are guilty of using power to try to control, coerce or force other people to change or do things our way. If we are in a position of power over a person we can just demand that they do what we want them to do and if they want to keep their job they will need to respond as you direct them. But we also have other ways that we seek to use our power to get our way. This is often displayed when we ignore them and treat them as they do not exist. We also do it when we speak unkindly to them, treat them gruffly or do not listen to what they are saying. We also do it when we with hold things from them, we deny them what they need just to show them who has the power in the situation. Or we punish them and cause physical harm or place threats against them that will intimidate them. We try to use whatever means available to get our way. We are all guilty of using power for the wrong purposes and we must constantly stay vigilant against this desire to control other people.
Jesus is our model of one who had the power to do whatever he wanted, yet he did not use his power for his own purposes. The correct use of power is to use it to accomplish the purposes of God. One day the two disciples, James and John, known as the “Sons of Thunder” wanted Jesus to call down fire from heaven to consume a group of Samaritans who had rejected him. Jesus told them that they did not know what Spirit they were from. He could have easily called down the fire and used his power to destroy the people but he chose a different pathway. Luke 9:51-56
51Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
55But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56“For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.[2]
Jesus was not on a mission to destroy lives but lead them to salvation. People who misuse their powers often seek to destroy others but people who use power for God’s purposes seek to bring people to salvation through the knowledge of Christ. Taking people out seems to be much easier than bringing people in.
Jesus gave us the example of one set aside his deity and power. He humbled himself and served others in order to accomplish God’s purposes. He led by example. One of his greatest demonstrations of humility and service was when he washed the feet of his disciples at the last supper (John 13). Whatever position of authority or power God has place each of us in always must be used with great humility and displayed through a servant’s heart. The people who have had the most influence and power in my life have all been people with a humble servant heart. They lead through example and are willing to do the menial and mundane tasks that most people want someone else to do for them. They could use their power and position to make someone else do the work but they choose to serve others rather than be served.
People in power use their power to appeal to people to make changes rather than force them to make changes. During World War II the coal miners in England were threatening to strike. Winston Churchill had to address them and change their minds as the strike would have been devastating to the country at that time. Rather than demand and use his power to force them to keep working in the mines he appealed to them. In his speech to them he talked about different occupations and he created an interview with the different people. He asked them what they did and they would respond with their occupation, be it a farmer, teacher, soldier etc. He then asked them why they were doing what they were doing and they each responded, “To serve my family and my country.” The coal miners got the message and returned to work and the strike was averted. Appealing to people with the right motivation and obvious unselfishness is much better than using power to demand things from them. Churchill built a bridge to connect with the people instead of a wall to separate them from their fellow countrymen.
Jesus gave invitations to people to become his followers and disciples. He did not conscript any of his disciples but invited them to be a part of his Kingdom.
“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Mk.8:34-36)
People responded to his invitation because of the power Jesus demonstrated through his humility. His power was not understood by many of his disciples who wanted to be a part of a new government that would rule over the Romans. His power was the power to transform a life not rule over a life.
Jesus also gave this invitation in John 7:37-38.
37 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “If you are thirsty, come to me! 38 If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within.”* 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)[3]
John 8:12
12 Jesus said to the people, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”[4]
Jesus appealed to people to come to him, believe in him and have what he had. The power of appeal only works when there is something appealing to the person it is being offered to and they are assured they will get what is promised.
Do our lives have the power of appeal? Do our invitations to non believers have the reality of what we promise displayed in our lives? Do they see change in us or values that they want in their lives?
A final way that power is used to accomplish God’s purposes is through the power of our words. Proverbs 18:21 states that death and life are in the power of our tongue or our words. Our words have power to create or destroy. We can use our words to give life and shape the lives of other people. I think of how Jesus used words to create a new image of people. When he met Peter he gave him a new name because he saw potential in him. He changed his name from Simon to Cephas or Peter which means rock (John 1:42). When we see potential in people we need to speak it out and encourage them. God is raising up the prophetic voice in his church for the purpose of encouraging his people. He uses people to confirm the things he has place in our lives which will help motivate us to pursue them. God by the power of his Holy Spirit can reveal things to us that we can share with others to be an encouragement to them. Our words have great power, power to give life even to the dead. Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California wrote about an incident that happened to one of the members of his church who was a missionary in South Africa and was traveling to Mozambique. The vehicle in front of her was traveling at a speed of 60 miles per hour when it suddenly rolled, throwing passengers out of the bus. She stopped to assist and found many people with life threatening injuries, head injuries, unconscious and some were dead. One lady who was dead had her head facing backward and one eye lying on her cheek. She instructed the bystanders to stand beside the victims and gave them these instructions, “Speak life in Jesus’ name. When I look over at you, I want to see your lips moving.” The people did as instructed and miracles began to happen. The lady who was dead began to groan and her head that was facing her back turned around. Her vital signs became strong and the eye that was on her cheek was placed back in its socket.
Our words have tremendous power when backed by heaven. We must speak words of life to each other, words of faith and hope that will bring change. Idle words and unwholesome words cannot be a part of our conversation because they have power to destroy and we will be judged by them. Use the power of your words to edify, comfort and exhort. Use the power of your words to speak truth in love. Use the power of your words to create a picture of all the potential that God has placed in the life of another person.
Power is the ability to control and influence others. We can use power to dominate others to get our way. We can use power to force people to do things our way. We can use power to keep people under our control.
But we can also use power to bring about change for the better in other people’s lives. This power is displayed through humility and a servant heart. This power is demonstrated by appealing and inviting others to experience what we have in our relationship with the Lord. This power is displayed in the words we speak that bring life to others.
The Audio version of this message can be downloaded at the following link:
http://www.supload.com/sound_confirm.php?get=1332247795.wma
[1] Holy Bible : New Living Translation. electronic ed. Wheaton : Tyndale House, 1997, c1996, S. 3 Jn 8
[2] The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers., 1982, S. Lk 9:51
*
John 7:37–38
Or “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow from the heart of those who believe in me.”
[3] Holy Bible : New Living Translation. electronic ed. Wheaton : Tyndale House, 1997, c1996, S. Jn 7:36
[4] Holy Bible : New Living Translation. electronic ed. Wheaton : Tyndale House, 1997, c1996, S. Jn 8:11
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