Reflections on Power
Faith in the Public Square
Lompoc Record
November 11, 2007
God is omnipotent. Therefore, whatever power there is in the world is derived from God. This has been a primary affirmation of Christian theology down through the ages.
Christians, Jews, and Muslims all believe that God is the sovereign creator and judge of all things. As such, we're beholden to God and called to worship God. Of course, there have always been challenges to this confession, but that's not my concern today.
I must leave discussions of God's nature and power to another time and place - perhaps a Sunday sermon instead. My concern here is with another kind of power, that which is humanly wielded.
As difficult as power sharing is at a geo-political level, it's just as difficult at the personal level. There are everyday struggles that involve ethnicity, economics, social class, religion, politics, and of course gender.
A few weeks back I commented on the problem of racism in our nation. I used a common definition of racism as “prejudice on the part of those who have power to discriminate or exclude.” That definition focuses on the way power is shared in our society.
In the case of race, power is often linked to those in the majority being unwilling to share power with the minority.
Part of the genius of the American political system is that it seeks to balance the will of the majority with the needs of the minorities. History suggests that this doesn't always work out in practice the way it does in theory, but at its best American democracy seeks to spread out power among all the nation's peoples - if through no other means than through the right to vote.
Dr. Bob Cornwall is pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Lompoc (www.lompocdisciples.org). He blogs at http://pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com and may be contacted at lompocdisciples@impulse.net or c/o First Christian Church, P.O. Box 1056, Lompoc, 93438.
November 11, 2007
Lompoc Record
November 11, 2007
God is omnipotent. Therefore, whatever power there is in the world is derived from God. This has been a primary affirmation of Christian theology down through the ages.
Christians, Jews, and Muslims all believe that God is the sovereign creator and judge of all things. As such, we're beholden to God and called to worship God. Of course, there have always been challenges to this confession, but that's not my concern today.
I must leave discussions of God's nature and power to another time and place - perhaps a Sunday sermon instead. My concern here is with another kind of power, that which is humanly wielded.
The question is simple - is power something that we can and are willing to share? History suggests that sharing power is difficult, if not impossible. If there's a power vacuum, someone slips in to fill it.
Once there were two super-powers: the United States and the Soviet Union. That Cold War era was a bit like a game of tug-of-war, where each side tried to gain an advantage, usually through proxies who fought the wars the superpowers shied away from.
With the fall of the Soviet Empire the United States became the “sole” superpower, but this new status quo has its challengers. Consider for a moment the rise of Iran in the wake of a defanged Iraq. And so the struggle for dominance continues unabated.
As difficult as power sharing is at a geo-political level, it's just as difficult at the personal level. There are everyday struggles that involve ethnicity, economics, social class, religion, politics, and of course gender.
A few weeks back I commented on the problem of racism in our nation. I used a common definition of racism as “prejudice on the part of those who have power to discriminate or exclude.” That definition focuses on the way power is shared in our society.
In the case of race, power is often linked to those in the majority being unwilling to share power with the minority.
Part of the genius of the American political system is that it seeks to balance the will of the majority with the needs of the minorities. History suggests that this doesn't always work out in practice the way it does in theory, but at its best American democracy seeks to spread out power among all the nation's peoples - if through no other means than through the right to vote.
Power has a certain attractiveness, and once you have it, you find that it's difficult to let go. If left unchecked, power has the ability to corrupt, which is why there are three branches of government in the American system. Despite this system of checks and balances, sometimes a branch of government will try to overstep its boundaries and exert authority over the other branches.
But, back to the issue of sharing power in our personal lives - there's no better example than marriage. Traditionally marriage has been hierarchical. The husband has the power, and whatever authority the wife has is given to her by her husband.
While there are biblical texts that support such a view, others call for mutuality. My wife and I have tried to follow this latter model, even if imperfectly. If we're to embrace the ideal of mutuality in relationships, the foundation principle of such an idea is servanthood. This is a principle that affirms the full equality of every person before God and neighbor.
There is no better analogy of this model than the one found in the depiction in the gospel of John of the Last Supper (John 13). In this picture, Jesus gets on his knees, takes a bowl of water and a towel, and proceeds to wash the feet of his followers. In doing this, the master becomes the servant and encourages us to do likewise.
Agents of change from Martin Luther King to Gandhi to Desmond Tutu have understood this principle. It is a call to live together in mutuality wherever humans live and work. To be a servant is to consider the other and then choose to share power with the other.
If we desire peace, then we must understand that peace is possible in this world only when power is shared, whether it's in the family or the nation or the community of nations.
Dr. Bob Cornwall is pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Lompoc (www.lompocdisciples.org). He blogs at http://pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com and may be contacted at lompocdisciples@impulse.net or c/o First Christian Church, P.O. Box 1056, Lompoc, 93438.
November 11, 2007
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