Power Doesn't Corrupt. Power Cleanses and Changes Us.

Power tends to corrupt a person. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. This famous thought is from a not-so-famous man, Lord Acton. Lord Acton was a believer in God and an investigator of people. He spent his life studying history and its important figures. Naturally he applied what he learned to the world he lived in.

His insight into human nature and human history resonates 150 years later. We have seen the negative effects that power can have on a person. We say things like she let the power go to her head or he got too big for his britches. We have seen how the ego and the desire for more power can devastate people, places, and whole periods of human history. When individuals and groups of people find themselves in power, they often run amuck and hurt, injure, and even kill their fellow man. What changed? Now they had the power to do as they pleased.

But we catch glimpses of it in the mirror, too, don’t we? We can see times in our own lives when the power went to our heads. It hurt us and those we said we loved. When we were young and spreading our wings, the new found power of being out on your own led us to make a few rash and reckless decisions? That wasn’t just a stage. Has the desire for more power—financial power, social influence, relationship power, or control over your own future—led you to lie, cheat, or deceive people and institutions? We blow off appointments and cancel on people at the last minute—because we can, because we have the power. But when other people do that to us, we get mad. We get frustrated. We use whatever power we have to lash out at them.

When we have power, we become harder to please and get along with. Slowly but surely, we become difficult and demanding, smug and scornful people. We behave in ways that are rude, offensive, and unsympathetic. We live as self-righteous and self-centered hypocrites.

But here’s the thing. Power didn't create this corruption. It just magnified it.

Look at little kids. When two kids want the same toy, who gets it? Typically it's the kid with the greater power. The bigger, stronger, faster kid. What does the other kid often do? Cry and try to get someone with greater power or authority involved. If the weaker child could have gotten to the toy first, and kept it to themselves, they would have.

Power doesn’t create corruption. It magnifies the character of our hearts.

What we see when we have power isn’t very cute. It’s not charming. It’s corrupt beyond cure. But power isn’t the problem. We see that in a two-story home in Jerusalem, around 32 A.D. There in an upper room is a man who has always had all the power, all the glory, all the honor—Jesus. That night, Maundy Thursday, his disciples had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. He warned them that that was the kind of thing selfish, power-hungry unbelievers fixated on. He said to them, whoever wants to become great must be a servant. And then he put that wisdom into action.

The King of kings changed from his regular un-royal clothes into a towel which he wrapped around his waist. The Lord of lords poured water into a wash basin and began to wash his disciples’ dirty feet and dry them with the towel he was wearing. The Maker of heaven and earth made himself a servant. No one forced him to. He chose to do so—even as one of his disciples put up a fuss. Power didn’t corrupt Jesus. Power prompted him to reveal his heart. To love and serve sinners.

That power was on its fullest display the following day. The next day, the King of kings was crucified. His executioners stripped and beat him, then mocked with a crown of thorns. At that moment, Jesus seemed utterly powerless. But do you know what he did? He prayed for his abusers. Father forgive them.

Then he made that prayer a reality. He poured out his lifeblood on the cross for corrupt sinners like us. Jesus washed us clean by his innocent suffering and death. The Lord of lords lived for us and died for all our sins so that we might be redeemed. He did this all for us while we were still powerless. God’s power cleanses and changes corrupt sinners. Absolutely.

God’s power doesn't just cleanse us. It changes us, too. It opens our eyes to ways to serve. It prunes back our egos. God's power generates within us a deep and abiding love for God and one another. Love that is willing to help and serve, to make sacrifices and even yield our rights. God’s power cleanses and changes our hearts so that when we come into moments of power and positions of influence, we strive to have people see Christ’s heart. God’s love. The Almighty Lord’s power to save. That’s the kind of power that is absolutely needed in our world and in our lives.