A Christian Response to Power

I want to use our remaining few minutes together this morning by leveraging what our students just shared and distilling it into one response question that I want you to think about this week:

“How should a Christian respond to power?” If you follow Jesus, then what does a faithful response to power look like for you?

I want to think about this question with you for the next few minutes for 2 reasons:

First, during our time in Mexico together, we confronted a countless number of situations where all of us felt either powerful or powerless. And those feelings shaped how we related to others in Mexico, as well as our faith in Jesus on a personal level. I want to submit to you that the same dynamic holds true for us in where we live - that ultimately power shapes our relationships with another and with God.

And the second reason why I want to address this question with you is because every single one of you is a powerful person. You - every single one of you - possess power.

And what is power? Power simply defined is influence.

You are an influencer. Every one of you sitting in this room possesses influence within your sphere of context.

Quite honestly, that is why Steve, Terri, and I want you to attend the Global Leadership Summit in a couple of weeks. We believe that every single one of you can influence those around you and make a difference in their lives, and we want you to become better equipped to use your influence in the most faithful way, as well as in the most capable way, possible.

Some of you may possess a wider swath of influence than others, but all of you in some fashion influence others.

Conversely, you are also influenced. Every one of us in some way or another is influenced by others. Depending on the situation, there are others in positions of power and influence over us - whether that person be a supervisor, family member, friend, or stranger. All of us encounter people who influence us, and still the question remains even in those situations:

“How should a Christian respond to power?” If you follow Jesus, then what does a faithful response to power look like for you?

Even if you are vegging out on a sofa, watching TV for 12 hours a day, you are influenced by marketing and the content of the programming.

Everyone all of the time is either influencing or being influenced. And everyone does both. Everyone at times is an influencer and in a position of power, and everyone at times is one being influenced and in a position under someone in power.

Power - and the struggles with power - is a constant part of our life.

And so what do we do with it, and how should we respond?

For those of us who traveled to Mexico, we encountered this struggle firsthand. At times, we were in the position of power, and other times we were not, but the difference between our experiences in Mexico versus that of home consisted primarily of one characteristic: awareness.

In Mexico, we felt acutely aware when we were in a position of power, and probably more so when we were not.

I can recall so vividly driving through the entrance of the Old Tijuana Dump and seeing the faces of teenage students who felt powerless - powerless to do anything about what they were seeing and powerless to feel normal and present in a place so different than anywhere else they had ever been.

The intense poverty of the dump - the injustice of the dump - the horrific odors of the dump - the overwhelming presence of the dump - all of it confronted us and removed any sense of power and influence from our mind - because in a place like the Old Tijuana dump, the sheer and complete ‘otherness’ of it makes any possibility of influence seem impossible.

And that’s why I wanted to take our students there. I wanted them to experience those rare moments when you feel powerless and vulnerable because I want them to think critically about the question: “How should a Christian respond to power?”

You see, over time a tension begins to develop between our desire to influence others for the benefit of their growth and our desire to influence others for our benefit.

And as this tension develops within us, we tend to pick a side, and typically we pick our side.

When we consistently pick our side over the benefit of others, then after a while, we buy into a myth that we only need what we can provide for ourselves, and as a result, the important characteristics that form and grow healthy relationships between others and God begin to wain - characteristics like vulnerability and humility.

But an experience like we had in Mexico - or some other disorienting dilemma that throws you off kilter just enough to push the reset button - forces us to re-evaluate how we navigate through this tension.

These kinds of experiences and disorienting dilemmas create moments of openness and vulnerability that we otherwise miss when we’re living in the normal rhythms of life. They offer us a different perspective through which to view our relationships with others and with God differently, which is we need others, and we need God.

When control, influence, and power flatten and fade away, then we see others not as a commodity to be leveraged for our benefit, but instead, we view others and God as a necessity to life in the same way that we think about air and food and the things that sustain our well-being.

Power and influence shape our relationships with one another and God, so how should a Christian respond to power in the most faithful way possible?

Not surprisingly, Jesus addressed issues concerning power over and over again. In fact, many of you may remember the “Sermon on the Mount” series from a couple of years ago. Many scholars argue that the entirety of Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 5 through 7 addresses the fundamental question of how does a follower of Jesus deal with power and influence?

Jesus taught on issues surrounding power and influence numerous times, but I want to look at a passage where Jesus demonstrated his response to power rather than talk about it. I believe this passage provides us with keen insight into “How a person who follows Jesus should respond to power.”

I want to look at John chapter 13, and to set up the context, Jesus just rode into Jerusalem on a day that we now call Palm Sunday. All of the Jews greeted him as the incoming King who would launch Israel into its place as a world power and free them from the oppression of Roman government. On that day - Palm Sunday - the Jews fully believed that Jesus would become the most powerful human being in the world.

But listen to how Jesus responds to this projection of power upon him:

Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.

Did you hear that statement? This is a statement of power. Jesus knew the power that he possessed. Jesus fully understood his divinity and the power associated with it. He created the heavens and the earth, so ultimate power dwelled within him. Yet, listen to what Jesus does in response to power:

So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

He acknowledged his power, and then in response, he assumed the position of a vulnerable, humble servant.

How radical?

Even Jesus, when confronted with the opportunity to use and leverage his power for gain - he sets it aside and chose to remain constant to his mission and the most valuable asset that you and I can own - relationships with one another and with God.

Jesus chose relationship over power. He chose redemption over acquisition. And he chose love over the self.

When confronted by power, Jesus knelt down, assumed the role of a low servant, and washed the feet of men who couldn’t even stay awake to pray for him and keep him company during his most pressing time of need - even his most loyal follower would deny knowing him later that evening.

Yet, Jesus still did so to physically and concretely model for us what it looks like for us to respond to power.

Does this mean that you should begin your next staff meeting by washing the feet of your fellow colleagues? Maybe! Seek the Spirit…

But probably not… so for you within your context, what would it look like for you to respond to power by using the same posture that Jesus did during that night with his closest followers?

Could it mean visualizing Jesus washing the feet of the person sitting across from you during a heated business discussion?

Or washing the feet of your supervisor when that person leverages power over you?

Or washing the feet of your colleague who makes poor ethical decisions?

Or washing the feet of your spouse after another conflict together?

Or washing the feet of your child after they’ve pushed your last button.

Or, what if you are the one who needs to visualize Jesus washing your feet? What if you are the one who needs to put your power in check for the sake of building healthy relationships with others and God?

Some of you may work in high level, high-power positions that require intense, powerful conversations and decisions. Yet, Jesus still requires that you follow him in the same manner in which he led - through vulnerability, humility, love, which means a preference for the other over the self.

A man named Bob Goff, author of the book Love Does and a highly successful lawyer wrote in his book regarding his response to power that he made a practice early in his career to listen to the opposing arguments with his hands open under the table - so that he may receive and truly understand the argument with humility and openness.

What if your witness to Jesus and the Kingdom of God in the workplace began not with telling the stories of the Bible, but with humility and vulnerability in the face of power?

Perhaps it means sitting with your palms open underneath the conference room table? Perhaps it means genuinely hearing someone else’s side of the story? And who knows, maybe it means washing the feet of someone else to model for them the humility of Jesus?

Let me close with a short story:

During our last night there, I shared with our students the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. And then afterward, we turned to our neighbor and washed their feet.

Afterward, I gathered the students together and asked them what it felt like to wash someone’s feet and in turn, have someone wash their own.

Every single one of them said that it was the closest they had ever felt to that other person and to God.

In the face of power, humility and vulnerability always fosters and builds healthy relationship with others and with God.

Let’s pray…