Power and the Right Use of Power

Deonal Sinaga1

Power is not only an issue in the secular world but also inside the church. The love and misuse of power has caused many problems for people and the environment. Bishop Joseph Zen Zekiun of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong has said, “It is more comfortable and more rewarding to have no power than to have a lot of power. He who loves power is crazy and stupid. That is even more true for a bishop.”2 For Bishop Zen, being power-hungry is simply bad, especially for church workers. But the reality is that many people hunger for power. As one friend said, “When we are young, we always start out emphasising that leadership is about service, not power. Then we get older, become bishops, professors, or general secretaries, and the ‘power’ of leadership seems to take possession of us. We forget what we said when we were young.”

This paper emphasises power as a gift or trust from God, to be used to serve God and humanity, to help liberate people from bondage to other powers, and to offer them a chance for fullness of life. It also seeks to highlight that the power of God is manifested in many forms but is often felt in weakness and experienced in humility and in suffering. As Jurgen Moltmann wrote, “Man seeks God in the will for political power and world domination. If he sees and believes God in Christ who was powerless and crucified, he is set free from this desire to have power and domination over others.”3

Towards an Understanding of Power

Power has various connotations for different people depending on their experience and perspective. We hear of power-struggle, power-sharing, economic and political power, and many other kinds of power. Locke says that power is two-fold: being able to make or receive any change – one may be called active, and the other passive power.4 Napoleon might have defined power as an ability to defeat enemies and control all political, economic and cultural lives in this world. In politics or military, power is the result of one’s ability to seize it. For Machiavelli, power is for those who have the skill to seize it in a free competition.5

The Bible has many verses that allude to power, i.e. good powers and demonic powers. From the stories of creation and Exodus in the Old Testament to the stories of redemption and sanctification in the New Testament, we witness the struggles between powers to create, dominate, and shape the universe and world history. The Old Testament is very clear that God is almighty, powerful, and the strength of God’s right hand delivered Israel from slavery and brought them to the land of milk and honey. “Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power” (Ex. 15:6) and “In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling” (vs. 13). The concept of power is very much related to concepts that explain the nature of God. Grundmann noted that the might and power of the Messiah are explicitly expressed. “And gird him with might to defeat unrighteous rulers, to purify Jerusalem of the heathen who trample it to destruction… God has made him strong in the Holy Spirit and wise in the counsel with power and righteousness.”6

In the New Testament, following Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, the image of a powerful Messiah is clearly shown. “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:9-10). There are at least two common terms for "power" – dunamis and exousia. Dunamis has the basic meaning of “being able” or “capacity” in virtue of an ability.7 In some Bible versions exousia is frequently translated as "authority". The disciples have authority to drive out demons (Mk 3:15); far above ruler and authority, power and dominion (Eph 1:21) or "right" (Rom 9:21), as in the potter has the right to make out of the same lump of clay. Power is attributed preeminently to God (Ps 66:7) who rules forever; or who has power and strength be to our God forever and ever (Rev 7:12). After his resurrection, Jesus said to his disciples, “All power (authority) in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mat. 28:18).

In the gospel according to Luke, Jesus returned to Galilee, following the temptation, in the power of the Spirit. At the beginning of his mission, Jesus was equipped with special power. After he drove out evil spirits, people were amazed: “With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out” (Cf. Lk. 4:14, 36). With the Spirit, Jesus had power and authority to do miracles, including the power to heal, overcome demonic powers, raise the dead and preach God’s reign. Miracles, as "mighty works", are denoted by the term "powers." The end of all time is that God takes great power and reigns (Rev 11:17).8 The Old Testament view, which centers on divine action in history and on divine sovereignty, recurs in the New Testament in the fact of Christ. In the Christ event the power of God which shapes history and leads it to its goal is active.9 These scriptural writings clearly show that God is the supreme owner of power that operates in the world.

These are only a few verses that explicitly speak about power in the Bible. They show that power is not bad or destructive in itself. But because of human abuse and misuse of power, negative effects happen such as ecological, economic, political and moral deterioration. Poverty, injustice, various diseases, rapid extinction of species seem impossible to overcome, not because of the lack of power, but because power is being misused. Instead of using power to fight poverty, it is used to build up weapons. Instead of using power to heal the sick and preserve the endangered species, the powerful misuse their power for personal and selfish interests.

Power in Weakness

The biblical concept of power is unique. Power could manifest in various forms, in glory or in weakness and humility. Jesus shows his power through miracles, but also through his ability to bear the sin of the world. This is why we claim that in Jesus Christ the power of God clearly manifests in weakness and humility. There is a contradiction between the worldly understanding of power and that of God. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (1 Cor.1:8). The cross was a sign of weakness and humiliation to the Greeks and Romans, but a revelation of real power for God who defeated death.

Human beings have had varied understandings about God and about ourselves. Men and women have been deceived by the compulsion of self-justification, self-assertion, and self-deification. Just like the illusion of Adam and Eve, human beings have always wanted to be God, or at least act like God for others. As Moltmann has put it, men seek God for power, in order to be able to act like God. This is why Christ’s using his power to liberate people from the bondage of sin and death is a scandal to worldly understanding of power and weakness. Through the suffering of Christ on the cross this deception is made clear. As Moltmann says,

If man sees and believes God in the suffering and dying Christ, he is set free from the concern for self-deification which guides him towards knowledge. Because of its subject, the theology of the cross, right down to its method and practice, can only be polemical, dialectical, antithetical, and critical theory. This theology is ‘itself crucified theology and speaks only of the cross.’ It is also crucifying theology, and is thereby liberating theology.”10

Through the voluntary acts of God to be humble, taking the form of a servant and bearing the sin of the world, God saves us. This act of God leads to criticism of self-glorification of the ‘dehumanized man’ and to liberation.11 The knowledge of the cross brings a conflict of interest between God who has become human and the human who wishes to become God. God takes a new way of dealing with humanity and this is through weakness, through the cross, which is humiliation for ordinary people. In this way, God liberates human beings and the world and offers them a chance for fullness of life.

Right Use of Power: Servant-Leadership

Before going further, we need to guard against servant-leadership as a demonic way to put women in a subservient relationship to men, which is happening in some cultures both in the past in the present. Being a servant doesn’t mean a servile or inferior status. Since it involves a free act of will, it is a kingly mentality. Service in its truest meaning has to do with one’s belief and principles, not only as a Christian, but also as a human being. The idea of servant-leadership is known to Asian and African people. In our Batak tribal education on leadership, it is said that a king or raja is supposed to be “parapi naso ra mintop, paramak naso ra balunon, parhajut naso ra mahiang.” Literally it means: a king is a person whose fire never fades away, whose mats are never folded, and whose pocket is never empty.” Figuratively it simply means that a king or a leader is always ready to extend help whenever his people need them. A leader is to use his/her power and richness to serve the welfare of his/her people.

Perhaps the greatest teaching on servant-leadership is from Jesus the Christ. Mohandas Gandhi, a great political leader, was influenced by Christ’s teaching that he once said, “the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount competes almost on equal terms with the Bhagavad-Gita for the domination of my heart.”12 The great activist-leader of the 20th century, Martin Luther King Jr., was also influenced by the teachings of Jesus. Thus, he preached powerfully and demonstrated the model of servant leadership, by choosing to serve rather than to be served, to be hated rather than to hate, to be persecuted rather than to persecute. Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people" (Mark 10:43-45). Jesus turned upside down the contemporary idea of being a leader. Whereas a leader is supposed to be great and powerful, worthy of respect, far from ordinary living, to be honored and served, Jesus demonstrated that a leader should serve and give his/her own life for the sake of those served.

Robert K. Greenleaf has captured the idea of Servant-Leadership in his book by that title, where he applies the idea to the world of companies, organizations and institutions in North America. He distinguishes the servant leader as servant first. “It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.” He concluded that the great leader is first experienced as a servant to others, and this simple fact is central to his or her greatness.13

Similarly, Mother Theresa is remembered to have said, “unless life is lived for others, it is not worth while.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer has been quoted as saying, “A Church is truly the Church only if it exists for others.” According to Greenleaf the right use of power in servant-leadership is proved by the ability to answer these questions:

Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, not be further deprived?14

Just as Jesus says, “thus, by their fruit you will recognize them”(Matt. 7:20), Greenleaf speaks that the proof of servant-leadership should be seen in the lives, growth and works of those served and led. One may rationalize, and sometimes failure is inevitable, but the motive of placing the primary needs of those led above everything is the first and most important thing, which needs to be understood and lived by a servant-leader.

Right Use of Power in our Churches and Societies

Many countries in Asia are struggling with economic, security, environmental, or multi-dimensional crises. Without ignoring the influence of many other factors, I strongly believe that many of these are rooted in a crisis of leadership, resulting from the use (or misuse) of power. So how does servant-leadership work? One needs to know the reality of the church and the wider community. Without knowing the reality, what can the leadership try to accomplish? Servant-leaders need to see themselves as part of the reality and having to deal with it squarely. Following are some realities that challenge us today.

1. The reality of denominationalism and the need for unity. How far are we to the unity that Jesus envisioned? Our Lord Jesus Christ prays for us, “that all of them may be one” so that the world may know who Jesus Christ is. It is true that much has happened to improve relationships between Christians. David Gill, former General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia, said, “The long centuries of silence separating churches of the Orthodox East from Catholic/Protestant West have ended. The deep disagreements over issues like baptism and Eucharist have given way to mutual learning, deepening understanding, and we are closer to consensus. We have less prejudice and bigotry.” But still, despite the tireless efforts and works of our church leaders in local, national and regional levels, we still experience lots of disparities and walls that divide and prevent us from mutual recognition and full communion.
   
2. Poverty, injustice, and disparities in society. While many people enjoy better life, better education and better and higher prestige and power, there is widespread poverty, hunger, and oppression as well as the crushing weight of the modern secular world on the traditional societies. For many more people there is the reality of unbearable suffering, confusion, contradiction, constraints and agony of human lives. In many parts of Africa, Asia and the Pacific region we witness the negative effect of the presence of economic power that aggravate competition, consumerism, individualism, and capital-orientation. Many young people are embracing other cultures, forgetting their own family, tribal and traditional values that are very important for their very existence. The gap between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak, is getting wider. We can see in the inner cities faces of thse ekeing out a living, children who have to look for food, while few people are enjoying luxury goods. With the reality in our regions, poverty and injustice are intertwined. In doing our responsible leadership as servants of God and of the people, we need to work hard from the vantage point of the poor and marginalized. Together with our neighbours from different faiths we should work to address the problems of poverty and injustice.
   
3. Need for peace and reconciliation. In many parts of Asia and Africa, our churches and societies are beset by war and divisions, in small and large scales. Ahn Jae Woong, General Secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia, has often called for the cultivation of peace. Perhaps what our churches and societies need the most at this point in history is to be bridge-builders. The Latin word for priest is ‘pontifex,’ which literally means a ‘bridge-builder.’ I think that the most effective weapon that needs to be developed for the war against ‘terrorism’ is that of being bridge-builders, servant-leaders, who are willing and able to make peace among different groups of people.
   
4. The need for re-thinking of theology. Jerry Schmalenberger, former President of the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California and now teaching at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Hong Kong, says: “Churches of Asia need to develop an indigenous theology for indigenous leaders’ vision and empowerment for servant leadership.” In 1970 church leaders and theologians in Indonesia held a consultation on Theology and Theological Education and recommended the re-thinking of theology to come up with relevant theology or theologies, based on God’s word and which reflect the reality and wrestling of the church. Churches across Africa, Asia and Pacific regions need to continually rethink their theologies to be true to God’s Word and relevant to the contextual realities of the times, by aiming at the transforming of the life of the people and the world.

Conclusion

As leaders, we need to remember that we are stewards of the power that God entrusts to us. We are like God’s ambassadors, representative of the one who called us to be leaders. Yet, we are called to be like servants, not owners or masters. We are therefore responsible and accountable to God. Our churches are seeking for leaders who will practice the right use of power to fulfil God’s reign on earth and lead the people in their struggles for life in its fullness. I hope that our churches and societies will raise more servant-leaders, faithful stewards, who are closely linked with the one who called us, for our authority is valid only when it is an adequate representation of the Creator’s love for what God will have tended. If we have power, it is not ours for our own desires or personal purposes, but to realise God’s plan and purposes in this world.

NOTES:

1 Rev. Deonal Sinaga, a pastor from Indonesia, was at the time of the consultation finishing his doctoral studies at Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong.
2 South China Morning Post, March 4, 2003
3 Jurgen Moltmann, The Crucified God: The Cross of Christ as the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology (Harper & Row Publishers, New York, 1974), 69.
4 See, George J. Stokes, “Power” in Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, ed. James Hastings, Vol. X (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1955), 44.
5 Cf. Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, George Allen and Unwin, p. 495
6 Grundmann “dunamai…,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Vol. III (WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids Michigan, 1964), 299.
7 Ibid., 284.
8 Cf. James Orr, “Power” in ISBE Bible Dictionary, Bible Works (Software).
9 Cf. Grundmann, Op.Cit., p. 306
10 Moltmann, Op.Cit., p. 69
11 Ibid., p.70
12 The editors of TIME, Great People of the 20th Century, ed. Kelly Knauer, 1996, Time Inc. Home Entertainment, p. 50.
13 Robert K. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness (Paulist Press, New York, 1977).
14 Ibid.
15 News and Views, A Quarterly News Letter of the Hong Kong Christian Council
16 Douglas John Hall, The Steward: A Biblical Symbol Come of Age, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1990, p.