So, we’ve just come out of an election. Some Christian folks are delighted. Some Christian folks are despairing. Both are wrong because both are badly misguided. The first group—the delighted group—is delighted because they believe they now have their hands on the levers of power. The second group—the despairing group—is despairing because they believe they have failed to get their hands on the levers of power. Both are sinfully misguided because they have chosen to believe that having power over others is how the kingdom of God will be brought into the world. If that’s what you believe, then you’re out of step with Jesus.
Listen to this:
Mark 10
35Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
39“We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”41When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
James and John want to be in positions of honor and power. They want to be in a position to exercise power over others. They believe that you gain that power by asserting yourself. That’s what they are doing, attempting to assert themselves into positions of power and authority over others.
The other disciples are outraged at what James and John have attempted to do. They are outraged because each of the other disciples also wants those positions of power and authority for themselves, and here James and John are trying to get in ahead of them. What Jesus has on his hands here is a power struggle among his disciples.
At the heart of the problem is the assumption that the kingdom of God is just like all the other kingdoms of this world and that it is based on having power over others, on having the ability to impose your will on the people around you. That’s a false belief. But that’s what the disciples believed, and they were trying to get that power into their own hands.
Jesus has to sit them all down and set them straight about this core flaw in their understanding of the very nature of the kingdom of God. Jesus tells them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.” “Not so with you.” The way of power in the kingdoms of this world is not to be the way for the followers of Jesus. It’s not about exerting power over others. It’s not about imposing your will on others against their will. It’s about coming alongside others and providing self-sacrificing service to them in their needs.
It’s an ugly sight to see supposed followers of Jesus celebrating at gaining the ability to impose their will on their neighbors. And it’s an ugly sight to see supposed followers of Jesus lamenting the loss of their ability to impose their will on their neighbors.
If having the power to impose your will on your neighbors against their will is important to you, then you are not following Jesus. You can be someone who said the right prayer at an evangelistic crusade, you can be a member of a church in good standing, and still not be a follower of Jesus. To be a true follower of Jesus means to make yourself a servant and slave of all. It means letting go of worldly power over others. If you don’t like that, well, take it up with Jesus. He’s the one who said it. But remember, “even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” If you want to follow Jesus, that’s your path.
Let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, forgive us for our love of power. Send your Spirit to make us willing to give our lives away in service to everyone around us. Amen.
© Gary A. Chorpenning 2024
Photos by GAC, from Washington County (PA) Courthouse
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