“In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus counsels his disciples against becoming like the rulers of the Gentiles, who ‘lord [power] it over’ others and ‘exercise authority over them’ (Mark 10:42). ‘Not so with you,’ Jesus tells them. . . . [T]his should be the Christian dissident’s motto: ‘Not so with you!’ ‘Instead, whoever wants to become great among you,’ Jesus says, ‘must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all’ (Mark 10:43-44). In [Thomas] More’s Utopia, the sixteenth-century martyr quips, ‘Anyone who campaigns for public office becomes disqualified for holding any office at all.’ Power is seductive, and it warps those who seek it. The only way to overcome power’s allure is to be a servant.”
Jessica Hooten Wilson, “Live Not by Lies Even When You’re Winning: A Call to be Obscurely Good,” Comment: Public Theology for the Common Good. 43:3 Fall 2025, page 52.
Related posts:
Pastor Note #119: Jesus’ Way of Power
Pastor Note #145: What Makes for the Blessed Life?
Bible Note #64: Zechariah 7:9-10–A Rightly Ordered Society in God’s Eyes
Pastor Note #144: Jesus vs. Brutality & Inhumanity
Pastor Note #143: Coercion & the Kingdom of God
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