Learning to Lovewell: W6 - THU
Power Dynamics in God’s Kingdom
Matthew 20: 24-28, NLT 24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 25 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
We live in a world that is very concerned about who holds the power, and when we do hold the power, we love to lord it over others, flaunt it. “You have an army of 10,000, we have an army of 15,000.” “You have 50 nuclear warheads, we have 200.” Even the ideology behind Christian Nationalism, is that Christians need to be in power to be able to better influence the world around its set of beliefs and practices.
But the above passage from Matthew on the words of Jesus comes with an emphatic testament against seeking and hoarding power. It actually says that real power comes when you give it away, or use it to serve and lift up others to a place higher than yourself. That's the kingdom of God power.
Jesus didn’t just talk the talk, he walked it, lived it, every step of his life, including the ones that led to his death. He was the king of the universe, the Lord of Lords, the almighty, all powerful one, yet he laid all that down to become human; and not just a human, a baby! Babies are the most powerless among us. The Creator of the universe became utterly dependent upon us, humans, to take care of him. And last I checked, the only thing we’re really good at is messing up everything. Yet still, he trusted us with Himself.
So in the kingdom of God, it’s not about initials behind your name, the amount of zero’s in your bank account, or how many people answer to you at work. In the kingdom of God, it’s about how many people were in need today that you helped, how many times you use your resources and influence to lift up someone else. It’s so unlike the broken world that we live in, you might even say that living in the kingdom of God is like living in the upside-down, except this upside-down is good, holy, and true.
May we as a community of faith hold each other accountable to the way of Jesus and the kingdom of God. May we seek not to gain power to lord it over others, or flaunt it, but to give it away as a blessing. Jesus did it for us; seems like the least we could do is our best to return the favor.
Matthew 20: 24-28, NLT 24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 25 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
We live in a world that is very concerned about who holds the power, and when we do hold the power, we love to lord it over others, flaunt it. “You have an army of 10,000, we have an army of 15,000.” “You have 50 nuclear warheads, we have 200.” Even the ideology behind Christian Nationalism, is that Christians need to be in power to be able to better influence the world around its set of beliefs and practices.
But the above passage from Matthew on the words of Jesus comes with an emphatic testament against seeking and hoarding power. It actually says that real power comes when you give it away, or use it to serve and lift up others to a place higher than yourself. That's the kingdom of God power.
Jesus didn’t just talk the talk, he walked it, lived it, every step of his life, including the ones that led to his death. He was the king of the universe, the Lord of Lords, the almighty, all powerful one, yet he laid all that down to become human; and not just a human, a baby! Babies are the most powerless among us. The Creator of the universe became utterly dependent upon us, humans, to take care of him. And last I checked, the only thing we’re really good at is messing up everything. Yet still, he trusted us with Himself.
So in the kingdom of God, it’s not about initials behind your name, the amount of zero’s in your bank account, or how many people answer to you at work. In the kingdom of God, it’s about how many people were in need today that you helped, how many times you use your resources and influence to lift up someone else. It’s so unlike the broken world that we live in, you might even say that living in the kingdom of God is like living in the upside-down, except this upside-down is good, holy, and true.
May we as a community of faith hold each other accountable to the way of Jesus and the kingdom of God. May we seek not to gain power to lord it over others, or flaunt it, but to give it away as a blessing. Jesus did it for us; seems like the least we could do is our best to return the favor.
- It has once been said that God created us in his image and we’ve been returning the favor ever since. Why do you think we love to seek and flaunt power over others instead of using our power to serve others?
- What do you think we can do to help hold each other accountable to the way of Jesus, and how do we help each other serve like Jesus instead of hoard like humans?
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