a surrender - 13

(Continuing "a surrender," chapter two, "the power of the people and the power of God")

Studying in seminary and on my own, I became more and more convinced that Jesus avoided using “the power of the people.” Though he gained a popular following, large crowds gathering to listen to him, he did not try to lead a popular uprising against the oppressive religious and governmental structures of his time. Once, when a crowd seemed like it was going to try to make him king, Jesus left quickly. He did not try to raise a lot of money, and he charged nothing for his teaching and healing. He also refused to let his followers fight for him. All of this left Jesus poor and vulnerable, without economic or political or military power. Intentionally so, it seemed. He taught his followers to do the same. So I couldn’t help but wonder why Jesus would intentionally avoid the kind of power that it seems everyone else is always trying to get?

As I thought more about it, I became more aware of several weaknesses of “the power of the people.” In order to get many people to work together, there always seems to be a lot of bartering and deals and arguing among people, who have different ideas about how the power and money of the group should be used. I saw this most clearly among politicians, but also in other groups. Sometimes it led to helpful compromises, but it often seemed to lead to the goals and ideals of the group being compromised, confused, or abandoned. And the need for lots of money makes this even more challenging. Because, in addition to appeasing the members of the group, many financial donors also have to be appeased. People who lead big organizations, such as politicians and CEOs, have to be very careful about what they say, in order to avoid upsetting too many of their supporters. “The power of the people” comes from the support of the people. So leaders have to say what will please the people, if they want to keep their power. And what if the people are deceived? Then leaders with bad intentions can gain control over the organization. “The power of the people” can be used for evil as well as good. I began to wonder: Does this power even push people towards evil? I had often heard the well-known saying, “Power corrupts.” And there seemed to be plenty of examples of this in history and in the news. The more power people wielded, the more they seemed tempted to think that they were above other people, and even that they were above the law. Then there is the final weakness of this kind of power, the one revealed in the decay and eventual collapse of every organized group. “The power of the people” doesn’t seem to last. Throughout history, every nation, every corporation, every organization eventually weakened and fell apart, and all of their power disappeared.

Continued...