Power and Relationships: A Devotion for February 22, 2016

            I spent the last several days at a conference. I learned a few things, but perhaps the greatest benefit was some time to reflect and think. Here’s a conclusion I came to:

To hold on to power, a person must sacrifice relationships.

To hold on to relationships, a person must sacrifice power.

It came clear to me this weekend that those are pretty solid axioms.

            The accumulation and maintenance of power often mean that people who oppose those goals will get cast aside or run over in the pursuit of them. (Not wanting to get all political, but Jeb Bush, who withdrew from the GOP nomination race last weekend, used to be a patron and supporter of Marco Rubio. However, in Bush’s quest for the nomination—for power—he said a lot of fairly nasty things about Rubio, his youth, his lack of experience, and his ideas. It wasn’t a good look for Bush.) It strikes me how lonely the powerful must be, especially if they value that power above all else.

            On the other hand, valuing relationships often means that you won’t get your way, for fear of hurting a friend or loved one. Loyalty and consideration for another will limit how high you can rise, especially if that other values different things than you do.

            This is all particularly important in the church. In the body of Christ, the accumulation of power is not supposed to be a high value. Over and over again, the Gospels record sayings of Jesus to the effect that the first will be last, that the one who wants to be great should be a servant, that the proud will be brought low and the humble raised up. However, consideration for another is a high value. Read Romans 12, 14-15, or 1 Corinthians 12-14, if you don’t believe me.

            Here’s another thing that came clear to me this weekend: I may be intellectually sympathetic to any number of viewpoints, but I abhor seeing those ideas advanced at the expense of brothers and sisters in Christ. I understand that the church can’t be paralyzed by a recalcitrant few, but I do wish we took one another more seriously as members of the same body. I don’t expect the church to be free of all conflict, but I do expect that that conflict will be managed with honesty, directness, and mutual respect. I wish we could learn to value relationships over power and to take Paul seriously when he exhorts us, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3).