Confronting the powerful

‘WHERE two or three or more humans are together, there is power,’ writes Australian author and pastor Rowland Croucher. ‘Power is not evil in itself. But power is often abused when in the hands of selfish humans.’

Having previously considered some of the ways people are excluded and the cultural factors that influence attitudes, we now turn to this issue of power.

‘As followers of Jesus,’ says the Army’s International Social Justice Commission study Jesus And Justice, ‘our vision for a more just world is dependent on two primary “delivery systems”: social order and spiritual transformation.’

In Luke 19:1–10 we read that Jesus invited himself to the home of a tax collector named Zacchaeus, where he challenged this powerful man’s unjust behaviour. We noted last week that tax officials were considered undesirables because of their reputation for getting rich at the expense of others and for collaborating with the hated Romans.

Yet as a result of this meeting, Zacchaeus’s life was changed. Not only did he share his wealth and make restitution for his wrongdoing, he and his ‘house’ found salvation (v9). Jesus inviting himself to the house of a ‘sinner’ led to social revolution in a community and spiritual transformation for a number of people.

To consider: To what extent is the Church prepared to challenge unjust behaviour on the part of powerful individuals or institutions?

Jesus also confronted those who claimed religious power; in his day this was the Pharisees and scribes. They were the religious elite, enforcing not just the religious Law but the laws of the state as well. Jesus’ teaching, his popularity with the rank-and-file and his criticism of these leaders naturally led to conflict.

In Luke 6:1–11 we read that the Pharisees challenged Jesus and his disciples about picking grain and eating it on the Sabbath. Then, on another Sabbath, Jesus healed a man’s hand, deliberately provoking the religious powerbrokers. These were the leaders who would rather see rules obeyed than hungry people fed and the disadvantaged restored to fullness of life.

‘According to Jesus, some religious matters – such as justice, mercy and faith – are more important than others,’ says Jesus And Justice. ‘Religion that majors on minors is oppressive.’

To consider: Where should we look for our sources of religious authority? How can we protect ourselves from abuses of religious power? Who has the responsibility of keeping religious leaders accountable?

Then there is the issue of political power.

‘No political system is perfect,’ notes Jesus And Justice. ‘Many Islamic republics institute religious oppression. Some monarchies and dictatorships are intolerant to religious diversity. Marxism and communism remove social space for God and replace it with atheism. Even democratic societies are pressed with the evolving will of the people and their perpetually changing beliefs and preferred behaviours.’

In Mark 12:13–17 we see hypocritical leaders trying to trick Jesus into choosing between God and the State, to which he responded: ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ Jesus’ followers are to fulfil their obligations to both God and State.

But where governments fail to act justly, neglecting the vulnerable members of society, how should God’s people respond?

Again we find our directive from Scripture, where we see Jesus confronting James and John about their request for prestige and position (Matthew 20:20–28). This episode demonstrates how far off the mark they and the rest of the disciples are about the nature of the coming Kingdom, and it gives Jesus the opportunity to remind them what true power really looks like. While others might be tyrannical rulers who ‘lord it over’ their subjects, Jesus said: ‘Not so with you’ (v26). True power is about serving, not being served.

To consider: How do we hold our political leaders accountable? How do we apply the ‘Not so with you’ principle to our own lives and that of our church communities?

Where there are two or three, or more, of us humans together, power will always be an issue. But, as Jesus And Justice reminds us, we have an example in Jesus who ‘lived right and righted wrongs’. As his followers we have the mandate and the means to do the same: ‘To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly’ with our God (Micah 6:8).

Major Ruthven is Editor-in-Chief and Publishing Secretary, THQ