Distortions
Hey South Creek Family,
This past Sunday we continued our series Distortions, and this week we named one of the most common ones: that Jesus is about power. Getting it, keeping it, and protecting it. It’s not hard to see where that idea comes from. Throughout history and still today, people have taken the name of Jesus and used it to hoard power for themselves.
We saw it show up in three ways. In politics, Jesus gets fused to a party or a platform, from every side, and the church starts looking like one more power bloc fighting to win. In prejudice, whoever holds power gets to define what “normal” looks like and then calls it Christian, and people who don’t fit that picture conclude Jesus isn’t for them. And in protection, churches and leaders protect their reputation instead of the people who were hurt. Each of these is the exact opposite of how Jesus used his power.
Here’s the truth underneath it: hoarded power harms, but power given away heals. Jesus had every chance to take power. He was offered all the kingdoms of the world and said no. He told Pilate his kingdom was not of this world. And on the night before he died, knowing the Father had put all things under his power, he got up from the table, wrapped a towel around his waist, and washed his disciples’ feet. Jesus said it himself:
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:45
Jesus never enforced the kingdom. He embodied it. His power didn’t build up and stay in him; it flowed out of him, and people were healed. He didn’t change the world from the top down. He changed it from the inside out, through relationships, meals around tables, and a cross. And he calls us to do the same. We don’t get to make God into our image. We need to be formed into his.
Most of us will never hold political office or run an institution, but every one of us has power: at home, at work, with our kids, with our money, and with our words. So, here’s the question we left with on Sunday: Where do you have power right now, and who is it serving?
-Pastor Aaron Perry