What and how should Christians, and in particular, Christian leaders respond to the questions that power raises? Power is unavoidable but the use or misuse of it is not. In a previous post I looked at Richard Foster’s views on power, and here I want to look at his proposal, which is the vow of service.

Foundation

In the everlasting kingdom of Christ, low is high, down is up, weak is strong, service is power. Do you sincerely want to engage in the ministry of power? Do you want to be a leader who is a blessing to people? Do you honestly want to be used of God to heal human hurts? Then learn to become a servant to all. ‘If any would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all’ (Mark 9:35). The ministry of power functions through the ministry of the towel.

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Maxims

• Service means saying no to the power games of modern society
• Service means saying yes to true power harnessed for the good of all
• Service means discerning the powers, engaging the powers, & defeating the powers
• Service means obedience
• Service means compassion
• Service means ‘servant leadership’

Service & Obedience

Service devoid of obedience degenerates into spiritual stardom. Service devoid of obedience says, ‘Look at how wonderful I am, doing all these kind and self-sacrificing things! Look at how much good I am accomplishing.’ Indeed, the spirit of martyrdom that pervades service that is not in obedience to God often becomes a subtle tool of manipulation. When this happens, service is transformed into a demonic power and is, in fact, an act of disobedience.

p.231

Leadership under authority

How do spiritual leaders serve their people? They serve them by living under authority themselves. Nothing is more dangerous than leaders accountable to no one. We all need others who can laugh at our pomposity and prod us into new forms of obedience. Power is just too dangerous a thing for any of us to face alone. If we look at the abuses of power in the Church today, very often we will see that behind them is someone who has decided that he or she has a direct pipeline to God and therefore does not need the counsel and correction of the community.

p.240

The service of standing up to abuse

How do we serve others in the world? We serve them by a firm refusal to allow them to misuse and abuse us. To allow people to walk over us as one would a doormat is not service but subservience. It is not healthy for us or for others…Therefore if others try to walk over us and take advantage of our serving spirit, we stand up to the abuse. Our concern is not to defend ‘our rights’, for we have already given those to God. Firmly, we press others to respect all people – including us – as fully human. The issues can be many and varied…the resolve is always the same: never to be ‘thingified’.

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