Will to Power

Barbara Brown Taylor once wrote, “(Jesus) was brought down by law and order allied with religion… a deadly mix.” Likewise, it was Herod’s power and paranoia, mixed with religious zealousness, desiring institutional order and society conformity that killed James, imprisoned Peter, and sought to silence the transformative power of the gospel. This gospel—the good news of God’s freedom from the bonds of sin and death—embodied in Jesus (Emmanuel), teaches us to stand in the presence of sinners, and instead of anger and rage, proclaim “neither do I condemn you;” teaches us not to repay evil with evil, but to forgive, turning the other cheek; that we must not retaliate when we are sinned against, but that we are to do kind things even toward those who hate us– because, as Jesus said, we are to emulate God who is “kind to the ungrateful and wicked (Luke 6:35);” that we judge not, unless we would be judged; that we would love as we want to be loved; that we would serve not seeking to be served; that we would surrender power, not seek it. The church of Acts was not an institution with a will to power. It was, and ,is a people of The Way of life bringing transformation through compassion and conviction not compulsion and coercion… something to remember as we celebrate the birth of our Nation.