The Illusion of Power*
We very often believe that in order to serve others, to share the good news of Jesus, we need to become powerful in an earthly sense. It might well be that we seek such power for good reasons. We figure that we can best serve God from a position of power - we would be wrong!
Note - when Jesus sent out his disciples on a mission He told them to travel light, to travel in the power of poverty, which in fact is powerlessness.
These were Jesus' instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt." (Mark 6:8-9)
His disciples approached the poor, the demonised and the villagers not from a position of earthly authority but merely with the authority of the life-creating and the life-changing Jesus.
There is nothing wrong with having earthly power (only how it is exercised), but it is a mistake to think that such power is required in order to do the Lord's work. Observe - the church has always been most powerful spiritually when it lacked any earthly power.
May we rely more and more on the power of the Holy Spirit and less and less on what the world sees as powerful.
Let’s not play the world’s games for we are bound to lose.*
Today's Soul Snippet:
"Living by Jesus' grace is lubrication for my life." ~ Michael Cartwright
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*Today's SoulSnack was penned by the Rev. David Reay - read the original here