On the Application of Power

Originally posted on September 27, 2020

In a conversation a couple of years ago, I remarked about thoughts regarding power. As I understand it, power is the ability to impose one’s will upon another. Equally, it is the ability to prevent another from imposing their will upon others. My understanding may be naive or simplistic, but it resonates with me.

With that understanding, I question our federal government’s application of power. I do not question the current administration alone, nor do I question the current Congress alone. I do not question the Republicans or Democrats alone.

Our federal government, for many administrations, seems to be using its power to either gain more power, or at least to retain the power it possesses. The two-party system upon which it is currently based spends the majority of its power in pitting one against the other to the point that very little actually gets accomplished.

In addition, they use their power to raise the level of fear and uncertainty among the governed that the other party must be stopped or the world as they know it will crumble. For what it’s worth, the world has survived multiple instances of each party being in the majority in the Senate or House of Representations or occupying the White House. The world has survived multiple combinations of those majorities.

Still, we can do better. If these parties would focus their attention on the Preamble to the Constitution, the document from which they derive their roles and responsibilities, they will see that it is the “people of the United States” that defines those roles and responsibilities. Thus, it is the “people of the United States” that grants them their power, which they senselessly squander in fighting among themselves. This bickering leaves little power to actually serve the “people of the United States.”

Jesus knew how to apply power. He healed because someone had a need of healing. He cast out demons because someone was possessed. He raised Lazarus from the dead. He taught, He ministered, and He loved. Why? Because people had needs, and He had the power to meet those needs. He did not apply His power as He was being arrested (Matthew 26:53). To do so would have been self-serving and would go counter to the purpose for which He was sent.

Our government appears to be self-serving and does not seem focused on meeting the needs of the governed. Changing rules, redrawing districts, insider trading, kick-backs, impeaching without clear evidence, attacking candidates instead of problems–these are but a few of the examples we have seen over the past few administrations. These are not new. Their common ground is that they are only done to retain or extend power, power that is then wasted by going after more power. Worse are the examples where that power is abused to benefit the office holder and not the constituents.

In Matthew 18:23-34, Jesus offers a parable. A king forgave a servant for a large debt that was owed. That servant found another servant who owed him a small debt. That debt was not forgiven, so the king rescinded his previous forgiveness and threw the servant into prison. This parable is about forgiveness, but it illustrates the application of power.

The king had all of the power. He could collect the debt, but he forgave it because the servant did not have the means by which to pay the debt. That servant had some power, which he applied to collect a small debt from another servant. Then the king exercised his power again and threw the servant into prison. It is time we applied this to our government.

We, the “people of the United States,” are the king. We have all the power. We apply that power in bettering our own lives. We apply that power is bettering others’ lives through our service and generosity. We apply that power to elect officials to make sure that we all have the same opportunities and safeguards.

The President and Congress are the servant whose debt was forgiven. They have not been applying their power in helpful, or even noble, efforts.

If these officials continue to apply their power to other pursuits, instead of applying it to benefit the people who put them in their offices, then it is time to remove them from their offices. Let “the government of the people, by the people, for the people” never perish from the earth.”

Another misuse of power has been the violent riots that have been taking place in cities around the United States. Although protesting is a noble pursuit, essential to raising awareness of injustice and tyranny, rioting is an egregious misuse of power.

The power to destroy exists in all of us. It is up to us to apply that power judiciously. Burning cars, looting businesses, or shooting and assaulting people is not noble; it is criminal. Jesus said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31 NIV).” If protesters do not desire to be assaulted, they should not assault. They should not shoot, unless they want to be shot.

Small businesses looted and burned whose proprietors had nothing to do with the injustice that was being protested; people attacked simply because they look similar to those who perpetrated the injustice; people shot simply because they were doing their job–these are not acts of protest. They do not further the cause. They have the opposite effect; they dilute the cause. As Martin Luther King said, “Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.”

We need to apply our power to achieve change, not to destroy for no other reason than that we can. Such an application is self-serving and achieves nothing good.