Saturday, December 30, 2006

Power in the Kingdom

The following are a few posts I wrote during the year on the topic of the use of power in the kingdom of God. This is a topic that fascinates and intrigues me. I hope to delve into it more in the year ahead.

Pecking Order
The questions in the emerging conversation about leadership and authority result from the structure of the church over the centuries adopting the concepts of hierachical leadership and of domination, the very thing that Jesus so soundly rejected.

The Dynamics of Power
At this point, I am just looking at the reality of privilege, acknowledging that in certain situations, it is within my ability to either include and empower or to exclude and disempower.

More About the Dynamics of Power
Power creates distance, which works against relationship and community. When justice is violated, then we lose the grace of God's peace with one another.

Violence or Reconciliation?
Someday, the church will move from its focus on power, domination, and control to forgiveness, compassion and equality, so that it is not so much leadership-centered, as Jesus-centered.

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