Chariots and Horses: Christianity and Power

There is a particular worldview that we live in a dog eat dog world. This is a world of dominate or be dominated, crush or be crushed, kill or be killed. The world is full of either winners or losers. For a person who allows their life to be guided by that philosophy, the only way they know to protect themselves from everyone else, is to be more powerful than everyone else. They live their lives seeking to be powerful.

Unfortunately there are (too) many christian folk who live with this mentality. They believe that they are surrounded by enemies that would destroy them given half the chance. Christians must have as much power as possible to avoid persecution. They seek to align themselves with powerful people in order to be safe.

In the nineteenth century the Salvation Army decided to own a matchstick factory. To begin building their industrial empire? No. At that time in Britain, matchstick factories used toxic chemicals that made workers very ill, or killed them. They purchased and owned their factory to prove that matchsticks could be made cost effectively without these chemicals. Once matchstick factories in England changed the chemicals they used, the Salvation Army sold their factory and moved on. They weren’t motivated by wealth, but by helping the poor of England. Thank God for the Sallies.

Today, there are some who encourage the pursuit of wealth and power among Christians to “bring glory to God.” If we build bigger church buildings to show the world that we have the goods they will be inspired to join our ranks. Honestly if people who preach this actually spoke to someone outside of the church once and awhile, they would discover that is not true. Our spending priorities are actually one of the biggest complaints against the Church.

Wealth and power in of themselves are not bad. It is the twisted desire for wealth and power that is problematic. I know of wealthy people who do not seek to dominate others. I also know of people who are not wealthy who behave like dictators in their own homes. It is not necessarily how powerful the person is, but how does this person steward the power that they do have?

History shows that when “Christians” gain immense political power, it isn’t always a good thing. Their enemies become anyone who disagrees with them, christian or not. And quite honestly, is the accumulation of power really going to save us?

Psalm 20:7

Some trust in chariots and horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Proverbs 18:10

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.

Trusting in our own human strength and ability to defend us, is not what christians are called to do. My question to Christians is this; do we really trust God? And are there consequences for our trust in chariots and horses instead of trusting God and pursuing the ways of a righteous person?

The Bible warns us against the unholy pursuit of power. The prophets of the Old Testament confronted the kings for their abuse of authority.

It would appear that Narcissism is on the rise in our society, and in the church. Narcissists live with a deep sense of shame that they believe can only be starved off through gaining status, power and control over others. They live religiously by a dog eat dog mantra. People with this personality disorder will attempt to acquire power at any cost. They will lie and manipulate and slander. They lack the ability for empathy and instead treat people as objects to help them achieve their personal goals. I am not just talking about people who are supposedly full of themselves. I am talking about a disorder on par with sociopathy and psychopathy. As their influence increases, so does the damage they inflict on others.

Our craving for power has enabled these people to gain positions of influence. As the Church has turned from God to lead us, we have turned to these people to lead us instead. We have elevated them. And it is costing us. Spiritual abuse is increasing. Our priorities are askew. We only have ourselves to blame. The only way to turn back the tide is to stop enabling these people - by changing the culture. Power and status will not save us. It is not saving us. It is a millstone around the Bride’s neck, cutting off her supply to the head. She is drowning. No more celebrity super saints that we place on pedestals and don’t question. It is time to turn to scripture to understand what church culture ought to look like.

Some insights from scripture about conduct of leaders:

1 Peter 5:3

Don’t lord it over people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.

Matthew 20:25-28

But Jesus called the disciples and said, "You know that the rulers of the unbelievers lord it over them and their superiors act like tyrants over them. That's not the way it should be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That's the way it is with the Son of Man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people."

Phillipians 2:3&4

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.

Manipulating, exploitative, intimidating, controlling, bullying, entitled, selfish, power hungry and image obsessed. These are characteristics of narcissism and are also jezebelic in nature.

In the bible, Queen Jezebel convinced Israel to trust in her chariots and horses. And they did. They were prepared to overlook her incredibly evil acts, to have the protection of her power. Her husband, King Ahab, happily sat back and let her do the dirty work. (You may interpret this post as being about certain political leaders, but in this post I am referring to the Church) She was fixated with her own sense of superiority and an utter disregard for her people. She was brought as low as royalty could possibly be. In the end she wasn’t defeated by a noble king or a bold prophet. She was thrown off the tower by eunuchs and eaten by dogs.

The story of Jezebel has been misused by some to justify not having women in positions of leadership. Because apparently if you give us women too much authority we will weld it to unleash destruction and devastation upon the land. The story of Jezebel is a warning to not empower and enable leaders of such nature - men or women. Also it is a reminder to not use these kind of leadership strategies to control and manipulate people you lead. In other words; if you’re a leader don’t be an a!$^#*%&. (The Sarcastic Christian's bible translation coming soon)

I don’t know about you but I most certainly don’t want to meet a similar fate as Jezebel. I don’t want to grab for power and to chew people up and spit them out in a quest for dominance. I don’t want to carve out a place in the world for myself if it means crushing others to get there. I don’t want my lack of trust in God’s protection to cause me to become a danger to those around me. Because this is the real issue when we get to the root of it. Our lack of faith leads us down all kinds of paths we ought not to be treading. I don’t want to live according to the lie that God won’t save us, Jezebel’s horses and chariots will. I want to lead and also to empower leaders who lead God’s way, and not the Jezebel way.

I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the Church in the past few years. It was Albert Einstein who said “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” Maybe it’s time to try some new things.

I am convinced that this ‘deconstruction’ movement in the church is actually a good thing. Sure people will go off on strange tangents. People always do. Perhaps it will bring a refining to the Church. When gold is refined it is heated up so that all the impurities will come to the surface to be removed. People are questioning the way things are. If There is no engagement with these questions, it will be to the Church’s detriment.

I am in the middle of reading We Too by Mary DeMuth. DeMuth addresses the major problem of sexual abuse in the church, how it is covered up and how poorly the victims are treated. Churches and Church leaders who have been involved in cover ups are being exposed as the Me Too movement has been sweeping the globe.

It is high time to stop empowering these kinds of leaders and cultures in our churches. It is time to stop trading our integrity in for a few horses and chariots.