Power

In the first chapter of Colossians, Paul has a prayer for the church that reminds me of better things to pray for, as all of his prayers do. Within that prayer, is Colossians 1:11 which has an interesting take on power. For a little context, here is the verse in the context of the passage of Colossians 1:9-14:

For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects - bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints inheritance in the light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption.“ (NET)

Notice the way in which Paul hopes the power that he is praying for will be displayed in the people of Colosse.

"...being strengthened in all power... for the display of all patience and steadfastness..."

Not to force moral obedience.

Not to dominate your adversaries.

Not to create political alliances.

Not to crush your enemies.

Not to exercise punishment on the unrighteous.

Not to seize control of government and its systems.

Not to unleash God's wrath.

Not to create laws to dictate moral behavior.

Paul asks that the Colossians be given power, full Godly power, so they can "endure everything and have patience," as the Common English Translation says it.

I know that the vast majority of the 10 or so people reading this may disagree with me, but I am not a big fan of Christian involvement in government and politics (its extremely difficult to engage in one without the other), not because I think it is wrong, but because it is most often motivated by the pursuit of the wrong power for the wrong objectives. It might come from the best of intent, but it is too often misguided. It is the pursuit of using Satan's methods to forcibly accomplish the appearance of kingdom of heaven victories. It is an attempt to clean the outside of the cup while leaving the inside filthy.

It is difficult to read the gospels without shaking your head at the dullness of the disciples (but if we are wise we will also turn to ourselves and realize our own dullness is not much different). As much as we admire their abandonment to everything they knew to follow Jesus, we need to also remember that they had ulterior motives. They had power in their sights, but it was the wrong kind of power. They were expecting power that would overthrow the government, and they wanted to be at the center of it. But Jesus showed them a different kind of power - a power displayed in patience and endurance. When James and John wanted a seat to left and right of Jesus, they were making a play for the same kind of power that Christians are lobbying for today when they engage with politicians. But Jesus told them they were looking for the wrong kind of power. If you really want power, be a servant he said. That went over as well then, as it does today. We are still looking for the wrong kind of power.

Jesus gave us a lot of instructions, most of which we ignore. We are told to turn our cheek, to go an extra mile, to give more than we asked, to love our neighbor, and to even love our enemies. When we do those things, we usher in the Kingdom of Heaven. The problem is, that method of changing the world seems really inefficient.

In television series, The Chosen, Jesus frequently jokes about the word "soon." His understanding of "soon" is quite different from his disciples and he often makes light of it in his conversations with them. We are still struggling with that word today. "Soon" is never soon enough. As much as we try to convince ourselves of the value of things happening "in God's timing" our actions often betray us. Our actions show that we don't care much for God's timing. Our definition of "soon" is still at odds with God's.

Western culture values expediency and efficiency and Gods sense of "soon" doesn't work well in our culture. Intellectually we understand that we are called to love others above and beyond what the rest of the world does, but just relying on love to change the world is really slow and inefficient. How am I supposed to change the world when I am busy washing sinners' feet? In our impatience for love to have its effect, we pursue the kind of power that will get things moving more quickly. But our impatience should be our first warning sign, according to Colossians, because Godly power will not be displayed in speed. In fact our haste often creates more of a mess than a solution and "soon" takes even longer.

It is commonly said in Christian circles that God's way is different, vastly different, from our ways. And yet, we continue to try solving problems using our methods, or even Satan's methods, instead of God's. A message not so subtly embedded in Colossians 1:11 is for us to be patient, to endure and stay steadfast in our belief that our cheek turning, our coat carrying, our foot washing, our loving unlovable people, and our humble desire to be servants more than leaders, will result in a change in our world, "soon." The means matters. Expediency be damned.