“JESUS – RADICAL FOR OUR TIMES”

“Jesus – Power and Its Uses”

Mao Zedong said, “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” And Joseph Stalin once challenged by the Pope, asked cynically, “How many divisions does the Pope have?” Hermann Goring once said “Guns will make us powerful, butter will only make us fat.” Many other world leaders and conquerors have had similar views. Would not Jesus have been more realistic if he had endorsed militaristic and revolutionary political power? Was he not too naïve and idealistic about real, raw power? What do you think? Why?

Jesus’ teaching regarding self-denial and “taking up a cross” seem to be out of step with the current emphasis on self-fulfillment, self-expression, finding oneself, being oneself, and enhancing one’s self-esteem so as to empower the self. Is Jesus’ emphasis too negative, too self-limiting, too impossible and unpromising to be appealing today? Does not his advice disempower the self rather than empower it? What do you think? Why?

Many of us are “control freaks” who always need to be in control. We speak of being in control or taking control. We like to hold the remote for the TV, drive from the back seat, fly the airplane from the cabin, and be at least the power behind the throne. To be in control is to be powerful. There are the controlled and the controllers. Since most of us seem to want to be the controllers, does not Jesus’ advice about being humble sound more like obsequiousness and his suggestion that we serve rather than be served sound more like a bad case of low self-esteem? What do you think? Why?

In his book, Power: How To Get It, How To Use It, Michael Korda gave advice for the corporate power game. He advised on power lunches, power dress, power seats in a meeting, power lighting effects, power games with the telephone, power manipulation of associates and subordinates. Is this a form of “lording it over others” against which Jesus spoke? But in today’s corporate struggle, is not Korda more relevant and realistic than Jesus? What do you think? Why?

The famous philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, once said, “Neither necessity nor desire, but the love of power is the demon of mankind. You may give men everything possible – health, food, shelter, enjoyment – but they are and remain unhappy and capricious, for the demon waits and waits and must be satisfied.” But if the demon, the love of power, is satisfied, people will be happy, said Nietzsche. What do you think of this view? Would Jesus agree with Nietzsche? What do you think? Why?

In his book, Kinds of Power, James Hillman says that, “The most daring and challenged minds are at work where issues of power are most central. The drama of business”, says Hillman, “its struggles, challenges, victories and defeats, forms the fundamental myth of our civilization, the story that explains the underlying bottom line of the ceremonies of our behavior.” Hillman goes on to say that economics is the fundamental theology of contemporary culture, the ecumenical faith binding together the people of various races, languages, cultures and religions. What do you think of these views? What would Jesus think? Why?