Abuse of power in the church has been exposed more in the last few years that ever before, but what does this have to do with us “normal” leaders who haven’t abused power egregiously like the leaders we see in the news?
On our 1-year podcast anniversary, we start a new series on power in the church: how we’ve misunderstood power as Christians, misused and abused power as leaders.
We have a problem with power in the church. We’ve completely conflated “worldly” power with God’s power (thinking God’s power is just more of the “worldly” power we assume). We have an ungodly orientation to power and we haven’t really given enough space to consider the kind of power we see in the words and actions of Jesus.
We have to talk about power because it’s a crucial aspect of our leadership development, and we need to properly navigate power issues as we live like Jesus.
Oh and by the way, here are some links to the books we’re reading we talked about on the podcast:
- Ben Hardman is reading The Book of Beautiful Questions by Warren Berger
- Ben Sternke is reading The Flesh of the Church, Flesh of Christ: at the Source of Ecclesiology of Communion by J-M-R Tillard.
- Matt Tebbe is reading Becoming a Just Church: Cultivating Communities of God’s Shalom, by Adam Gustine, and Postcards From Babylon: The Church In American Exile, by Brian Zahnd
And if you are interested in learning a way of leadership that embraces the power of love we see displayed in Christ, check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 10-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.
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