What is power?

As a young adult, I started working with kids who lived on the street (literally one lived on the roof of abandoned buildings) and were part of gangs. I learned gang life was part of a social construct filling the void of dysfunctional family life. Not all gangs are violent, and not all of them are strung out or addicted to drugs. FUA (From Up Above) was the name of the gang that I found myself gaining access to, and I learned they were into art and music. There were some gifted wall artists, and it was then that I learned the difference between “tagging” and “graffiti.” Graffiti was art. Tagging was marking territory by just spraying your initials on anything you felt made a statement. Interestingly, good art was off-limits for tagging!

While I got more acquainted with the young men and women of the gang, I began to learn a lot about what they thought about survival on the streets. You can imagine some of the things they experienced. They knew the local dealers. They knew what territory (city blocks) belonged to who and where to go and not go. In some cases, it meant not visiting family and friends because it would cross boundary lines. It’s all very complicated and somewhat invisible to the untrained eye. But there were some very real power dynamics in play.

What is power? For the kids we worked with, power was all about control. The biggest manipulators of power were those with guns. Knives could make a statement (deadly even), but guns represented power. Power was displayed through physical violence. Power was about who had the most money, the biggest/badest cars, or the “connections” to make you follow-through on your commitments (i.e. hurt you if you don’t). Even just trying to lay low and not stand out carried certain consequences. Threats were (are) common in this culture. Threats against family members, girlfriends and boyfriends, and really anyone you care about (a favorite teacher for instance) are commonplace. Power was and still is about control and being able to make others do what you want them to.

When we introduced the idea that power was not about control, but rather some of the most powerful people were those that were beaten down in history, or appeared weak, or did not exercise control over others through physical and verbal abuse, the kids were stunned. They didn’t get it. Slowly, over time, we began to show them that just because I hold a gun to your head doesn’t give me power over you. Forcing me to do things doesn’t make you a leader. Leaders are made when people follow. People follow those they respect and care about. True power comes about when you can speak and people listen out of respect, not fear. True power is based on freedom, not coercion.

Needless to say, this was foreign to them and frankly completely counter-cultural to life on the streets. There are times when I struggled to make sense of the idea when everyone around them was struggling to survive within the coercive power plays that happened seemingly daily. Where does the teaching of non-violence, and internal power and freedom to choose even fit? It took a long time to reconcile, and it was a message that took a lot of work to understand. By God’s grace, a few kids got it and few of them are today serving the Lord with very different understandings than those early years of life on the streets.

I share just the tip of the iceberg on that story to open the door to talk about the word “almighty” in the Apostles Creed. A warped view of power in our culture can lead to warped views of God’s omnipotence (defined as complete and unfettered power). We say in the creed that we “believe in God the Father ‘Almighty’.” What does almighty mean? On the one hand, it means just that. He is the all-powerful God able to do whatever He wishes whenever He wants. But is that really comforting and helpful? What comes to mind are the Greek Gods’ who wield lightning bolts, or intervene in the affairs of people to force them to do what they want to be done. Coercive control is just not what the Christian God is about.

Do you know that the early church used to compare God to a nursing mother? Think about that. What power does a nursing mother have over an infant? Well, primarily it’s as a source of life. Nothing manipulative. Nothing coercive. Just love and life. The power wielded through love. Benjamin Myers points out in his book “The Apostles Creed” that, “it is not the power of subjection and control but a power that frees and enables.” The power that frees, builds up, encourages growth, supports, lives in harmony with us as opposed to ruling over us…that’s the power of our God. Myers goes on to say, “True power is the ability to love and enable without reserve.”

Myers quotes British theologian Sarah Coakley as defining God’s love as “gentle omnipotence.” The Creed identifies His power being on display through creation, through the incarnation of Jesus, and the work of the Holy Spirit building the church in and through us. What we read in the creed defines for us what “almighty” looks like, in the same ways we experience it. His is not a power that controls us but encourages our freedom along with the rest of creation to fully embrace and experience the God who set it all in motion. God’s love and power define our relationship to Him, but in completely opposite ways from the world’s definitions of power. His power stands in the background, holding all things together, and because of it, we are completely free to be the humans He created us to be. He’s so powerful, He enables us to be completely free without any fear on His part that He has to control the outcome. That is real power.

We draw strength from His power. We draw hope and encouragement from His power. We don’t rely on His power for our benefit but trust that His power benefits the world He created and we’d be nowhere much less anyone without. He is indeed almighty, but don’t assume it as a category or an attribute that resembles the world’s definitions. He just is almighty. All other created things have power because of Him. He is, so we can be. He has used His power to give us life and will continue to walk with us through thick and thin demonstrating His omnipotence through helping us live ever more freely from the ways that would seek to control and destroy us.

Are you living under control of someone or something? Or are you living free and filled with hope because you serve an all-powerful, unlimited God who loves and cares for you? Depending on your answer, spend some time with God in prayer and ask him to help you see the wisdom of his “gentle omnipotence.” His power is worthy of our trust.

May God bless and keep you and make His face to shine upon you and give you peace.

Pastor Scott