POWER WARPED LEADERS

                   POWER WARPED LEADERS  

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Great power warps the heart of even great leaders.  Power not only injuries our political leaders, clergy, CEO’s, media heads, and all in authority, but has done so throughout human history.  Even the best men and women granted unlimited power, over time fail to continually lead with great power, but instead become led by it.  First and Second Samuel, dispassionately records the reality of the reprehensible effect of first two powerful kings of Israel, 1050-970 BC.

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 Moshe Halbertal and Stephen Holmes’ analyzed the corrupting effect political power had on both King Saul and King David in, The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel.  They identified the downside of political power saying:

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“Seekers and wielders of sovereign authority end up using the power they have been granted for the welfare of the community for the hollow purpose of clinging to political power for its own sake.”

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D. Kyle Trowbridge, who critiqued their book for Christianity Now, says the corruption of leaders is not restricted to individual rulers. ‘“The People’ can also foster many of the same tendencies.  Majorities, be they in numeric or persuasive powers, can also…uphold and maintain political power.”  To be more specific; interest groups, religious coalitions, financial interests, political parties, and the like also exhibit similar shameless tyrannically retention of their political power.  They do this, regardless of harming national unity or our common good.

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Such is the story of those two good men, Saul and David.  Neither wanted to be kings, but both became “paranoid, isolated, and fearful” that they would lose their power.   Trowbridge’s epithet fpr the first king reads, “He never bought-into the finitude of his own knowledge and authority,” ending up “a moral monster.”   The second king, who was no better than his predecessor, actually recognized his abuse of power, repented, and in the end is remembered as “a man after God’s own heart.”  Acts 13:22

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Not all of us are political leaders, but most of us identify ourselves with a politically persuasive group or leader.   If you cannot influence your group or leaders’ shameless hold on power, turn from them, and in the end be the one after God’s own heart.