The illusion of power

Read Mark 6:8

8 He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick-no food,no traveler’s bag,no money. (NLT)

We very often believe that in order to serve others,to share the good news of Jesus,we need to become powerful in an earthly sense. It might well be that we seek such power for good reasons. We figure that we can best serve God from a position of power.

We would be wrong. Note when Jesus sent out his disciples on a mission he told them to travel light. A metaphor for powerlessness. They approached the poor and needy not from a position of earthly authority or power but simply with the powerful message of Jesus.

There is nothing wrong with having earthly power,but it is a mistake to think that we need such power in order to do good. It is interesting that the church has always been most powerful in a spiritual sense when it lacked earthly power. So we need to beware of thinking such power is necessary for the work of Jesus to go ahead.

May the loving rule of Jesus and knowledge of the grace of God be made known to as many as possible. May we rely more and more on the power of the Holy Spirit and less and less on what the world sees as powerful. Let’s not play the world’s games: we are bound to lose.

We serve Jesus most powerfully in our relative powerlessness.

Blessings
David Reay

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