Spiritual Power
“…think of Simon Magus in Acts 8:9-25, who thought he could merchandise the power of the Holy Spirit. His sin was trying to use the power of God for his own ends. This is the sign of all false religion, but it is exactly this mentality that has come over so much of Christianity in our day.
Power can be an extremely destructive thing in any context, but religious power can destroy in a way that no other power can. When we are convinced that what we are doing is identical with the kingdom of God, anyone who opposes us must be wrong. When we are convinced that we always use our power to good ends, we believe we can never do wrong. And those who are accountable to no one are especially susceptible to the corrupting influence of power. In the sixth century, Saint Benedict established the ‘rule of stability’ to draw into encouraging and disciplined fellowships the many wandering prophets and monks who had no one to hold them accountable for what they said or did. Most media preachers and itinerant evangelists today suffer from exactly the same lack of accountability.
What we must see is the wrongness of those who think they are always right. Jesus Christ alone is always right. The rest of us must recognise our own foibles and frailties and seek to learn from the correction of others. If we do not, power can take us down the path of the demonic.”
Adapted from Money, Sex & Power by Richard Foster
The full article is at http://www.bullartistry.com.au/pdf_bestill/050BeStill.pdf
