Emperor Constantine's vision of the cross.
I’ve been mulling over this for the past several days. It’s from Chapter 2 of Tony Campolo’s Red Letter Christians. The chapter is titled, “A Biblical Approach to Politics.”
“Instead of using power to mold public policies, we should endeavor to speak with authority to those in power. The sociologist Max Weber gave classic definitions that differentiate power from authority. In The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, Weber explains that power is the ability coerce or to impose your will on others. Conversely, authority is having the legitimate right in the eyes of others to expect that proposals will be embraced and followed.
It is important to stress that for Christians, authority comes from sacrificing to meet the needs of others. As the ultimate case in point, Jesus speaks as “one having authority” (Matt. 7:29). He does not coerce us into yielding to His will. Instead, we come to an awareness that He has a legitimate claim to our allegiance through His sacrifices for us – especially His sacrifice on the cross.
…Jesus rejected power as His means for changing the world into His Father’s Kingdom…authority is earned through sacrifice.”
Yesterday we celebrated the life and legacy of one who recognized this distinction, and lived and led others in such a way that he could speak with authority in the face of injustice. Martin Luther King, Jr., was very strategic in the method of drawing the attention of the nation to injustice, but did so in a manner consistent with the gospel of Christ.
Many others have gained authority and effected great changes through embracing authority over power. William Wilberforce, the British abolitionist, William and Catherine Booth, founders of the Salvation Army, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi (an admirer, if not a follower, of Jesus), to name a few notables. All these earned authority in the way Jesus did – it was earned through sacrificial acts of love for others.
The greatest abuses of Christianity have occurred when the church has embraced power – coercion of others – as a way to accomplish the (perceived) goals of the kingdom. This applies to national, international, and local situations. The church loses its authority when it embraces power – because it turns away from Christ and becomes like the world.
The cross was not originally a symbol of sacrificial love – it was a symbol of power. It was the Roman Empire’s symbol that they would destroy any who opposed them. The cross was transformed into a symbol of sacrificial love by Jesus. His followers have far too often tried to transform it back into symbol of power – a symbol that the church, and by implication Jesus, will destroy any who oppose them. Perhaps the worst thing to ever happen to Christianity was the Roman Emperor Constantine’s acceptance of it (sort of). He claimed to see a vision of a cross and heard “In this sign conquer.” That sounds like Jesus, right? Constantine made Christianity cool – acceptable, and a tool for human power and influence. If you read the New Testament, it’s pretty clear that there is no protocol for an un-persecuted Christian.
The most militaristic book in the New Testament is Revelation. The word “overcome” or “conquer” is a key word in it. Here’s how the followers of Christ overcome the forces of evil – “They overcame him (Satan) because of the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.” (Rev. 12:11)
This brings up a whole host of other issues that I’ll probably talk about later. For now, as we inaugurate a new President, as some of us hope for and some of us fear change – can we commit to seeking the authority to speak to our world in the way our Savior taught us – through sacrificial love?
