Cozying Up, For Power

“The easiest place to get power is in the church.” Too often we think of sex and greed as the worst of the three great temptations. But power is the third, and usually overlooked. And sadly, the church itself is one of the most active venues for power grabbing. Quite the opposite of Jesus, who came to serve, not to be served.

We had only arrived in Tucson days earlier. I came there directly out of seminary, and Carol fresh out of nursing school. I was anxious to begin a church ministry as youth and worship pastor. The senior pastor seemed to be a gem of a man to work with. The anticipation of beginning a team ministry with him, and being mentored by him, was exciting. And time would prove that hope and assessment to be correct. He was the best ever.

Within days of our arrival one of the board members, a deacon, came to me and asked if he could fill our freezer with beef. Subtle red flags were raised in my mind and heart, though. Maybe it was the body language. Maybe it was the barely distinguishable fanfare, rather than just simply doing the deed, anonymously. Somehow I could read into the offer a bid for power, a demand for loyalty, a snare that said, “Now remember, you owe me one.” I don’t think I even offered to pray about it and get back to him with an answer. As poor and needy as we were, I graciously replied to his offer with a simple, “No, I think we’re fine, thank you.”

Again, my assessment was correct. He was the worst ever. Or depending on how you look at it, he may have been the best ever. The best at cozying up to leaders. The best at being a spiritual con man. A few years later the church was in search of a new senior pastor. I watched the power struggle develop as the committee laid out a plan to search for a new man of God. This same deacon offered to the committee to fly anywhere in the country to observe and interview a candidate, at his own expense, if the committee would like him to do so. The same red flags went off. To my amazement, though, the committee took the bait. I said to myself, “he just bought himself the right to hand pick his own man.” And that is exactly what happened.

Oh how ministry changes when people cozy up to leaders, when leaders are charmed, when alliances are formed, when power is bartered. The cause suffers, rumors fly, accusations abound, trust evaporates, and relationships disintegrate. The wolf in sheep’s clothing often goes unnoticed, sitting in the fold nice and cozy, seemingly impeccable spiritually, and glowing with praise and adulation. Even highly favored. They don’t wear red flags.

It was on a television special report that I heard the quote, “The easiest place to get power is in the church.” The subject of the report was a spiritual con man who had bedazzled his way into a church, developed a following, and eventually had his “cult” murder a group of dissenters. A sad story, and extreme, yes. But his statement is a telling observation.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)

“My brothers, don’t show favoritism….” (see James 2:1-13)