A Power Move ...

Let’s face it, career advancement is something we all think about from time to time.  Getting that next promotion, that next pay increase, is a cycle we want to establish and repeat as often as possible.  Some of us actually long for the increase in responsibility or perhaps authority; but setting up a career trajectory that is ever moving upwards seems engrained in our culture.  What citizen rooted in American Idealism, will ever be “content” doing only what they do today, getting paid only what they get paid today, and repeating that - until the grave reaches out for them?  We need challenge to some extent.  We need the thrill of doing more, doing something a little different, and moving up because of it.

What may not cross our minds, is that this condition we all share in the commercial world, is also shared with people who work in ministry.  Since this is more of human thing, than an indication of where you might work, it only makes sense.  Even those in the church, who have an understanding of what it means to serve, can sometimes fall right back into the ideas of “ascent”.  Now few churches offer a multi-layered hierarchy upon which to rise.  If you are the Kindergarten class teacher for example, it is not as if they have 3 layers of teacher to aspire to … (associate teacher, established teacher, and senior teacher).  If your church is large enough to warrant this kind of hierarchy, praise the Lord, as you must have many children across many rooms, and that is the rarity, not the norm.  So for many roles in ministry, there is little ascent to be had, and against a small population of believers, few who will ever make the journey.

So whether the competition for the next spot will be fierce in a commercial job, or in a ministerial position, the aspiring candidate often attempts to distinguish themselves by making … a power move.  For the candidate who is corrupt in heart, this move will undoubtedly reflect a corrupt action.  Examples include taking credit for work you did not do, essentially stabbing someone else in the back in any form, or setting up negative circumstances which leave yourself as the only logical alternative to the opening.  If managers were smart they would see through the methods of the power move, discern the heart of the applicant, and refuse to be a part of it.  But alas this has been done often, because it works often.

If however, the heart of the applicant is not corrupt, the power move can take on a far different nature.  For example, the candidate may attempt to distinguish themselves by taking on unpopular work or projects, and completing them with style, financial acuity, and discipline.  They may as an alternative, “invent” new ways to benefit the organization, and do the work, perhaps off-hours, to attempt to “earn” the advancement or open role by demonstrating how they think, and how they deliver, ahead of their competition by deeds and accomplishments.  No matter how it is conducted, the power move is intended to propel one applicant over another.  And that applicant is usually you.

One of the first power moves recorded, occurred in the Gospel of Mark in chapter ten.  It makes no sense to us, because we know the story from beginning to end.  But for the applicants in question, it seemed like the only way they were ever going to get the roles they wanted.  It seems inconceivable that this story would involve disciples of Christ, but it did.  When our ideas of ministry and career begin to blend, our concepts of service diminish.  Peter transcribes this story to John Mark, picking up in verse 35 saying … “And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.”

There it is, the power move.  James and John (the sons of thunder) have decided to wait no longer.  They intend to ask for the premier positions of power directly from Christ before any of the others get around to it.  They hope their boldness will get them what they want.  If this has been a game of chicken, the other disciples have blinked and it is too late for them.  John Mark continues in verse 36 saying … “And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?” 

This response warrants a little of our attention.  Keep in mind, Christ already knows their hearts, He knew before they formed the thought what they wanted, and what they would ask.  He could have immediately condemned them before they opened their mouths.  If condemnation was ever a part of the ministry of Christ, here would have been a perfect place to role it out.  He does not.  Instead, He utters what should be heart-breaking words to them and more importantly to us. 

We come to Christ, like those disciples, intent on getting what we want.  We ask, or demand, or plead, that Christ should grant us, some selfish desire of our hearts.  But His piercing question is … “what do you want me to do for you”.  To this question they could have stepped back, rethought about what having God give them a gift could mean.  They could have like Solomon asked for wisdom.  Like Samson they could have asked for strength.  Like Abraham they could have asked for faith.  Or perhaps most valuable of all, they could have asked to be saved, to be purified from their sins, that they might be as Enoch, ready for translation in the here and now.  But they did not.  Nor do we.

Instead, we present God with a list of our desires (or demands).  We want temporal healing, when our spiritual suffering is so near death.  We want employment, and riches, when our poverty might drive us to a dependence on Christ, and money will only drive us away from it.  We want love from a girlfriend or boyfriend, when their hearts know not our Lord, nor care to, and will ever pull us away from Him, the source of all love.  God asks us what we want.  And we want the wrong things.  Like James and John, we squander an opportunity of a lifetime, because we hear not His words, bent on presenting a list we already made up.  So like us, James and John respond in verse 37 saying … “They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.”

To understand what they asked, James and John were following the traditions of the day for the courts of power.  The positions nearest the king were the most honored, and the most powerful.  To sit at his right hand, was to be second only to the king in power.  To sit at his left hand was to be most loved by the King, and third most powerful in the kingdom itself.  James and John, had just heard a play-by-play prophecy told by Christ Himself of His coming death and resurrection.  They ignored it.  They pursued their plans of power and ascendency from inside the Kingdom of God.  They abandoned childhood trust, and asked to be adult rulers over all the other children.  They lost insight on what it means to be free to be a child at all.  So do we.

Jesus responds in verse 38 saying … “But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”  In this question James and John naturally assumed Jesus meant a cup of grape juice, or the “wine” of the day.  They may have thought He meant for them to be wine tasters in order to assure He would not be poisoned as was the tradition of many earthly kings.  He did not.  As for baptism, that was done by water, immersed in the rivers of the Jordan.  James and John were ready for these things and thought them relatively easy to complete.  But Jesus was referring to the cup of sorrows foretold by Isaiah.  He was referring to the baptism of fire that would purify His sacrifice.  They had no concept of what that would mean to them.

So the story continues in verse 39 saying … “And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: [verse 40] But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.”  Jesus says to them, very well, you will drink from my cup, and be baptized like I am.  Neither of them understood this, but they would learn.  But as for the original request, Jesus defers to His Father to decide who would sit next to Him, on His left, and on His right.  These positions of honor are left to His Father to determine, not because Jesus was without ideas or preferences perhaps, but because He trusts His Father to make a better decision.  He allows His Father to decide what He wants, just like we should.

Now, this conversation may have been semi-private, in order to keep the power move secret, and perhaps successful.  But since they did not achieve their goals, perhaps they began to speak about it to the others, (you know as a warning, so they did not try the same thing).  And this did not go over well as you can imagine.  The story continues in verse 41 saying … “And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John.”  Perhaps this a polite understatement.  Can you imagine the reaction of Peter alone, Peter the one who is the most bold, the most boisterous, to have heard that these other 2 sneaks, have tried to jump the line and get in front of him.  No, I can imagine the fur was about to fly at this gathering.

Jesus responds in verse 42 saying … “But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. [verse 43] But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: [verse 44] And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”  Jesus begins to explain (again) that the work of ministry is different.  There are no positions of authority in the church.  Perhaps that bears repeating.  There are NO positions of authority in the church.  The goal is not power, it is service.  To have honor in the Kingdom of God is to serve others.  Doing simple things like loving someone, accepting someone despite how hard they make it, pointing someone to Christ by revealing what He has done for you without ever mentioning what “they” need Him to do.  To be a minister in the Kingdom of Christ, is to be a servant, who loves.

Even God Himself performs this role.  He is not telling us to do anything He is not doing Himself.  The story concludes in verse 45 saying … “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  Jesus lays down His very life in service to us.  This is how glory is established in heaven, this is how honor is calculated.  He does not force us, He loves us.  He does not take, He offers.  He gives us our salvation, He does not attempt to sell it to us, or trade it to us.  He just gives it away.  The most precious thing He has to offer, His life, and our salvation, are just given away for free to any who will take it.

The extent to which you obtain honor, is correlated exactly with how many people you serve, and how many services you do for them.  So if you want to make a power move, you should start by loving the unloved.  If you want to make your move effective, then be there for someone in pain, without ever opening your mouth to condemn the sins that brought them to this condition.  Only reveal to them how your own sins brought you there many times, and only Jesus ever made it better.  If this is not true for you, then keep your mouth closed and look for Jesus yourself until it is.  Jesus had ample opportunity to criticize and condemn the disciples throughout this entire story if that is what He wanted to do, or wanted you to do.  Notice, He does NOT. 

Throughout this entire story, where the disciples are motivated by greed, and power, Jesus NEVER condemns.  Instead He teaches about what it really means to have honor.  He offers an alternative without ever saying a word about them, how bad they are, how stupid they are, or how sinful they are.  He offers hope without ever focusing on their sins.  He offers love without ever mentioning how bad they are right now, or how difficult they are to love.  These greedy, stubborn, power hungry disciples, refuse to hear Him about His death.  They are ready to fight over who gets to be most in charge of the Romans, when that role does not even exist.  They are doing everything wrong.  And they like us continue to want the wrong things.  Yet He never offers a condemning word, not one.

Instead, His version of love, is to teach the truth about what honor really means.   He keeps speaking words of love that focus on what is possible, NOT, on what is going on in their heads and hearts.  To focus on sin, is to make sin the winner.  To focus on what Christ says, is to look away from sin, and towards the Kingdom of God.  Jesus is not spanking the 2-year-olds for being crying, nasty, grumpy children who are disrupting the peace of His Kingdom.  He is instead tenderly holding them in His arms, and distracting them with the bright shiny Kingdom of Heaven.  And we babies stop being so nasty, and are awestruck by the shiny purity He is dangling in front of us, offering us, and letting us play with.

This story is not unique.  It may be one of the few focused on power moves by a disciple, but there are many where man comes to God with mistaken, if not downright sinful requests or ideas.  God does not condemn them for their chosen ignorance and sin.  He leads them away from it.  He leads them to truth without saying how bad they are, or reminding them how bad they were.  The point is redemption, not guilt.  The point is freedom to play like children, without the burden of judgment and condemnation that only adults must bear.  We are being made free to love others, free to play like kids with our God.  The methods of how He frees us are important to witness, so that as we try to share what we learn, we do it in similar ways.  Ignore the sin, and lead the person to the alternative, in Jesus Christ.  He will free them from the things they want today, which are not the right things to want.  Just like He does it for you and me.  Jesus will reset the improper thinking in them … and in you.