Power’s Prerequisite
Psalm 78:70-71 … “He chose his servant David, and took him from the sheep folds; from tending the nursing ewes he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob of Israel, his inheritance.”
1 Kings 12:7 … “They answered him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.”
There is a reason God chose to include the fact that prior to appointing David to shepherd God’s people, his first call was to tend and nurture sheep. In learning to tend sheep, David would cultivate a heart of compassion, in particular for the nursing ewes. This compassion for the sheep was a prerequisite for caring for God’s people. His learning would include such things as tenderness and striking down anything that would attack the sheep, whether lions or bears (1 Samuel 17:34-36). David was a mighty warrior alright, but it was derived out of his love for the sheep God entrusted him to care for. This depth of love and compassion were the prerequisite God required, for David to fill the calling God had prepared for him—to lead the people of Israel.
David is a legend in the word today as a mighty warrior for God in his day on account of his love for God and for God’s people. When David’s grandson Rehoboam took the throne, he sought the counsel of his father’s older men on how to deal with the people. They recommended he show his people love as his father had, if he did, he would have followers all his days. Rehoboam, however, took the counsel of his peers and sought to establish a reputation of being the mighty warrior as his grandfather had been. In doing this however, Rehoboam took a short cut, skipping the lessons of love and compassion that were formative to David’s leadership, and opted to go straight for power and bravado instead. He tightened the restrictions on the people of Israel and destroyed any respect the people might have had for him.
Fast forward to the days of Jesus. The people in Jesus’ day were expecting the Messiah to be a mighty warrior, one who would deliver them from their oppressors—a man of power and bravado. Unfortunately, Jesus was not what they expected or wanted. He demonstrated no military prowess nor bravado. What Jesus did demonstrate to the people, was the love and compassion that empowers. He came to show his people a better way. He wanted people to know and understand the power of love!
Jesus’ love for us was powerful enough to endure the cross. Take a minute to think about that. His power was not for his might of bravado and not for his own reputation. Jesus’ power was generated from his love and directed to those he loved so much. He reminds us that the sum and total of the commands is that we love one another as we love ourselves. Then in John 15:12-13, he gives us this new commandment. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” If we want to cultivate power as a Christian, cultivate the power of love. Jesus showed us the way, then asks us to imitate him. His love for us is lifechanging. Bravado and power are nothing if not founded in love.
1 Cor. 13:1-7 says, “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Today, many patriarchs are pursuing male leaders who demonstrate manly bravado. These patriarchs are pushing to the forefront those they consider to be manly men to lead within the Christian community. Is there anything new under the sun? This misses the point that Jesus dedicated his whole life and ministry to when he walked here on earth. It is not the bravado of humankind, but the power of love that is required of us according to God. God’s word to us is forever and true. If we want to be Godly leaders, let’s let everything we do be birthed out of the power of the love of God.
