How You Use Power Says So Much

Okay…we’ll start here.  None of us like to use the word ‘power’ and a reference to ourselves in the same sentence.  We all like to pretend we have less power than we do.

But the truth is you have power…of some kind.  So do I.  You have

• Influence
• Money
• Authority
• Street credibility
• Popularity
• Connections

Power doesn’t only come from a title or salary.  We all have it in one form or another. At a minimum, every friend, parent, employee and spouse has influence.  If you don’t believe it, ask your kids, spouse, co-workers or friend.  You have it.  And you and I are responsible for how we use it. While each of us knows people with more power and influence than we have, that reality doesn’t change the fact that we’re accountable for what God has given us.

So how do you use the power you’ve been entrusted with?  The natural course is to use it for your own advancement.

But if we view it properly, all power, influence and even status come to us as a trust from God.  Any influence, money, authority or connections I might have are not given to my for my sake, but to be exercised in full view that God gave them to me for a reason and purpose.

So how do you keep this front and centre?  Here’s what I find: one of the very best uses of power is to use it to help someone who can’t possibly pay you back.

Help someone who doesn’t have the money, social network, position or influence to possibly pay you back in even a remotely equivalent way.   Jesus taught on this in a very powerful way.

Occasionally I’ll do a self-audit to see how I’m stewarding that influence.  If I’m mostly concerned with people who are more ‘important’ and influential than me, it’s a pretty good sign that I’m using the influence God has given me in a selfish way.  I might be trying to climb a professional ladder, move my own agenda ahead or advance a personal kingdom.  We naturally have to work with people who are ‘higher up’ than we are, but if those are the only people we really track with, something is awry.

Here are nine things you and I can do to help ensure we are using our power and influence to help others in a faithful way:

• Build a friendship with a homeless (personally, not just through some organization you send checks to)
• Journey with someone struggling with mental illness
• Build friendships with people who you think will probably never attend your church (this one’s for pastors)
• Write a cheque to someone who can’t possible repay you
• Throw a dinner party for people who never get invited out
• Personally return messages that are sent to you even by people who can’t ‘help your cause’
• Use your social media presence to interact with people with a fraction of the followers you have
• Take a very junior colleague out to lunch and spend some time listening
• Share/loan/donate your possessions to people who can’t afford what you can afford

I promise you this resonates on multiple levels.  First, we have a Saviour who has done all of the above and more for each of us, one way or the other.  And second, every time someone with more power, authority and influence does that for me, I am humbled, encouraged and amazed at the same time.

What are you learning about this?  What things help you steward the influence God has given you?