Libido Dominandi - The Lust to Dominate Saint Augustine |
Power is a Rorschach word. Define it and you immediately say a great deal about yourself. As Tacitus reminds us, the lust for absolute power is more burning than all the passions. If you look around the world you cannot help but observe the craving for the assembling of power. Whether it is in North Korea and China or Iran and Afghanistan, and even Canada or the United States, the lust for power is ubiquitous. There are three types of power. Condign - physical force, Cognitive - mental manipulation, and Compensatory - money. Most dictators or dictatorial regimes utilize all three to control and contain people. The most effective dictators start out by cognitively providing a heroic narrative of the love of man expressed in terms like the desire for equality and equity. This is followed by a compensatory provision to buy off the mass of men. If force is needed, condign power is selectively and strategically implemented to ensure compliance by the masses. Any semblance or resemblance this reality has to current world affairs is up to you to determine. It is unfortunate that the Church has historically engaged in all three of these manifestations of power devoid of spiritual sensitivity and the results have for the most part been less than spiritually satisfactory. Jesus seemed to shun both condign and compensatory power but utilized cognitive power frequently. He out argued with both logic and eloquence. But the power of His message was manifested and magnified by loving the unlovable. Just think of all the un-sanitized, ugly, and unsatisfactory people - either mentally or morally, whom Jesus met with and cared for. Jesus manifested what Joe Aldrich called the “music of the gospel” and the “message of the gospel.” Both are forms of powerful communication that attract and appeal to people living in a lost and dying world. So, if you are looking to have power or be powerful, might I suggest you read First Corinthians chapter 13 --all of it… and then see….. “But the greatest of these is Love” Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred |