The absolute, universal, inevitable corruption of power
The wonder of the phrase “power corrupts” is not just its timeless, universal wisdom, but the breadth of humanity’s rejection of it.
There have been a few throughout history who have heeded it, such as the founders of America. Having experienced the abuses of a king, they intentionally designed a government that rejected the power of monarchy and established a republic in which the executive branch was the weakest.
In literature, the corruption of power is vividly illustrated as the central theme in The Lord of the Rings, in which even the “hero” succumbs to the temptation of evil.
But nowhere does it ring true more than in the pages of Scripture.
Kings and their corruption
When God founded the nation of Israel, it was governed not by kings but by judges, because the Lord was their King. Deuteronomy 17:14-20 foretells the beginning of Israel’s monarchy, not so much as the ideal, but a concession to the worldliness of the people, and instruction on how to restrain it.
When the Israelites fulfilled that passage in 1 Samuel 8, God was displeased. They rejected His providential rule (verse 7) and demanded a power that they could see, control, and wield. God’s warning to them was that their king would be just as corrupt as the leaders they wanted to replace, but with more authority.
It took only three generations of Israel’s kings to inevitably lead to national division. Having the law of God as the law of the land did not prevent that. Division led to doom, as Israel and Judah fell to the Assyrians and Babylonians, respectively, and eventually Rome. Of course, those empires fell as well.
God’s ordination of kingdom in Israel was not because that was their destiny, but because its failure was. The fall of Israel reflected the fall of humanity, all by design. A fallen man was never meant to reign from Jerusalem, where the crown would make his natural depravity a dreadful curse upon the land. The assignment of power to men was meant only to demonstrate their unworthiness of it.
Even the “good” kings, whose reforms never lasted, were only types and shadows of the perfect King to come. After the collapse of Israel’s monarchy, this King, the King the people rejected, became a Man Himself.
The one truly good King
This Man was born to a lowly maiden betrothed to a carpenter from a small town. His first moments were surrounded by animals and straw. Only a few shepherds and select foreigners knew He was born. As He grew, no one heard of Him outside His local community. When His public time came, He didn’t rebel against the tyranny of Rome; He preached a kingdom that could not be seen. He confounded the people’s expectations of a military messiah. He rode into Jerusalem not on a war horse but on a donkey, as kings did in peace.
He was arrested and placed on trial, where He said His kingdom was not one His followers would fight for. He was executed like a common criminal, but then, without sword or scepter, He conquered death itself.
He then commissioned His church to follow His example and multiply not by force but by words. Even as they were hunted, persecuted, and put to death, they never fought back. They didn’t seek the world’s power nor teach future generations to do that. They didn’t even set foot in the halls of government unless they were under arrest. Yet they turned the world upside down.
This is because they were all filled with the same power that raised the King from the dead. This power was not worldly, but heavenly, the very power of God Himself. This is why God’s method of advancement changed from warring nation-states to grassroots individuals in the New Testament. This is the same power His people still have today, the power of the King who builds His church as He pleases and which nothing can stop.
Back to Israel’s folly
But even in this age, with that magnitude of power available to them, many who claim the King’s name have instead taken after the Israelites of Samuel’s day and made worldly power their goal.
The results have been no different. Whenever they have attained the power of an empire, they have either failed, apostasized, and/or become the very tyrants they thought they were replacing, and no more righteous.
That lust for power continues today. It dominates what some church-goers talk about. It’s heard in their calls to take our country back for God, as if the One who controls every atom needed us for that. It’s seen in their admiration for the world’s brutal authoritarians, their defense of a violent insurrection, and even in some stated desires to take back power through force.
Such an emphasis abandons the commission of the King. It calls for Saul or Barabbas instead. It’s choosing Christendom over Christianity, which are two very different things. It’s going back to the Old Testament. It’s loving this world and looking to things that are seen. It’s accepting the kingdoms that the devil offered. It’s a political version of the prosperity gospel, yearning for our best life now. It’s striving for a comfortable life that’s a nanosecond compared to eternity.
The ultimate power
Eternity is our victory. Eternity is our hope. Eternity is the power we have today, infinitely stronger than all the armies of the world combined. Eternity is our mission, and an obsession with weaker power is only a stumbling block to that.
The King has said that He has all authority in heaven and on earth. He has it all. Now. There’s no more power we can give Him.
Someday, He will return to earth, destroy His enemies, and manifest His absolute power politically, from His throne in Jerusalem. Until then, His commission is to preach (not impose) the good news of His death, resurrection, and forgiveness of sins. His call is to populate the kingdom He will bring to earth Himself.
That’s our hope, the hope God blesses (Titus 2:13), because only Jesus, the only uncorrupted Man, is worthy to have the power of a King.
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