The spate of recent scandals of power abuse by leaders within the evangelical world suggests something is wrong in our churches. When a leader misuses power, they have misunderstood and misrepresented God and the gospel. This volume addresses the key underlying issue of what a biblical and healthy use of power in the church actually looks like. Authors from a variety of Christian backgrounds and traditions help frame a biblical and theological understanding and practice of power use, describe what it looks like when things go wrong (and how to recognize the signs), and suggest how the contemporary church can and must do better in this area. This book is a rigorously grounded biblical challenge to much contemporary practice. It is a call to reformation.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Why Another Book on Power and Why Now?
Mark Stirling
Imitating the Mindset of Christ
Confessions of a Potential Authoritarian: Knowing the Trinity as Antidote to Pastoral Authoritarianism
Jared Michelson
“You must not do as they do . . . ” Old Testament Israel’s Distinctive Patterns of Leadership
Chris Wright
Sin and Why We Need to Take It More Seriously
Nick Mackison
The Power of the Imago Dei and the Imago Dei in Power
Mark Meynell
Symbolic Capital and the Dynamics of Leadership: The Gospel and the Idolatry of Status
Grant Macaskill
Use, Not Abuse: An Augustinian Approach to Loving People
Graham Shearer
When a Church Becomes a Cult: Twenty-Five Years On
Steve Wookey
The Cost of Brokenness
Blythe Sizemore
Authoritative,
Not
Authoritarian
Sam Allberry
When Our First Love Is Loving to Be First
Chris Green
Mentors, Not Masters
Marcus Honeysett
Of God and God-Men
Sushila Ailawadi
Pastors Empowering Women to Flourish
Tasha Chapman
Signs and Symptoms of Unhealthy Leaders and Their Systems
Conclusion: That No Bruised Reed Is Ever Broken