New Review: Church, Power, and Church Power
My Latest Review at Christianity Today
Sorry for pinging you twice in one day, but I have a new review up at Christianity Today, on David Fitch’s Reckoning with Power, a book that I thought was very flawed.
I appreciate the intent behind the book, but the basic nub of my critique is that the very thing he wants to move away from is the very thing that makes church possible: a sense of borrowed power, of “thus saith the Lord”. This is, frankly, a problem in church across the board—God saying Yes and Amen to us in Christ Jesus comes hand in hand with God saying No to all that which is killing us. And so, the power to bind and loose, the power to say no to death itself must come with the power to raise to new life.
There is a need for Christians to have a much better conversation on power, but I’m afraid this isn’t it.
Your review highlights a legitimate aspect of power that those if us in search of a faithful Christian ethos tend to overlook. It’s easier to remember the Cross than the King that Jesus also is. And that it’s his Kingship that triumphs and endures, not his humiliation, nor his wounds. Thank you for this reminder, and the invitation to discern and respect whenever the Church succeeds in representing Christ’s authority.