Power matters. It is one thing for a tiny, weak, new religious movement to criticize and complain about its bad treatment at the hands of a more powerful religious establishment. This is what’s going on in a lot of the New Testament’s attitude towards “the Jews” and the Pharisees. But when the tables are turned, and that weaker group evolves into the State Religion of the Roman Empire, and that formerly stronger group becomes a small minority, those same words can become poison, and used to justify unthinkable atrocities and violence. It turns out that the power differentials are more important than the mere names and labels groups happen to have. From this perspective, the oppressed Jewish communities in Europe had way more in common with Jesus and his early followers than did the pompous, wealthy, culturally ubiquitous Roman Catholic Church.
Power matters. Which American Christian community relates more closely to the position of the Bible, and of Jesus: the prosperous, all-but-established, tall-steeple church full of middle-class white people at the center of town? Or the gatherings of the descendants of slaves on the outskirts?
Some may ask why it is okay for Black people to chant that “Black lives matter!” but not okay for white people to chant that white lives matter? Why is one chant justified and the other an example of disgraceful racism? Because of power. People whose lives have been shown not to matter to those who have power — police, courts, banks, businesses, and so on — are justified in making their voices heard and appealing for equal treatment. But when the people whose lives already matter, as shown by the deferential treatment they habitually receive from every institution, howl about their lives mattering too, it is clearly a hollow and cynical ploy intended to preserve their superior status.
When I was in seminary there was a long effort to convince the administration to set aside space for a Women’s Center. Many of the liberal men spoke in favor of this. When it finally happened and a small room was dedicated as the new Women’s Center, the women declared it a man-free zone. Some of the men who supported the effort on the grounds of equality were incensed about this. They did not understand power, or equality. It is okay and necessary for a small, minority making its way in an unfamiliar and often hostile environment to gather separately to share their stories and concerns without having to accommodate people who not only have no understanding of their situation, but actively maintain their marginalization.
When we don’t take power differentials into account and delude ourselves that everyone is somehow functionally equal, then we will simply not understand the world or relationships. Indeed, we will do a lot of damage by our ignorance. Because only those who have experienced the business-end of inequality understand that people are not treated the same. The ones who benefit don’t see it. The ones who suffer do.
Today I listened to Andrew Cuomo’s profuse apologies for his offensive and intrusive behavior towards women. He sounded mystified that anyone would take offense at his actions. People who have power are not necessarily conscious that they have it, or its effects on others. They often seem to imagine that they are just like everyone else, that there is this mythical level playing field, and that there is no difference between the words and actions of a Starbucks barista and the Governor of New York.
So human society is a minefield of power inequalities. With everyone we meet, there is a complex set of power differentials based on race, gender, class, status, health, abilities, ethnicity, age, and many other categories. All tis has to be recognized and navigated, all the time.
The radical approach of the Lord Jesus to this situation is first to welcome especially those excluded by the society: the poor, women, the sick, the possessed, children, and people condemned as “sinners.” Even more importantly, Jesus identifies with them. He lives with them. He embraces their lifestyle. His welcoming is not a paternalistic, charitable accommodation. No, he empties himself of superiority, privilege, and power. Living intentionally in simple humility and joyful acceptance, in recognition of the humanity he shares with each, Jesus thereby becomes a kind of conduit by which his divinity also gets shared with others, enabling them to access the power they have within them. How often, when someone is healed, does he refuse to accept the credit, and say “Your faith has made you well”?
Discipleship means, at least, going consciously towards the lowest place. It means divesting ourselves of power. It means coming to identify with the neediest and most broken among us. It means realizing that this self-offering is the shape of divine activity in the world, beginning even with creation itself. In this way powerlessness opens us to receive the ultimate power which works in the world in and through us.
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