CHOOSING REAL POWER

Rob Fleenor led our small group in a lesson about Peter and John from Acts 4 this week, and here are some insights generated from that study:

First, Peter was led by the Spirit on his way to prayer. Being a Jewish believer, he was going to the temple at the hour of prayer, to participate in the daily synagogue liturgy. There, he saw a beggar who had been there for years. This crippled man had probably seen Peter walk past him every day before, likely without Peter talking to him or giving him alms. In fact, he had probably even see Jesus go by on the Lord's way to the temple. Yet, here he was, still dependent and weak.

But today was different. For whatever reason, today the Spirit nudged Peter to heal this man. Peter said, "Look at us!" The man expected a gift, but he was expecting mere money. "I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give to you: in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, get up and walk." And he did.

I think it was Martin Luther who said of the pope in his day, "No longer can he say, 'Silver and gold have I none,' but likewise neither can he say, 'Get up and walk.'" Yes. Perhaps organized religion wars against and grieves the Holy Spirit, so that no longer do we have spiritual power, since we have so much earthly power. Peter uses the opportunity to preach to the curious crowd about Jesus.

Later that afternoon, Peter is brought before the council to defend his actions. The religious leaders of his generation ask by what authority or in whose name Peter had done this healing. Seems silly, doesn't it? How could they miss the point of a generous and loving act of mercy? But that's what organized religion will do. It creates power, and power corrupts.

Notice that in his reply it says that Peter was filled with the Spirit. I don't know what that felt like, or how Peter knew that for this answer he was especially filled with the Spirit, but it must have been an especially noteworthy moment in the apostle's life. Filled with the Spirit, Peter gives an answer:

"If you are asking how and why a miraculous good deed took place, then let me be clear: It is in the name of Jesus." If I were asked why we give out food at Manna, or why we help people financially, or why we offer counseling services or music lessons, I wonder how clearly I would reply. It is a temptation when, for example, the government offers money to support "faith-based charities," so long as those charities comply with certain restrictions. Money is power, and power corrupts.

After Peter's bold defense, the council noted that he and John were unschooled men, but that they had "been with Jesus." They knew from experience what spiritual power was like, and Peter sounded just like his Lord in his answer.

In my professional world, we care about academic credentials, which mostly means secular credentials. You might say, no longer can we say that we are unschooled. But then perhaps no longer is it clear that we have been with Jesus. Rather, it is clear that we have education, which often substitutes for and mimicks spiritual power.

Organized religion can turn good guys into bad guys in any generation, because it gives power to some and rewards certain behaviors. Then those who have power (authority, respect, money) work to keep themselves in that place, and they will, in the name of serving God, oppose His very work in the next generation because it threatens their position. In Peter's generation, the Pharisees and Saducees were the ones in power, and they opposed Peter. In the middle ages, the pope had the power, and though he claimed to wear the mantle of Peter, his ministry was nothing like Peter's. Today, perhaps one might say, professional pastors and professors are part of the educated elite, and they oppose the work of God in our generation.

In the words of the songwriter, I would rather have Jesus than silver or gold, riches untold, worldwide fame, or anything this world affords. Our little study of Acts 4 reminds me of some potential blindspots that the tastes of power in the evangelical world might tempt me with.

Jesus was tempted with worldly power and wealth. It was at least one of the three most significant temptations to him. When the temptation came, Jesus stopped quoting Scripture and arguing with the devil and told him to be gone. I wonder if I have responded more to rather like the pay and the respect and prestige that organized religion will give me.

"LORD, I would choose to be with Jesus more than I would to study about Him. I would rather talk five words to Jesus than to write a book about the contemporary quest for Him. I would rather walk in discerning, spiritual power than to fall prey to the temptation for temporal worldly power. Let me see through the wiles of the enemy today, and choose You. Amen."
-ker