Control of Power

The Hulk is perhaps the clearest illustration, raw strength beyond measure. Yet, for most of his story, Bruce Banner's greatest enemy is not a villain. It is the rage he cannot master. The power that should make him extraordinary is a barrier separating him from community. Jean Grey's gift annihilates entire planets when her discipline fails. Superman is capable of caressing Lois’s cheek.

Uncontrolled strength causes damage proportional to its size. This is why the most dangerous people are not those with great weakness, they are those with great power who lack discipline or integrity. I see this clearly now in my own history. I was humbled and lost a position of authority. It was heartbreaking in the moment, but a blessing that I wasn’t permitted to continue and that the correction was handled quietly. The damage may have been far more destructive.

Every person at some point may carry a version of this idea. A friend whose words cut when they chould heal or encourage. The leader whose personal drive runs over their team, whom they ought to serve and nurture. I’ve been here too. Pride and arrogant blindness of a passionate person often becomes the obstacle to the very thing they desire. The problem is self-governance.

Control is also not the suppression of power. It is the mastery of it.

Proverbs returns to the theme of self-control with striking frequency because the writers understood what modern psychology has confirmed, the capacity to govern oneself is the foundation of every other capacity.

"Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city."

— Proverbs 16:32, ESV

The comparison is deliberate. Taking a city in the ancient world, the ultimate demonstration of military power, is described as less impressive than ruling your own temper. The internal victory is harder and more valuable than any external conquest.

Galatians 5:22-23 lists self-control as a fruit of the Spirit, not a technique to be learned, but a quality that grows from surrender to something larger than your own appetites. This is the counterintuitive truth of this trope: the mastery you are seeking does not come from trying harder. It comes from yielding more completely to the one who designed the power in the first place.

A humorous and poignant spiritual lesson is found in Luke 9. James and John were two of the twelve disciples of Jesus. They were brothers who spent many close moments learning directly from Jesus. They had had success and their faith was growing strong. But this chapter of Luke has them asking about which of His followers is the greatest. They then tried to stop outsiders from doing their same work casting out demons. Then finally, in verses 51-56, when they experience rejection from a Samaritan village James and John ask Jesus if they can call down fire on those people. They know they have access to the power of God, but they clearly have a lot still to learn.

David demonstrated power both under control and how it can be abused. In 1 Samuel 24 Saul, along with 3000 men, is pursuing David and his men. Saul stops for a restroom break in a cave. Unbeknownst to him, David and his men are hiding deeper in the cave. The opportunity amazes them, but David restrains himself to cutting off the corner of Saul’s robe. David feels bad afterward that he even did that much harm to King Saul. But David is able to show Saul that he could have harmed him, but chose not to.

In a more famous later story recorded in 2 Samuel 11, David abuses his power. David was a warrior, but he chose to not go out to fight with his men. Instead he was idle in Jerusalem. From the roof of his palace, he spotted a very beautiful woman bathing. Bathsheba, the woman was the wife of one of David’s soldiers. David had her brought to him and got her pregnant. In an effort to cover this up, he tried to get her husband to come back and sleep with her. But Uriah, her husband, was an honorable soldier and refused. So David set him up to be killed. Later in chapter 12, David’s friend Nathan powerfully illustrates and opens David’s eyes to how he has abused his power. It is hard to call out someone in such a powerful position, but Nathan’s rebuke was effective.

The damage inventory. Where has your gifting, drive, or passion caused collateral damage to people around you? Not where you failed, where have you succeeded in a way that hurt someone else. That is a mark of uncontrolled power.

The pattern of excess. When your strength operates without restraint, what does it look like? Saying too much, failing to maintain healthy margins, responding abruptly, expecting too much from others? Name your specific excess.

The restraint question. Consider which strengths are still in development for you. How would your community benefit by going slowly and thoughtfully learning how to master your full capability?

The stewardship question. If your gifts were not yours, if you only managed them on behalf of someone else, how would you use them differently? What boundaries would you build around them? What rest would you protect?

Control of Power is the challenge that sits between the wound of your origin and the relationships of your alliance. It is the internal work that makes external impact sustainable. Without it, your strengths burn hot and brief. With it, they endure.

This concept pairs naturally with The Mentor, because the discipline required to govern your power almost always requires someone outside yourself to help you see where the boundaries need to be. It is difficult to regulate something you cannot fully observe in yourself.

Take some time to reflect and journal. Have you had someone you trust share a corrective word about power you managed poorly? Have you had times when you overreacted and were later ashamed or embarrassed by your lack of composure? Is there an action you are capable of taking, but are afraid to carry our because it might be awkward or uncomfortable?

Watch the session below for a deeper exploration of what it means to steward your gifts rather than simply deploy them.

[In the near future, a video here will explore — Control of Power: Strength Under Authority]