new church life : september / october 2017
enjoy love and wisdom and who , therefore , out of that love , wish well to everyone and out of that wisdom know how to make sure it happens . People like this do not control and command but minister and serve , for doing good for others out of a love for what is good is serving , and making sure that it happens is ministering . They do not make themselves more important than other people but less so , for they put the welfare of the community and of their neighbor first and their own later .”
Contrast that with so much of what we witness today among our “ public servants .” Too many of them are caught up in a VIP culture that places them above those whom they are supposedly serving . There are just too many examples of corruption , of self-aggrandizement , of putting power above the common good .
It is sobering then – and should get the attention of those who abuse their power – to read the description of government in hell : “ The forms of governments ( in the hells ) are exact opposites of those in the heavens because they all derive from selfishness . All people there want to control others and to be preeminent . They hate people who do not agree with them , and use vicious means to get even with them because this is what selfishness is like . So for them it is the more vicious ones who hold office , and who are obeyed out of fear .” ( 220 )
Cynics say we get the government we deserve – because we are too apathetic , uninformed and uninvolved to demand enough of ourselves to expect more of our representatives .
There are truly many good and committed public servants , but also too many who let a little power go to their heads . We weep with the angels as Shakespeare describes in Measure for Measure : “ But man , proud man , drest in a little brief authority , most ignorant of what he ’ s most assured , his glossy essence , like an angry ape , plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven as make the angels weep .”
Abraham Lincoln framed the essential challenge : “ Nearly all men can stand adversity , but if you want to test a man ’ s character , give him power .”
And that is the test . It is not just those who govern us whom we judge , but should first be ourselves . We are “ governors ” in many areas of life – of our own character , and within our families , communities , societies . At whatever level – from CEO of a company to a mother or father – the ideal is the servant leader : a person of strong values and purpose , coupled with humility and the desire first to serve . It is the heavenly model – acting always from love of the Lord and the neighbor , not the love of dominion .
Let Joshua ’ s parting words to the Children of Israel be our guide : “ And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord , choose this day whom you will serve ; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the
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