From a thoughtful pastor-friend:
I recently read a book by a Jewish peacemaker, Adam Kahane, Power and Love, in which he explores the generative and degenerative aspects of both power and love. He bases his work on the framework developed by Paul Tillich as follows:
Power – the drive of everything living to realize itself, with increasing intensity and extensity.
Love – the drive towards the unity of the separated.
When we exercise one without the other, we become either tyrants or doormats. Healthy exercise of power involves self awareness, including awareness of one’s own aspirations and drives, as well as awareness of the calling and aspiration of others.
I’ve noticed that often in the church we discourage people from using power – as we’re afraid of its abuse. This commonly leads to anemia (nothing happens) or a group of people who stand by doing nothing while a select enter the vacuum and dominate.
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