Power Struggle

I want to talk about one important issue: “Power Struggle”. As a person once said: "Power corrupts, but lack of power corrupts absolutely." This is an important issue we have to consider. Today, we can find serious struggles everywhere among rulers, presidents and sad but true, church leaders.

By Human Power we understand the controlling force that gives people the ability to either strengthen or weaken a community, a culture or a group of people. Human power gives people something to focus on, which drastically intensifies its belief system.

The different ways this power affects the people within the community depends upon whether the people are willing to conform to others' belief systems. There is always a struggle when belief and power are involved within a social system because belief and power presuppose what a culture and its people stand for. If there is an unsettlement somewhere within this power structure, one side is forced to surrender and give up, allowing the other side to enforce and take over.

Today, some cultures, as the Hispanic culture for instance, consider weak men to be womanly. This common belief is held when men are without courage and strength. This belief is enforced by the tribe, and accepted in the mind of some cultures; he will not even hesitate to kill a family member.

Not only physical power, but also spiritual power has the ability to impose certain beliefs, and the circumstances these beliefs profess to hold. Spiritual power is more indirect, it cannot be perceived as well as the physical, therefore making it a harder manifestation to hold onto.

There is a power that can cohere and a power that can separate. The powers that cohere can only work effectively if one group is willing to suspend their own belief system, they need to listen and understand. All struggles are resolved when there is understanding, and it is only through the lack of this understanding that "Things Fall Apart."

In my personal opinion, as Christians we have the responsibility to know how to face power struggle within the Body of Christ. In our churches there are many leaders who have the authority given by God and recognized by the Church, but the problem is that they don’t know how to handle their personal conflicts. Their response should be to try to resolve every problem with love, patience and humbleness. If necessary, the leader must be willing to give himself in to bring a solution to a particular conflict.

I do believe that Power Struggle shouldn’t be something impossible to resolve if we are in God’s hands. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave us an excellent example for resolving Power Struggle Conflicts. It’s my desire that we may follow his example and ask God to give us wisdom and strength to handle conflicts in a way that pleases God. God bless you!

OLIVER MARTINEZ