Short version … for those on the run …
What’s the problem with hierarchical leadership? Can I shoot from the hip? We’re not built for it. We’re not designed to handle positional power or the celebrity-like adulation that often stems from it. It is simply not how God created us. Have you ever tried to play football with a brick or run your car on prune juice or cut your hair with a chainsaw? (I know I’m being ridiculous – but that’s the point).
Jesus Himself not only underlined this truth by making it clear that spiritual leadership is completely at heads with hierarchical leadership (Matthew 20:25, 26) but directly confronted the corruption associated with it (Matthew 23:1ff). To paraphrase John Dalberg-Acton: power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
In the “long version” (below) we look at one of the most powerful lessons the Old Testament teaches us and why we ignore it at our own peril. While it may not sound like the most thrilling topic, it is one worth thinking through deeply. Applying its content may save you from pursuing a dead-end path littered with the lives of those who chased a dangling carrot in contradiction to how God has created us.
Continue reading ‘What is wrong with hierarchical leadership? “Absolute Power”’
