TRUE POWER AND CONTROL BELONG TO GOD ALONE

 

 

"Power, without control, appertains to God alone; and no man ought to be trusted with what no man is equal to."

from Cato's Letters

 

Two of the men who had a powerful influence on pre-Revolutionary America were John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon. Together, they wrote a series of articles entitled "Cato's Letters" and in the quote above they put into words the feelings of most of our Founders: No one is equal to the privilege of having power without control of the people except God alone. It was true, they believed, of the King of England before the war, and is was true of themselves. Because of this, the founders were very, very careful to write the Constitution in such a way that the people would be protected from the leaders that they selected. They had had enough of despotism and tyranny to last a lifetime! And, with few exceptions, they believed that God was the true head of this new nation they had established!

 

When you think about it, we read the Bible for the same reason that patriots read the Constitution. Since the Bible tells us about the church and it's leadership, we should be very careful to pay attention. God was even more careful when it came to the church than our Founders were when it came to their new nation. God knew that many of the men chosen as leaders in the church would not be able to fight the irresistible urge for control and power, so He placed safeguards within the Scripture to ensure that Christ, not man, would control the church. In fact, God placed Jesus at the head of the church in order to protect this sacred body that He gave His life for.

 

And the reasoning was much the same as that of the Founders of America: Power belongs to God alone! Mere men cannot be entrusted with such a huge responsibility, so God gave us a set of rules that He expects to be followed. He tells us everything we need to know about His church. He tells us the precise way that He adds us to the church. He tells us how to worship when we come together as a church. He tells us how to select leaders for the church, and He tells us how to be on guard against men who would try to take over the church and use it for their own selfish purposes. God, not man, has made these rules so we need to be careful to follow them.

 

And you don't need me or any other man to tell you what those rules are, for you can read them for yourself in the pages of the greatest book ever written!

 

Most Americans our proud of our Constitution because we believe in what it stands for, and we believe in the wisdom of those who gave so much to pass it along. In a similar (but far more important) way, we Christians are proud of the Bible! And, why not? The Bible contains the very words of God and He is the only One who is up to the task of power without restraint.

 

Have you read your Bible today?

 

"Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior"

Ephesians 5:23, RSV

 

Today is day 18 of the Thirty Day Bible Challenge. The readings are from the 16th chapter of Romans through the 8th chapter of I Corinthians. It is packed with information about the church and the Christian life. My God richly bless you as you seek to find out all you can about the only One who is truly able to handle power without constraints!