All forms of worldly power are false because they are always at some level coercive, self-serving, and manipulative – and thus self-condemning and self-defeating. This is true of governments, businesses, churches, families, and personal relationships. A main theme in the Gospel of John is that the way the world rules is condemned.

True power is what empowers, what leads to human flourishing. It begins with trust which builds unity, a shared identity. It goes forward with hope, spreading freedom for each to flourish. It achieves and lives out the goal of love which creates real equality.

This is the social order we call the church. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection make this way of life together possible. His Holy Spirit makes it actual.