THE POWER OF Jesus works like yeast: At first invisible, it transforms lives and eventually transforms cultures. In Reckoning with Power, David E. Fitch, a pastor and professor at Northern Seminary, explores this power — what he calls “Power With,” a relational and restorative type of power. It is, essentially, the power of love. Fitch contrasts this with worldly power, “Power Over,” which is hierarchical, domineering, and ultimately incompatible with Christianity.
Fitch first examines power sociologically, then biblically. He reads all scripture through the lens of Jesus’ authority to serve and heal. Helpfully, Fitch spends time discussing the difficult passages that seem to endorse God’s power as Power Over, including the Canaanite conquest and the violence in apocalyptic literature. He closes with some practical tactics for churches to help foster Power With, including a process of discernment he calls “IGTHSUS” (“It Has Seemed Good to the Holy Spirit and to Us”). Rather than model our communities after the power of the world, he encourages us to follow Christ by embracing God’s power.
Fitch’s core recommendation for how Power With should operate in churches is based on small groups discerning the Holy Spirit. However, he doesn’t acknowledge that small groups can also be sites of domination. Consider how misogynistic habits of conversation can privilege men’s voices. At times, Fitch is overly optimistic about our ability to relinquish Power Over.
Fitch acknowledges that Power Over is necessary in our fallen world. “It will be a constant navigation,” Fitch writes. “Christians will have to discern when and how to use worldly power and when we can make space for God’s power to work among us.” Fitch suggests that it should be used sparingly to restrain evil, but not relied on for ultimate restoration. He uses the example of a woman named Jane working in two different types of medical centers: a corporate hospital, which operates within the worldly frame of money-power, and a birth care center that she started to meet her community’s needs by providing lower-cost care and other support to parents. While the birthing center embodies the relational aspects of Power With, the corporate hospital is still necessary for high-risk pregnancies.
Problematically, Fitch’s power ethic framework requires people to act unethically at times. The power of a union to negotiate with employers may be a positive counterexample to Fitch’s queasiness about Power Over. Ideally, a workplace is a relational space where people take care of each other in a rich web of love (Power With). But when that doesn’t happen, unions can force an employer to make changes. This use of Power Over balances the playing field since employers generally have control over working conditions.
At the end of the book, Fitch pushes readers to “sow the seed of God’s subversive revolution on the right side of God’s power.” God’s love is powerful — and complicated to embody. Fitch’s vision of power as sacrificial and relational reflects the testimony of scripture but doesn’t adequately understand the world. The power of the kingdom acts invisibly, like yeast, but we should be wise as serpents as we discern it.
Greg Williams works in digital communications at an advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. He tweets @gwilliamsster and blogs at fourthconfession.
Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!
