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The immeasurable power of surrender
When David Fitch speaks about church and power, his starting point is not any big thoughts from the seminary classrooms he’s so familiar with or even his experience as pastor of a majority-Black church. It’s the “cesspool” of the Chicago financial sector, where he spent 10 years as a dangerously successful broker and financial manager.…
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Control issues
What is more countercultural than submission? In a time of unalienable rights and unfettered individuality, voluntary abdication of power, rights or personal expression is relatively unthinkable. These norms seep into church despite the fact that submitting, yielding and weakness are Gospel bedrock. The central image of our faith is our Saviour, not with a fist…
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Does the Carver model suit Mennonites?
A retired veteran of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) management put it bluntly (off-record): “MCC is not a priesthood of all believers.” I don’t know if any Mennonite organizations are. Most, like this magazine, are hierarchies, and many use some version of the Carver model of governance. While such matters may be boring for many readers,…
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Let’s talk about power
Did you know, there are over 650 occurrences of the word “power” in the Bible? Dunamis, a Greek word for power, occurs 120 times in the New Testament and means “strength” or “ability.” It is used to describe, for example, the power of God (Matthew 22:29), the power of Elijah (Luke 1:17), and the power…
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Revisiting a third way
J. Lawrence Burkholder’s experiences as a relief worker in China in 1947 caused him to think about the nature of power. His dissertation, “The problem of social responsibility from the perspective of the Mennonite church,” was completed in 1958 but not published at the time because it challenged Mennonite teachings. Burkholder called for Mennonite social…
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Finding worthiness in weakness
In II Corinthians 12:9, Paul shares a message he received from God in response to his personal struggles: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” It’s no small thing to trust that God’s grace is sufficient for us regardless of what we’re going through. To accept that God’s grace…
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Gelassenheit and power
I got into an interesting discussion with a friend from my church recently. In adult ed., we were talking about liberation theology and its view of sin. (You can read about liberation theology and sin here.) Basically, I was affirming the feminist, womanist, and liberation view that sin does not only mean pride or the…
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A “Merry Christmas” Story
During our trip to Canada for the Christmas break, I was surprised how many times I heard the same story. It goes something like this: They are trying to get us not to say “Merry Christmas” and to say “Happy Holidays” instead because someone might get offended. If they are offended by Christmas, they can…
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The alternative method of God
One thing that I find so inspiring in South Africa is the countless people who participate in miraculous activities as they strive to make their communities better. In working for the Anabaptist Network in South Africa, my wife and I have the honour of meeting different people all around the country and listening to the…
