Hi Friend,

In his book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” Dale Carnegie made the insightful statement that the most basic motivating factor for man is power.  Money, he believed, was only a means to obtain power.

He may be right. In a psychological study of men working in the corporate structure, subjects were offered a choice between a pay raise or a promotion which included a new office with their name and title on the door. With few exceptions subjects chose the promotion. Money was less important than power.

Conversely, the greatest men of history have consistently rejected power in favor of service.  Power was only the tool to serve mankind.

For example, George Washington is called the “Father of Our Country” because he gave up power not once but at least three times—at the end of the revolutionary war when he resigned his military commission and returned to Mount Vernon, when he refused to be king so the country could have an elected president and again at the end of his second term, when he refused to seek a third term.

Maybe the greatest tribute came from his biggest adversary, King George III. The king asked his American painter, Benjamin West, what Washington would do after winning independence. West replied, “They say he will return to his farm.”

“If he does that,” the incredulous monarch said, “he will be the greatest man in the world.”

But the most revealing assessment may have been written by the historian Matthew Spaulding. His insightful comments reached into the soul of our first President when he wrote “his project was to found a self-governing nation, a constitutional republic. It is here that we see the brilliance of Washington’s statesmanship…”  Catch that: his project was to found a nation that was self-governed.

By contrast, a defeated and exiled, Napoleon lamented the significance of it all when he said: “They wanted me to be another Washington.” How different the world would be if Napoleon had been the Father of America.

The “Interregnum” was the 11-year period between Charles I and Charles II when England had no king. The hubris of Charles I caused the court to execute him and Parliament offered the crown to Oliver Cromwell.  The offer was refused so the country could be ruled by Parliament. After six years Cromwell realized that a corrupt Parliament was even worse than a corrupt king so he became Lord Protector of England until his death 5 years later. The inscription on his tombstone reads, “Christ, not man, is King”.

When the Prophet Isaiah wrote about the hubris of the King of Babylon many scholars believe he was actually writing about Satan. He called him the bright and morning star who was fallen from heaven. “You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty.” (Isaiah 14:13-14 GNB)

Lust for power is an alluring siren song that has even captured the hearts of men who lead the Church. When the disciples of Jesus began thinking like this he took them apart from the crowd and warned them, “You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.”  Adam Clarke translates “They tyrannized and exercised arbitrary power over the people.”

Jesus continues “But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  (Matt 20:25-28)

The 6,000 years of earth’s history have shown clear and consistent examples of man’s desire to exercise power over other men. But there is one shining example that is different. Jesus Christ came to serve man, even to the point of giving his life.  And the precious few who follow His example have made a significant difference in this world and will serve in the world to come.

Until next time,

Jim O’Brien