The Use and Abuse of Power

The proper use and misuse of God’s gift of power is an important topic and matter for Christian ethics. Growing awareness of misuse and abuse of power and authority by leadership within church contexts has prompted the publication of several important books in the past few years (e.g., Langberg, McKnight, Mullen, Oakley and Humphreys), along with numerous articles and podcasts. In April of 2022, my own church fellowship, the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, added “abuse of power and authority” to their list of ethical violations that could result disciplinary actions affecting one’s ministerial credentials.

Misuse of power is something that seems obviously wrong — especially from a Christian ethical point of view. Yet practical questions exist concerning how to properly identify such moral violations. What should or should not count as misuse or abuse of power? This is an important question, and my purpose in this post is to try and contribute some resources that will help move us towards clarity on the matter.

I’ve linked three documents: “The Use and Abuse of Power,” which is my attempt to provide a definition and criteria for identifying the misuse and abuse of power; and “Scriptures on Avoiding the Misuse of Power and Authority,” which is a compilation (by no means exhaustive) of biblical passages that I believe are relavant to the issue. The third document provides some criteria for identifying abuse of power.

The documents are certainly not the last word on the topic. But I hope that they will be of help to those trying to sort it out.

Blessings!