Not So with You

The spate of recent scandals of power abuse by leaders within the evangelical world suggests something is wrong in our churches. When a leader misuses power, they have misunderstood and misrepresented God and the gospel. This volume addresses the key underlying issue of what a biblical and healthy use of power in the church actually looks like. Authors from a variety of Christian backgrounds and traditions help frame a biblical and theological understanding and practice of power use, describe what it looks like when things go wrong (and how to recognize the signs), and suggest how the contemporary church can and must do better in this area. This book is a rigorously grounded biblical challenge to much contemporary practice. It is a call to reformation.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why Another Book on Power and Why Now? Mark StirlingImitating the Mindset of ChristMark StirlingConfessions of a Potential Authoritarian: Knowing the Trinity as Antidote to Pastoral AuthoritarianismJared Michelson"You must not do as they do . . . " Old Testament Israel's Distinctive Patterns of LeadershipChris WrightSin and Why We Need to Take It More SeriouslyNick MackisonThe Power of the Imago Dei and the Imago Dei in PowerMark MeynellSymbolic Capital and the Dynamics of Leadership: The Gospel and the Idolatry of StatusGrant MacaskillUse, Not Abuse: An Augustinian Approach to Loving PeopleGraham ShearerWhen a Church Becomes a Cult: Twenty-Five Years OnSteve WookeyThe Cost of BrokennessBlythe SizemoreAuthoritative, Not AuthoritarianSam AllberryWhen Our First Love Is Loving to Be FirstChris GreenMentors, Not MastersMarcus HoneysettOf God and God-MenSushila AilawadiPastors Empowering Women to FlourishTasha ChapmanSigns and Symptoms of Unhealthy Leaders and Their SystemsMark Stirling Conclusion: That No Bruised Reed Is Ever BrokenMark Meynell