Absolute Power

There’s an old adage that says, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” While this may seem absolutely true, it’s absolutely false. There is only one who has ever known absolute power, and that is God. Yet He is the only one who has never abused His power. This is exactly what separates God from the rest of us. He really is different from who we are without Him. In fact we find that God does exactly the opposite of what we would expect with unlimited power.

(p.77)

Corruption is not an issue of power; it is an issue of passion. Power simply allows us to unleash our passions. What is hidden when we are powerless is exposed when we are empowered. With absolute power what you see is what you get. The power and authority that Jesus held did not change Him but allowed us to see Him in His purest form. The reason it appears that power corrupts is that power magnifies what is hidden within us. We can appear to have integrity when in fact all we are is powerless. It is not an act of integrity to treat someone well or justly when we are afraid of him or feel powerless to do otherwise. You cannot call someone “moral” simply because he is restrained from acting on his deepest desire. Otherwise Hannibal Lecter would be considered the ultimate expression of morality simply because he was strapped into a straitjacket. He’s not moral just because he can’t eat you. True morality in this case would be that he no longer wants to have you for dinner.

(p. 78 -79)


--From Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul by Erwin Raphael McManus