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 Contents

Introduction: Why Another Book on Power and Why Now?

Mark Stirling

Imitating the Mindset of Christ

Mark Stirling

Confessions of a Potential Authoritarian: Knowing the Trinity as Antidote to Pastoral Authoritarianism

Jared Michelson

"You must not do as they do . . . " Old Testament Israel's Distinctive Patterns of Leadership

Chris Wright

Sin and Why We Need to Take It More Seriously

Nick Mackison

The Power of the Imago Dei and the Imago Dei in Power

Mark Meynell

Symbolic Capital and the Dynamics of Leadership: The Gospel and the Idolatry of Status

Grant Macaskill

Use, Not Abuse: An Augustinian Approach to Loving People

Graham Shearer

When a Church Becomes a Cult: Twenty-Five Years On

Steve Wookey

The Cost of Brokenness

Blythe Sizemore

Authoritative, Not Authoritarian

Sam Allberry

When Our First Love Is Loving to Be First

Chris Green

Mentors, Not Masters

Marcus Honeysett

Of God and God-Men

Sushila Ailawadi

Pastors Empowering Women to Flourish

Tasha Chapman

Signs and Symptoms of Unhealthy Leaders and Their Systems

Mark Stirling

Conclusion: That No Bruised Reed Is Ever Broken

Mark Meynell