REDEEMING POWER:
Understanding Authority and Abuse in the
Church
By Diane Langberg
Brazos Press. 200 pages. £13.99
ISBN 978 1 587 434 389
‘Many of us have confused Christendom, or our little corner of it, with Christ. They are not the same.’
How would you react if every nook and cranny of your heart and mind was exposed? Or what would you do if a searchlight fell on the abuse lurking within your church or organisation? Squirm? Deny its existence? Cover it up? Or, in God’s great mercy, repent and learn? That such a book as this should need to be written is a terrible indictment of our times. Readers must prepare to be examined. And then to examine.
Unlike the proverbial ostrich, Diane Langberg does not bury her head in the sand. Drawing on a deep understanding of God’s word and 40 years of wide experience in counselling, she lays bare the darkness of sin in human relationships.
She carefully defines power, showing its source and purpose, and exposes the role of deception in the exercise of power. She traces all forms of abuse of power in human systems, between genders and between races; and then with crystal clarity focuses on abuse of power within the church of Christ.
Langberg shines an inescapable spotlight on the difference between Christ and the culture of Christendom. It is time, she says, for those who name the name of Christ to stop and listen to the true Shepherd. She shows the need for us to see as Jesus sees, feel as Jesus feels, listen as Jesus listens and care as Jesus cares, and not to unite to ‘protect’ God’s name by committing and concealing actions that look nothing like God.
How many tragic disasters could be avoided if this book was compulsory reading for every church leader, every person involved in ministry, every Bible College student; and, yes, every churchgoer.
I highly recommend it to any who are involved in churches. Not only will it comfort the broken and crushed and unveil to them the Lord of all holiness and tenderness, it will help churches avoid the dangers of groupthink and the complicity of silence. It will preserve us from using God’s word to sanction deception, abuse and the cover-up of evils, and instead make the church a safe place for the vulnerable. It will steer us towards transparent integrity and the honourable use of our God-given power for blessing and healing.
The likelihood is that some will not see their need for this book. Nevertheless, it would be well worth passing on your well-thumbed and tear-stained copy.
