What is Empowerment?
According to Dicionary.com, Empowerment is simply the “authority or power given to someone to do something.” This can mean power is transferred from one person to another or it can mean that previously untapped power is internally claimed by those who once felt powerless.
The push back to empowerment comes when we view power in the church as a zero-sum game. This means we view another person’s acquirement of power as threatening because it means we will lose power.
Sometimes it does mean that those in power must sacrifice some authority, and sometimes they get pretty upset. Rev. McAurhter recently made his feelings clear on this issue saying, “empowering women makes men weak.” He clearly views power as a finite resource, so that when women’s have some power, men have less power.
Honestly, this is not how my marriage works. My husband and I share power taking the lead in certain issues based on the situation. When we understand power as a shared and unlimited resource, any power one of us has, whether in our jobs or community, actually benefits us both as a couple.
For the church, Empowerment is particularly important in the areas of foreign and domestic missions. How many scores of well-intentioned missionaries have poured their money and time into helping their neighbor, only to make never the make any long-term difference? We try to help people in the short term by distributing clothes and offering feeding programs but hurt them in the long-term by not fighting for decent wages or fair treatment under the law, things that would give them more power.
Keeping powerless people powerless often makes us feel more powerful. This can even be true of the church’s discipline ministries. It is the church’s responsibility to nurture people into spiritual maturity, to be able to thoughtfully engage scripture and serve as the hands and feet of Jesus.
Overall, empowerment is a core value for me because it was a core value for Jesus. In Acts 1:8 Jesus says to his disciples before he is taken up into heaven, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.“
The Holy Spirit is the ultimate empowering force in our lives as Christians. God has chosen people to be his actors in this world and to give them the power of the Holy Spirit through which to act.
I don’t know about you, but I believe the power of the Holy Spirit to be infinite, there’s more than enough empowerment to go around.
Currently, I try to foster empowerment through a Youth Leadership Team. Students must apply, attend training, and participate in meetings in order to be a part of this team.
It has borne fruit as our students are now taking leadership roles on church-wide committees. By empowering these students, there is an even greater chance that they will enter the next phase with a lifelong faith.
How do you see Empowerment working in your Faith walk? Who in your orbit could use some Empowerment?
Kena Hawkins Newkirk 