Empowerment is a trendy idea. That you should be free to assert yourself goes hand-in-glove with the current notion that liberty means emancipation from all restraint and commitment. Our natural self-preeminence drives us to believe we are sovereign – absolutely free – with our own lives. No one would be more tempted to think such a thing than the ruler of a powerful empire, like Ahasuerus of the Medo-Persians in the fifth century B.C.
The king put on a lavish, men-only feast. Every man who was somebody was there to contribute to the king’s objective which was to display the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness (Esther 1:4). It is not hard to imagine that when you get hoards of men consuming an abundance of wine over several days that some ludicrous decisions might be made. Ahasuerus took the lead. He summoned the queen, Vashti, who was hosting her own event for women, to come so that he could show off her beauty to the men at his party. Vashti refused. The king was furious. How could you even think of denying the king what he wants!? You will pay for this! Ahasuerus looked to his advisors to ask what he should do to assert his authority. Their main concern was how all the women of the realm would be empowered by the queen’s behavior. So, Vashti was deposed, and women remained objects of control.
If I – a finite, dependent being – am empowered and affirmed without a divine reference point who is infinite and sovereign, I begin to believe I am in control over my life, so I take command. I assert myself, and I demand to be pleased and affirmed. Then when another does not cooperate with my agenda, I feel denied and ask, “How could you even think of denying me what I want? You will pay for this!”
Consider Christ, who, for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. Your sovereign Creator humbled himself to invest in you so that you could rise to the height of humanity – His own image. If you think you are influential and have to assert your power over another – you have failed at influence. You are a tyrant. But the mind of Christ is to consider others more important than yourself. That is the influence of transformation. If you are in Christ you can function with the mind of Christ, and that is God’s idea of empowerment – the kind that turned the world upside down!
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 2:5
Copyright © 2021 Grace Bible Church, All rights reserved.