Empowerment 2

Empowerment 2

We began our look at empowerment in Acts chapter 1 where Luke records the greatest empowerment of all when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost. Since this principle is so important for us to understand, let’s look at this through a different perspective:

            And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

When Jesus empowered His disciples, He provided helpful principles for empowerment:

  1. Jesus let them know that He possessed the power to transfer to them (v.18).
  2. He delegated His authority by sending them (vv.19-20).
  3. He assured them that He would always be with them (v.19).
  4. He prepared them before delegating the authority to them (v.20).
  5. He held them accountable for how they used His power (Matthew 24:4-51; 25:14-30).

The disciples enjoyed the assurance that their leader – Jesus – was with them all the way, supporting them and providing what they needed for the task ahead. Similarly, leaders need assurance that the authority of their organisation/church/denomination/Bible College stands behind them, even through failure, so that they may be enabled to lead their teams effectively. It is virtually impossible to lead without that support.

            Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus tell an account of a promising junior executive at IBM who got involved in a risky venture for the company and ended up losing 10 million dollars. He was called into the office of Tom Watson Sr., the founder and leader of IBM for 40 years.

            The junior executive, overwhelmed with fear and guilt, blurted out, “I guess you’ve called me in for my resignation. Here it is. I resign.”

            Watson replied, “You must be joking. I just invested 10 million dollars educating you; I can’t afford your resignation.”

            (Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, Leaders (New York: Harper & Row, 1985), p76)

How many times did Jesus have a similar conversation with His disciples, especially Peter? Jesus invested His life, His teaching, revelation, miracles, His death and His resurrection into this rag-tag band of followers; just like you and me. He let them know that even through failure and doubt He wasn’t about to accept their resignation. The apostle Paul knew “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

Leaders do more than merely point people in the right direction; they empower them to do the job. In John 16:5-15, the disciples were distressed because Jesus had informed them that He would soon be leaving. After experiencing His physical presence for more than three years, they could scarcely imagine life without His voice, touch and gaze. Jesus understood their feelings, but He knew that only in His absence could the Holy Spirit come and empower them. Jesus would physically depart, but He wouldn’t abandon His disciples, rather, He would empower them with the Spirit to be His “witnesses….to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Jesus cast a vision of what His disciples were to do and then trained them to do it. But more than that, He gave them the power needed to bring the vision into reality. His Spirit worked through their unique personalities and skills to touch the world with the Good News.

From the very beginning, God has selected and empowered His people to minister to those around them. Jesus’ empowerment caused these uneducated disciples to effectively change the world in a way which no one had though possible (see Acts 2:41-47).

Like them, we are empowered with the same Holy Spirit. Empowerment is not merely the availability of power; it is an active term. It refers to the giving of authority and responsibility. Just like the first disciples of Christ, we now have both the authority and the responsibility to change our world. We’ll make mistakes, but we know Jesus, who invested His very life in us, will never give up on us and is continually teaching, training and trusting us to go and make disciples.