2018 was my retirement year from umpiring baseball. I started the summer following my junior year of high school. Over those 42 years, I learned many good life lessons from officiating. Some of those lessons were learned from watching people behave in less than honorable ways — what the rule books call unsportsmanlike conduct.
Not all of the people acting in disrespectful and dishonorable ways were players, coaches, or fans. Sometimes the umpires themselves misbehaved by using their power, authority, and position to punish, embarrass, or belittle those in their charge. In other words, they misused their power.
But, there is a good use of power. We watched the huge cranes lift heavy loads of materials up to the top of the new building addition of our high school.
A spiritual realm exists that exerts influence on our physical world. Not all of those influences are good. The Bible teaches us that Jesus has authority and power in the spiritual realm and in this world. In Matthew 10:1, it says that Jesus “gave them (the Twelve) power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.” Then Jesus directly instructs them, “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give” (v. 7-8).
John the Apostle said that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). Jesus had the power, authority, and purpose to overcome evil with good. He gave that power to His disciples, which they used for their temporary mission trip. Another group of disciples had a similar experience, which Luke records in his gospel (Luke 10). When they return, they are ecstatic at having demons subject to them. But Jesus reminds them of the purpose of having that power — not to subjugate, but to free.
Once again in Acts, we see Jesus imparting power to His disciples. Only this time it was different. It came in the form of a person — the Holy Spirit. Jesus clearly tells His disciples that they “will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5) and that they “shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). Then the entire rest of the book of Acts of the Apostles is about the disciples of Jesus Christ healing the sick, raising the dead, facing corrupt government and religious officials, preaching the gospel of righteousness by faith in the resurrected Jesus Christ, and calling people to repentance from their sins. In all this they were willing to lay down their lives to see the kingdom of God grow upon the earth.
If this kind of power came upon the disciples in our churches today, we would have a revival that would transform our community and our world. Instead of using power to grasp for more control, let’s use God’s love and power to free people from the sickness of this world that restrains us from God’s ultimate purpose. Join me in asking God for this kind of revival.
