Power, Truth and the Church

Let me start this post in a provocative way. All truth is tied to power. In other words, those who are in power produce truth, they create the means to verify what is true, and they propagate all of these things under the notion of common sense. If they are successful, they will persuade others of their version of the truth and these, in turn, will seek to do the same. If they are unsuccessful, they will seek to marginalize the dissenters. Michael Foucault eloquently states:

Each society has its régime of truth, its ‘general politics’ of truth: that is, the types of discourses which it accepts and makes function as truth; the mechanisms and instances which enable one to distinguish true and false statements, the means by which each is sanctioned; the techniques and procedures accorded value in the acquisition of truth; the status of those who are charged with saying what counts as true.[1]

It is important to keep this connection between power and truth in mind for the simple reason that power possesses the uncanny ability to corrupt people. This is so, not only for worldly institutions such as the government, scientific communities, finance companies, and institutions of higher education, but also the church. When this happens, their version of the truth has the potential to become less and less true. To be sure, in a society such as ours, there are few brazen lies, but in some ways half-truths are more dangerous, because they are necessarily parasites on the truth. For example, churches may err, unwittingly by either being too selective in their theology or emphasizing a few points that they particularly enjoy at the expense of other equally important topics (or even more important ones). When this happens, distortion ensues. In the light of these points, what, then, should the church do? Of course, this is not an easy answer, but here are some suggestions.

(1) Be aware that power alone may produce truth. The more powerful a church becomes, the more it needs to be aware of the corrupting force of power. They need to seek the accountability of others. They need to be especially humble, because by their power, they will seem “right.”

(2) Because we live in such a pragmatic society, there is a tendency to believe that if something works, then it must be right. This could be so, but we need to be aware that God might bless something in spite of what we do, not on account of it. Ezekiel 36:22 is a perfect example of this. God saves for his name’s sake, not because of anything his people have done.

(3) Seek genuine fellowship with others, especially people who do not agree with you. Blind spots are most likely to be detected in fellowship than apart from it. In addition, we should be aware that at times we will have to make great efforts to do this, because fellowship does not happen naturally and easily. Bible studies among pastors might be a good starting point.

(4) Seek cross-cultural experiences, since each society has different “politics of power.” Each society will gain different aspects of God’s truth. I do believe there is absolute truth, but I also believe that we all have a relative understanding of it. The more we spend time with different types of Christians from all over the world (and even read good history books – hopefully some books from non-western points of view), the more robust our knowledge of God will become.

(5) Consider ways of giving up power. This will be an enormous challenge for obvious reasons, but if done, I wonder what would happen. I think something great.

(6) Apply what insights are gained into the life of the church and start the process all over again.


[1] Michael Foucault. Power and Knowledge: Selected Interviews & Other Writings. Edited by Colin Gordon (New York: Pantheon Books, 1980), 131.