Matthew 23: 12: “And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” A good friend who reads these Challenges each week asked me to write one on the “abuse of power.” It has become a common fault in both leadership and our culture today. We see it in politics, business, education, sports, entertainment, family and every walk of life. The bottom line is that it is a lack of humility and a personal exaltation of pride, arrogance, and privilege when a person is given power or position. It is the sinful root cause of domestic and sexual abuse so rampant in our culture today. People can reach such a personal exaltation of themselves and their achievements that they think they are above the law of both God and man. They view this power, position, and exaltation as an entitlement to abuse other people. It can even happen in a family, and we see accounts in the media daily about a person who has abused their power. It can and does happen to husbands and fathers, and the results are not pretty.

Our Scripture this week was given by Jesus Christ Himself when He exposed the Pharisees for “abuse of power.” They loved their place of honor, to be noticed for their selfish deeds, to wear clothing of prestige and to show their power of religious position. Jesus condemned them and expressed that the greatest among them would be a servant; speaking of Himself. He then gave them our Scripture with its powerful message that whoever exalts himself will be humbled and that is exactly what we see in the world today. Look at Robert Kraft, the owner of the world champion New England Patriots and his recent fall from exaltation. We are now reading about sexual abuse in the Catholic church and in the life of Michael Jackson. Examples of business and politics are equally numerous and heartbreaking. So, what does this mean to you and me? It means that we are to be a humble servant leader like Jesus as we relate to all people. We have the promise that He will exalt us at the proper time, which is an eternal exaltation. He is our example to spiritually impact those whom we lead. I learned early in my many leadership positions that if I first cared about those whom I led, they would care about me.