Christians need ‘theology of power,’ sociologist insists

ARLINGTON—Christians need to develop “a theology of power,” sociologist Michael Lindsay concluded after interviewing 360 evangelicals who hold influential positions in politics, business, entertainment and academia.

In particular, Lindsay noted, evangelical Christians need a theological basis for answering questions such as “How do we appropriately leverage the possibilities that arise when we accrue advantages?” and “How do we avoid the perils of privilege?”

Lindsay, associate professor of sociology at Rice University and author of Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite, spoke to the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute’s winter colloquy about “Understanding the times, knowing what to do.”

Lindsay received his undergraduate degree at Baylor University before going on to complete a master’s degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, serve as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at Oxford University and earn a Ph.D. from Princeton University.

His doctoral research focused on how evangelical Christians in the elite circles of government, commerce, the arts and higher education are shaped by their vision of moral leadership.

People he interviewed included two presidents of the United States—Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush—as well as two-dozen cabinet secretaries and senior White House staffers. They also included Hollywood movie producers, university presidents, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and members of Forbes 400 wealthiest families.

The Elites

But Lindsay told the Carroll Institute participants—primarily ministers in the doctoral program—that compared to the rest of the world and the broad sweep of human history, American Christians as a whole are “among the most wealthy people ever to walk the planet” and rightly could be classified as “the elite of the super-elite.”

So, they need biblical foundation for understanding how to use their influence and exercise authority for the greater good, he stressed.

“The calling of Jesus on our lives means we are to use power to serve those who do not have it,” Lindsay said.

More than one-third of the leaders he interviewed mentioned service as the model for their leadership style, he noted. Servanthood demands working “not just for our own interests, but for the common good,” Lindsay emphasized.

From the White House to corporate boardrooms to local communities, influential Christians possess “convening power—the ability to bring people together to get things done,” he emphasized.

'Convening Power'

Carter’s role in bringing together Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and brokering the Camp David peace accords provides the classic example of convening power, Lindsay noted.

But at the local level, ministers who are perceived to be acting with moral authority for the greater good rather than their own interests also have tremendous convening power in their communities, he asserted.

Lindsay also observed the powerful people he interviewed tended to distance themselves from the evangelical subculture, noting, “They went out of their way to say they had never read Left Behind or purchased a painting by Thomas Kinkeade.”

He characterized the people he interviewed as “cosmopolitan evangelicals” who “signal their faith in warm and winsome ways” rather than confronting people who do not share their beliefs.

Christians who exercise their power wisely have the capability of influencing the larger culture—not just by making individual conversions to Christianity but by molding powerful institutions. He noted the example of executives such as Truett Cathy, whose faith has shaped the corporate culture at Chick-fil-A.
“Change happens when institutions are rightly ordered,” he said. “Great institutions make and shape great people.”

However, lasting change grows out of moral influence, not coercion, he warned. It is not legislated or “rammed down people’s throats,” Lindsay said. “Authority comes from what we give up.”

Pitfalls of Power

Concerning the pitfalls of power, Lindsay pointed to potential problem areas—sex, salary and status.

“Accountability and transparency are key to integrity,” he said.

Privilege carries with it relational hazards, he warned, noting many people in positions of power have “a long line of broken relationships.”

Success also breeds the temptation to make one’s one achievements an idol, fostering what Lindsay called “a self-sufficiency that can be corrosive to the soul.”

People in positions of power and privilege also have a tendency to become isolated and calloused to people in need because they do not have regular contact with them. Wasted opportunities and poor stewardship may be prevalent, but some CEOs have resisted that by practicing what he calls “executive asceticism.”

“It means consciously living beneath one’s means,” he explained—a practice he endorsed for all Christians in the United States. “Consumerism is the besetting sin of American Christianity.”