Exposing the Powers

A Conversation with Danielle Strickland and James Sholl

I recently joined Danielle Strickland and James Sholl on the Right Side Up podcast for a conversation that gets to the heart of what I’ve been wrestling with in my writing, teaching, and ministry: how the Powers, those spiritual, institutional, and cultural forces named in Scripture, subtly and systematically distort our calling, our communities, and our capacity to love.

In this episode, we dig into the core themes of my book The Scandal of Leadership, especially the ways domineering leadership deforms the church. But we also connect the dots to what’s unfolding in our nation: the rise of authoritarianism, the erosion of truth, and the normalization of control as a form of leadership. In both realms, church and state, I’m seeking to expose how the Powers operate, often in unseen ways, to bend people and institutions toward fear, rivalry, and domination.

We also take a deeper dive into mimetic theory, developed by René Girard, going further than I have in previous posts. We explore how our desires are not formed in isolation, but through imitation, and how this often leads to rivalry, scapegoating, and cycles of violence. Together, we reflect on how Jesus breaks this cycle, revealing a radically different way to live and lead.

If you’ve been longing for a more honest, hopeful way to understand and engage leadership in these contested times, I think you’ll find something here.

You can find Danielle Stricklands Substack here.

Looking Ahead

The times we’re in demand both attentiveness and adaptability. While I’ve mapped out a tentative path for the coming weeks, I’m holding it loosely, aware that unfolding events may require us to pause, pivot, or respond in real time. That said, there’s a thread I believe we must continue to follow: if Faust represents the restless, control-driven soul of the West, what systems now embody and extend that spirit?

We'll explore how the Faustian impulse has been embedded into the very architecture of our society: through technocratic control, oligarchic influence, and authoritarian ambition. Faithful resistance begins with naming the spirit of the age, but it must also take root in practices of discernment, presence, and embodied witness. Together, we’ll explore how to resist with clarity, courage, and love.

• The Engine of Autocracy: Technocrats, Oligarchs, and the New Architecture of Control
  Beneath every autocrat lies a system. This post will explore how technocracy and oligarchy are shaping a new regime of domination, one that hides behind efficiency, innovation, and inevitability. We’ll consider how this architecture is spiritual as well as political, and why faithful resistance must transcend partisanship.

• Faithful Unto Death: Óscar Romero’s Witness Against the Alliance of Wealth and Power
  Through the life and martyrdom of Óscar Romero, we’ll reflect on what it means to follow Jesus in the face of militarism, corruption, and elite control. Romero’s story offers more than inspiration, it calls us into a form of discipleship marked by costly love, prophetic courage, and solidarity with the poor.

P.S. In addition to these upcoming reflections, I’ll also be sharing our recent Faithful Resistance webinar sometime after it becomes available. For those who weren’t able to join us live, I want to make sure the conversation is accessible, as it was a rich exploration of how we can cultivate communities of courage, care, and Spirit-empowered resistance in contested times. I was grateful to have Daniel Yang and Jessie Cruckshank join me for the conversation, with Matt Alexander serving as our host. And to those of you who were able to attend, thank you, it meant a great deal to have you with us.

A Prayer for Faithful Resistance

O Christ, Servant and Lord,
you walked among us in truth,
not grasping for power,
but laying it down in love.

We confess that we have often traded your way
for the ways of control,
in our churches, in our politics,
in our hearts.

Where leaders dominate instead of serve,
where fear is used to coerce,
where institutions preserve themselves at the expense of the vulnerable,
expose the lies, Lord.
Disrupt the systems.
Break the spell of false strength.

Give us eyes to see the Powers for what they are,
and the courage to name them without becoming like them.

Form in us a faithful presence,
one rooted in truth-telling and compassion,
in humility and holy defiance,
in care for the weak and solidarity with the oppressed.

May we resist with love,
endure with hope,
and lead with the fierce gentleness of your Spirit.

Amen.