By Dynamis Ministries | December 2, 2021
In Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the character Atticus Finch gives a legal defense of Tom Robinson, the African American character who is on trial for being wrongly accused of a crime. It’s a rich novel with moral themes like courage, compassion and justice. Within this thought-provoking book, an inspirational lesson is the impact of giving away your power to benefit others.
Atticus Finch, a moral hero in this story, uses his positional power as an esteemed lawyer to help the young Robinson who has none. He does this by taking a case that nobody else wanted and working to bring justice. Atticus recognized the power he possessed because of his career and status in the community and was willing to give it away to benefit someone else.
Through Atticus, readers can see a very impactful truth that many of us may not be quick to think of, which is that giving away power is one of the ways we can be generous! In fact, this reality is epitomized through the life of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul speaks of Jesus giving up his powerful position in this way:
“Though he (Jesus) was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his diving privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” – Philippians 2: 6-8 NLT
Jesus had immeasurable power, but he gave it away and faced persecution, shame and death so we could experience the power of salvation! Jesus also gave away his power through his ministry like when he taught great truths to the crowds, performed healings and miracles, restored rejected people back into community and washed the disciples’ feet. This generous display of giving away power is something that we should model in our own pursuit of living more generously.
Generosity is about giving, whether it be tangible things such as money and resources or intangible things like time or guidance. Is it also possible that the power we possess in society can be one of the things we can give away for the benefit of others? In the case of Atticus Finch, he gave away his power to try to correct an injustice. But there are a lot of other ways we can use our power to be generous. Consider the following:
- Some of us are in a position to share our monetary power through giving financially in radical ways to bless others.
- Some of us have influential power from our careers and use this social capital to accomplish good things in our communities.
- Some of us are esteemed with power from our life experience and can give away that power by mentoring others.
- Some of us have the power of privilege due to factors of our birthplace or race and can use it to advocate for others with less opportunity.
As followers of Jesus our goal is to live into a greater likeness of him. One way we can do this is by being generous with the power we possess. Let’s not simply cling to the power we have and instead look for ways to give it away generously as an act of love and service for God and others!
Photo by Ryan Hafey
