Two models for the use of power are given in scripture. Jesus draws attention to them as he teaches the disciples about leadership. One model is power for its own sake. The other regards power as stewardship.
Power for its own sake. Those who do not know the way of Christ use power to “lord it over” others (Matthew 20:25) and to exercise authority as an end in itself. The acquisition of more and more power becomes the goal. Status and honor are the principal goals. The goal is not only to have power but to be seen as powerful. Power is an end in itself.
The Stewardship of Power. Power ebbs and flows according to the desires of an omnipotent God. All power is His, in the end. Should we exercise any power or influence over others, it is a gift and a responsibility. The more power we have, the more responsibility we have. We are only stewards of His power. We will give an account for the way we have used power. “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required” (Luke 12:48). Power is a means to Kingdom ends.
Nabal and Power
Nabal has power and influence in the nation of Israel at the time of David. He is “great”- a man of considerable wealth and accompanying influence. His wealth has brought him power and his power brings more wealth. His will is submitted to because of his wealth alone. Nabal’s wealth has given him position but not respect. His character and his approach to power have not brought him honor. People do as he tells them because he is wealthy, not because he is wise.
Nabal pursues power for its own sake. He loves to hear his own opinions aired and to watch people fall in line at his command. His sights are set on gaining more power. He believes he will look more powerful by putting David down. He believes the lavish display of wealth “fit for a king” will cause others to envy and look with awe at what he has achieved.
People who pursue power for its own sake leave a path of destruction behind them. Power gives them the ability to spread their folly over a larger area. Their folly will also be remembered for generations. Power gives both wideness and depth to our foolishness. Three thousand years later, we are still telling his story. His name has become a byword.
Power and Vocation
Instead of amassing power for himself, Nabal could have blessed his community. Your vocation is the way you recognize how you fit in the community around you. He could have viewed with gratitude the multitude of ways in which his life was blessed by others. His servants had poured their lives into his success. Nabal builds, directs, and profits, but their work is essential as well. He has received blessing from them and ought to, in turn, bless others. He could have become God’s instrument to help meet the needs of others. The energy of God’s grace would flow to him and through him to others. It would be a way of loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. Vocation brings God into the realm of the ordinary. All this blessing is lost when power is viewed as a goal and not a tool.
When Nabal views his acquisition of power as an end in itself, he immediately enters into competition with everyone else. In his mind, the more power another person has, the less power he has. All power must be clamored for. He could not see that everyone could prosper under shared authority. His household can prosper only at the expense of all the others.
Sins of Vocation
When power is an end in itself, several consequences develop. Power becomes abusive. It becomes a way of maintaining control both in the business and at home. Any small incident will trigger an angry response because it is seen as a challenge to authority.
In business, employees learn not to approach Nabal with problems, obstacles, or wealth-generating ideas. They keep their heads down and try to do their jobs without attracting too much attention. The result is a loss of creativity and an unwillingness to take risks. Many employees will quit as soon as they are able. Others will stay at the risk of their own reputations.
Businesses and ventures headed by Nabal will develop covert ways of solving problems without appealing to Nabal. The servant comes to Abigail because she will listen, understand the situation with clarity, and make a plan to deal with the issue. Nabal can be told later.
Nabal’s use of power will attract enemies. His surly approach would leave behind a whole train of embittered people and destroyed relationships. In his blindness, he can stab you in the back and walk away feeling offended. There will always be conflict with Nabal until he offends someone bigger and stronger than he is.
Finally, Nabal’s self-absorption is demoralizing. Workers need to know that what they do has value. We are all built to work and to receive satisfaction from the work we do. It is part of the way we are made. In the garden God looks on with satisfaction as Adam goes about the work of naming the animals and planning for their care (cp. Genesis 2). Any work done with good and noble purpose brings the worker a sense of satisfaction and contentment. Nabal offers no higher purpose for the efforts of others than his own prosperity.
Learning the Lessons of Power
How should power be used? Are those who are given authority destined to abuse it? An important lesson sits in I Samuel 25. The author has taken great pains to show that Saul has pursued power for its own sake. David is chased around Israel because Saul views him as a threat to his own power. The author shows that David refrains from using his power against the Lord’s anointed. Do you see how chapter 25 continues to follow this theme?
Nabal is like Saul. He uses power for his own sake. Nabal even uses the same diminutive expression Saul uses of David: “Son of Jesse.” The author intends for us to make the comparison. This chapter begins with the possibility that David will use power in the same way. However, the mediation of Abigail averts the abuse. David, according to the author, will act differently as king, because he has the wisdom to listen. Later, Shimei (II Samuel 16:5-13) will curse David, but he will refrain from taking vengeance. The influence of Abigail changes the direction of the Hebrew monarchy.
Power must be viewed as stewardship. It will ebb and flow over the course of David’s reign. Foolish decisions will diminish his power, wise decisions will increase it. In all of it, the reader is comforted that David has a different kind of character, a different approach to power. Watch how the passage records David’s response:
· David is approachable. Nothing in the text gives us warrant to think that David should listen to the pleas of this wife of the mocker. Yet, in the midst of anger and the desire for revenge, David will give a hearing to Abigail.
· David listens. He gives Abigail a full hearing. She is allowed to present her full case without comment. He does not cut her off. His men see the character of a leader in his willingness to listen alone.
· David is self-aware. He exhibits the rare ability to listen to what she says and then to compare her message to what he knows of himself. He can recognize both his strengths and his weaknesses, his virtues and his sins. He finds Abigail’s mediation instructive. Nabal has no such ability.
· David can repent and change direction. 400 warriors have responded to David’s call for vengeance. They are now witness to his repentance before a woman from Nabal’s house. They see his heart for God and view it as a strength, not as a weakness.
· David lives under the authority of God and blesses God when Abigail intervenes. He sees in her confrontation the hand of God and rejoices at God’s restraining mercy. It is God that David ultimately wishes to please.
These are the traits of a king who views his authority as a stewardship and not as an end. These traits stand out as an obvious departure from the ways of Saul and Nabal. A leader after God’s own heart will cultivate these qualities and use his power as a tool for good in his community.