ARE WE TRULY POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE?

Here is a video that I enjoyed watching. I enjoyed the narration of Ali, Tony and Rocky, if indeed they were the ones in the video. The stories of these men are great and inspiring in many ways. I think the video has value and is useful in motivating anyone whether a believer or not. Everyone of us need a little kick in the pants from time to time. I think this video does just that – it inspires.

Having said that, I also think that every believer and follower of Christ should be a bit more discerning watching or using this video in any christian setting. The reason for that is because of some of the characters in the video and some profoundly confusing quotes mentioned there in that deserve our close scrutiny.  One of them is, ‘we are powerful beyond measure!” Are we truly powerful beyond measure? Before we answer the question, let us look at all the actors in the video.

Here are the players in the video up close:

• 

  Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed author and lecturer. Six of her ten published books have been New York Times Best Sellers. Four of these have been #1 New York Times Best Sellers. A Return to Love is considered a must-read of The New Spirituality. A paragraph from that book, beginning “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure...” – is considered an anthem for a contemporary generation of seekers. In short, from what I gathered, she believes and teaches that everything is God.

• 

  Mohammed Ali is still the most recognizable man on earth. And over forty years after he burst onto the scene as a gold-medal winner at the 1960 Rome Olympics, Muhammad Ali remains a magical figure, known and loved throughout the world. His success as a boxer is widely respected, but Ali’s greatest triumph lies in his legacy as a champion, leader, humanitarian, and artist. His work both inside and outside the ring truly makes Muhammad Ali “The Greatest of All Time.” In short, from what we know about him, he is narcissistic.

• 

  Tony Robins is an American self-help author and motivational speaker. He became well known through his infomercials and self-help books, Unlimited Power: The New Science Of Personal Achievement and Awaken The Giant Within. Robbins writes about subjects such as health and energy, overcoming fears, persuasive communication, and enhancing relationships.  In short, from what we know about him, he believes in new age and self-help mysticism and that all our abilities are within us.

Now these people are not bad people. We make no such assertion whatsoever in this post. But as believers, we would be a little bit more discerning and cautious using any of the material of some of these characters in the video within a christian setting (blogs, books, websites, church, small-group) simply because some of their messages are inconsistent with Christian thinking and beliefs. It seems to me that what this video is trying to assert is the thinking that we, in and of ourselves are powerful beyond measure.

This is an idea that originated with Lucifer, handed down to Nebuchadnezzar, passed on to Herod until some in the church started teaching and telling us that “we are gods” (Psalm 82:6). But we fall down in the face of Jesus. We fall down in the face of His exceeding glory. And even though he has crowned us with that glory, we live and move and have our being in him. We exist because he does only to reflect him – for the glory of the father.

Conclusion

In our own strength we are not powerful beyond measure, but with Christ we can do all things! Having said that, we need to be careful as well, least we become arrogant in our own hearts and begin to think that God cannot use even the unbeliever to do great things. That was the trap the Israel fell into until God began to show them that He was at work even in the lives of pagan kings like Cyrus whom He called his anointed. God is God and he can use even the Steve Jobs of this world even though they may not recognize that the gift they have is directly from Him.