What happens when you place low-level, ill-equipped managers in leadership positions? Generally, you end up with poor decisions, badly prepared, devastatingly carried out. Now, when you add in fear and and unhealthy ego there is no possibility of a positive outcome. A few definitions and concepts before I continue:

• Dominion – mastery or control over; originally lordship – the idea that an individual or group had unlimited control over a people, process, or property.
• The Hebrew word/concept for dominion is kabash – meaning to subdue or control, but literally defined as “placing the foot upon the throat of the enemy.”
• Minion – dainty, servile, peon; one who lacks the capacity for initiative or free thought

God gave humankind dominion over the earth. What does this really mean? Throughout history it has been defined through Hebrew/Christian/Muslim lenses in four basic ways. First and most simplistically, it means to do any damn thing we want with it. While often pursued, this approach has been decimated by reason, logic, common sense, knowledge, wisdom, and science. Second, it means to use and utilize for the best possible outcome. Unfortunately, the application of this definition has been limited to those in power. The Lordship has been relegated to the few and the benefit to those of the royal household. Third, dominion is about responsibility to the common good not simple hegemony; God gave this world to all human beings, not just the elite few. Fourth, the opportunity and challenge to use our power to make a choice. Kabash may mean to place one’s foot on the throat of an enemy, but this is a divine test to see if the one with power will choose mercy or destruction; kindness over conquest; redemption over vengeance; life over death. Those definitions embraced by the big three monotheisms is that God wants us to care for creation, care for the created, care for creatures, now and for eternity.

We are seeing a startling regression to the first definition: dominion as doing anything we damn well please for personal power, gain, wealth, and control. And to guarantee this definition not be challenged or resisted, do-minions have been put in place to make the toxic exploitation of power and control the new normal. These dainty servile peons love photo ops and screen time, but are painfully and egregiously inept in anything remotely resembling leadership. They do what they are told without question, qualification, or critical thinking.

The result? Human rights violations, rejection of due process, dehumanization of the other, unbridled greed, contempt of law and order, abuse of democracy, ignorance and outright denial of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, vitriolic and violent rhetoric, polarization, contravention of common decency, and the undermining of trust, faith, honesty, integrity, and honor in government.

What does this have to do with current day Christian faith in the United States? It is the closest parallel we have seen in our lifetime to the Christian faith during the Roman Empire. And for that reason there is hope. God is God, and God in Christ offered an alternative to the bastardization of power and control exercised by the line of Emperors and Caesars. In an environment of heightened fear and hatred God’s Holy Spirit provided love. In the face of despair and anxiety God offered joy. As puppet leaders threatened war, violence, and devastation God promised peace. As sycophants played on people’s anxieties and suspicions, the Holy Spirit fueled patience. For cruelty, God called for kindness. In the environment of unbridled greed and selfishness, God mandated generosity. In the climate of misinformation, assault on truth, and rampant immorality, the Holy Spirit inspired faithfulness. As leaders grew more crude, insulting, immature, and aggressive, God commanded gentleness. As narcissists, egotists, and idiots gained more and more influence, God’s Spirit countered with self-control. When the leadership chose death and destruction, those who followed the teachings of Jesus chose life and grace. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

True dominion is more about responsibility than rights, community than control, possibility than power, preservation over devastation, equity than exploitation, grace over greed, and mercy over mercenary selfishness. Our Christian witness might just be as vital and important as it has ever been, so we had better do all in our power to nurture, cultivate, and spread the fruit of the Spirit.