Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church

by Diane Langberg

Overview

Power has a God-given role in human relationships and institutions, but it can lead to abuse when used in unhealthy ways. Speaking into current #MeToo and #ChurchToo conversations, this book shows that the body of Christ desperately needs to understand the forms power takes, how it is abused, and how to respond to abuses of power.

Although many Christians want to prevent abuse in their churches and organizations, they lack a deep and clear-eyed understanding of how power actually works. Internationally recognized psychologist Diane Langberg offers a clinical and theological framework for understanding how power operates, the effects of the abuse of power, and how power can be redeemed and restored to its proper God-given place in relationships and institutions. This book not only helps Christian leaders identify and resist abusive systems but also shows how they can use power to protect the vulnerable in their midst.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781587434389
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/20/2020
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	259,881
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Diane Langberg (PhD, Temple University) is an internationally recognized psychologist with 50 years of experience. She speaks regularly on abuse and trauma all over the world and cofounded the Global Trauma Recovery Institute at Biblical Theological Seminary. For 29 years, she directed her own counseling practice in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. Langberg, Monroe & Associates, which includes 17 therapists with multiple specialties, now continues this work. Langberg previously served on the board of GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in a Christian Environment) and cochaired the American Bible Society's Trauma Advisory Council. She has authored numerous books, including Counseling Survivors of Sexual Abuse, In Our Lives First: Meditations for Counselors, On the Threshold of Hope, and Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores.

Table of Contents

Prelude ix

Part 1 Power Defined

1 The Source and Purpose of Power 3

2 Vulnerability and Power 19

3 The Role of Deception in the Abuse of Power 29

4 The Power of Culture and the Influence of Words 45

Part 2 Power Abused

5 Understanding Abuse of Power 61

6 Power in Human Systems 75

7 Power between Men and Women 91

8 The Intersection of Race and Power 107

9 Power Abused in the Church 123

10 Christendom Seduced by Power 145

Part 3 Power Redeemed

11 Redemptive Power and the Person of Christ 161

12 Healing Power and the Body of Christ 173

Postlude 193

Acknowledgments 201

Notes 203

Author Bio 209