Why the Church’s Greatest Power Lies in Surrender, Not Empire

In an era where the central control of a few overshadows the humble call of the Body of Christ, we persevere, knowing the true essence of the unmatched power of Christ is revealed through humility, surrender, and obedience--so we humble ourselves, surrender to His will, and follow Jesus in obedience.

Matthew 16:24 "Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."

Remember, there are no empires that stand but ONE, ONE KINGDOM, the Kingdom of God!

John 8:32 "and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

My unique identity IN CHRIST--the identity Jesus gave me is as follows... "I am a truth-telling, foot-washing rebel serving the Kingdom of God as a pioneering ambassador sent to be His giant slayer and a restorer of families, communities, and the local church!" 

My aim for this article is to unearth and then share the profound strength I found in the identity Jesus gave me, as well as in the examples set by Jesus Himself, examples we should all ask Him to help us follow.

1 John 1:7 "but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."

Jesus did not conquer with might but with acts of unconditional love, service, and washing feet, while embracing suffering. Jesus commanded us to "FOLLOW HIM!"

John 14:6 "Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."

Today, we delve into how embracing vulnerability and servitude WILL lead to a transformation of ourselves, the church, and the world, urging us to follow in the footsteps of the ultimate Servant, King Jesus.

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Imagine just for a moment Jesus' unsurmountable power, prestige, honor, and glory. As the Word of God, Son of God, and the Spirit of Truth, Jesus is the King of both Heaven and Earth.

1 Corinthians 12:27 "Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it."

He's the King of all creation, including all the Angels of Heaven. Everything that was made was made by Jesus--EVERYTHING. THINK ABOUT HIS ENORMOUS POWER AND PRESTIGE! Yet, He emptied Himself.

Galatians 5:1 "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."

There was nothing Jesus could not do, yet, He humbled Himself, emptying Himself of EVERYTHING, becoming weak and poor to love, honor, and serve His Father, God. Jesus said, "FOLLOW ME!"

Philippians 2:3-11 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

In COMMUNITY, we find the heartbeat of Christ’s mission. Jesus Himself modeled this by being baptized publicly by John, not in isolation but before witnesses, affirming His identity as the Son of God.

Luke 9:23 "And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

Just as He embraced community, we are called to live as INTERCONNECTED members of His body—unified, interdependent, and transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect".

The Christian life begins with receiving—Grace poured out by Jesus to establish us in Him. This grace is not meant to be hoarded but multiplied.

John 12:26 "If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him."

As we receive His unmerited favor, we are empowered to serve others selflessly, becoming conduits of His love and truth

John 1:16 "For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace."

Ephesians 2:8-10 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

1 Corinthians 12:12 "For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ"

Truth-Tellers, Foot-Washers & Kingdom Rebels

To be a truth-teller in Christ is to trust Jesus to dismantle all your shame, condemnation, and fear.

Ephesians 4:15 "But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ."

We speak boldly in love, CONFESS our sins and weaknesses openly, and forge deep connections rooted in Christ’s redemptive power.

James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."

Authentic community thrives when we reject isolation and choose vulnerability, reflecting God’s light in a broken world.

1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."

The Radical Community Called to Co-Create with Christ Before the End

Jesus loves to lead the “creative minority”—people those like Joseph, Moses, and David—who trust Him amid turmoil. These faithful few use chaos as a catalyst for divine purpose. A seed must die to bear fruit, and so must we. Dying to self, we become Christ’s seeds, planted in adversity to yield resurrection life. God’s kingdom advances not through majority rule but through surrendered hearts who co-create with Him in the fray.

John 12:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

Fearlessness begins with emptying ourselves of pride, lust, and fear. Let Jesus cleanse you, carry your burdens, and transform you into a humble servant—a “foot-washer” who loves radically.

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

By grace, we exchange our frailty for His strength, becoming fearless ambassadors of His truth.

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline."

Trading Self-Kingdoms for the Bridegroom’s Call

“Come, all who are weary." God’s timing is sovereign—He ordains seasons and appoints moments.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven."

Jesus, the Author of TIME, invites us to lay down our empires, pick up our cross, and walk in sync with His divine rhythm.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Repentance is not regret but a turning—a mind renewed by truth and a heart aligned with His mission. Surrender your plans, confess your failures, and let His grace redefine your purpose.

Satan’s oldest lie is separation—the delusion of self-sufficiency.

Genesis 3:5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Jesus flips this script: He embraced outcasts, sinners, and the broken, refusing to chase away even those who betrayed Him.

John 6:67-68 "So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.’"

Today, too many church leaders operate in fear, guarding their man-made empires rather than seeking the lost. Christ’s way is radical connection—loving others as if they are Him. Jesus did not chase away the lost, He embraced them and never let them go.

Matthew 25:40 "The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’"

We are called to CONFESS, not judge, to forgive ALL as we abide in Him, always rejecting self-promotion for sacrificial service and radical generosity. Jesus left the ninety-nine safe ones and went after the one lost rebel sheep. Jesus said, FOLLOW ME!

Philippians 2:3-5 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus."

How Dying to Self in Community Ignites the Final Gospel Revolution

From Adam to Peter, God speaks. His Word is living, His Spirit proclaims truth, and His sheep hear His voice.

Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Ask the Holy Spirit to tune your spiritual ears. Seek His face in prayer, imagination, and Scripture knowing He will reveal Himself, and He loves to do so.

John 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come."

Let King Jesus GIVE YOU your real identity and then let Him ignite your gifts.

John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."

To heal, we need truth and community. Jesus meets us in suffering, using both to mold us into His image.

Ephesians 2:10 "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

Like new wine, His grace demands fresh wineskins—hearts unshackled by scarcity, fear, or pride. Sit with the hurting. Weep with them. Walk with them. For in bearing one another’s burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ.

Romans 8:29 "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren."

Matthew 9:17 "Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

Galatians 6:2 "Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ."

Babylon’s Chains vs. the Bride’s Inheritance

You already have everything in Christ. Abide in Him. Reject scarcity; embrace His abundance. Let go of self-protection—the Kingdom belongs to the humble.

Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Trust His timing. Confess freely. Love recklessly.

Colossians 2:9-10 "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority."

And as you behold Him, you will become what you worship.

2 Corinthians 3:18 "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."

The hour is late, but His promise stands: “Behold, I am making all things new."

Revelation 21:5 "And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’"

How the Creative Minority Embraces Death to Unleash Resurrection Life in the Last Hour

The "creative minority" emerges as those who dare to live backward to the world’s logic—dying to self so that Christ’s resurrection life might erupt through them. These radical stewards of grace, as Chuck Swindoll illuminates, reject the delusion of self-preservation and instead embrace the paradox of the seed: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

Anchored in God’s unmerited favor, we surrender our agendas, reputations, and fears, trusting that death to the old self is the gateway to supernatural fruitfulness.

In the last hour, marked by cultural decay and spiritual apathy, this minority becomes the vanguard of hope—not through force, control, or manipulation but through sacrificial love. We wield brokenness as a weapon, turning chaos into a canvas where Christ’s glory is revealed.

Our legacy is not built on platforms or power but on the quiet revolution of hearts reborn, communities restored, and a harvest reaped in the shadow of the cross. For in dying, we unlock the very pulse of grace: resurrection life that outlasts time and outshines darkness.

The Rabbi’s Invitation - A Life Reborn in Truth, Grace, and Kingdom Community

Jesus Christ, the Rabbi of Heaven, steps into the chaos of our world with a rhythm older than time and a truth sharper than any sword.

John 13:14 "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet."

He does not merely teach—He invites: “Come to Me, all who are weary.” His yoke is not a burden but a liberation, a divine cadence that syncs our hearts to the pulse of eternity.

Philippians 2:3 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves."

As Teacher, He dismantles the lies we’ve clung to—the self-sufficiency, the fear, the pride—and replaces them with a scandalous promise: “If you die, you will live." This is not a metaphor; it is a mandate.

Matthew 25:40 "The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’"

The path to abundance begins when we fall like seeds into the soil of His grace, surrendering our empires to be reborn as members of His body, woven into a tapestry of radical generosity, love, and purpose.

As Leader, Jesus models what He demands. He kneels, not to conquer but to cleanse—a foot-washer King who strips power of its poison and fills it with holy fire. “Regard one another as more important than yourselves", He commands, forging a community where masks crumble, sins are confessed, and the broken are lifted as icons of His presence: “What you did for the least of these, you did for Me."

This is no pious idealism—it is the architecture of a new creation, where old wineskins of selfishness burst under the ferment of grace, making room for a people “transformed from glory to glory."

2 Corinthians 3:18 "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."

Yet the Rabbi does not leave us groping in the dark. He breathes His Spirit into us, sharpening our ears to hear His voice and our minds to discern His will.

John 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come."

John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."

We are His workmanship, not self-made but God-made, crafted for good works that ripple into eternity. And here lies the paradox: the more we empty ourselves—of fear, of scarcity, of the serpent’s lie that we must “be like God” —the more He fills us with His fullness.

Colossians 2:9–10 "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority."

The Teacher’s lesson is clear: Time is not our enemy but His servant. We live in the tension of the “already and not yet”—already made new, yet awaiting the day He makes all things new.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven."

Revelation 21:5 "And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’"

Until then, we are the creative minority, the foot-washers and truth-tellers, who wield love as our weapon and community as our fortress. We are the ones who, in dying daily, unlock resurrection—not just for ourselves, but for a world groaning for the weight of glory only Christ can bring.

This is the Rabbi’s syllabus: Die. Listen. Love. Repeat. The hour is late, the harvest is ripe, and the Kingdom is at hand. Will you take His yoke?

As we close this discourse on the latent power embedded in surrender and service, let us reflect on our roles within the kingdom of God. Are we merely building personal empires, or are we laying down our lives as Christ did?

The path of a truth-teller, a foot-washer, and a kingdom rebel is fraught with challenges yet it is the most rewarding journey one can embark upon. Let this be more than a reading exercise; let it be a call to radical transformation.

Embrace the divine rhythm of Jesus’ life: surrender, serve, and lead in love. As kingdom rebels, we're not just called to change narratives but to transform lives by living out the profound truths of the Gospel, becoming beacons of His enduring love and grace in a world desperate for TRUTH.

2 Thessalonians 2:8-17 "Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, BECAUSE THEY DID NOT RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word."

My Identity IN CHRIST

My identity is IN CHRIST. I am made in His image, and I am being conformed into the image of God, our Father who is in Heaven. I am a good branch from the Good Tree, the Tree of Life. I am a Child of God, His Beloved. God is love; I am love. I am the Bride of Christ and a valued part of His Body. I am Jesus' Sheep, and I hear His voice. I have been translated into the Kingdom of His Beloved, Jesus. According to the Word of God, like you, I have the mind of Christ, and I stand before the Throne of Grace with boldness and confidence that He hears my prayers and supplies all of my needs. I am chosen, called, and sent to make disciples of His Kingdom, so I am a disciple maker, a fisher of men. Keep in mind all of this happened before the foundation of the world. I am eternal IN CHRIST, forever His. Jesus said, I am a citizen of Heaven and an Ambassador of Christ, and I dwell with Him and in Him, and He in me. Therefore, I am a vessel of Christ filled with love.