It is common in churches to elect business, educational or community leaders to positions of church leadership. This can be a great mistake, a disservice both to the individual, who may not be spiritually mature enough for the task, and to the congregation. It sends the wrong message to the church. A person's power in society may indeed be a gift from God, but it does not follow that he or she has a spiritual gift of leadership in the church or that the leadership gifts are sufficiently honed for high visibility positions in the church. Each year in our own congregation when we elect elders or deacons, we rehearse the biblical teaching on leadership qualifications, and thereby remind ourselves that power in the world does not necessarily position us for spiritual leadership.
Power is opportunity for service.
We must reclaim the notion that power can be a vehicle for serving others. In many ways servanthood is central to the biblical understanding of power. The Christian perspective on power is not that we shouldn't have it, but that the power we have should be used in the service of God and others. It's interesting to me how much the corporate world today picks up the language of service in business articles, books, and mission statements. Meanwhile the church is losing the language.