Kasumba: How you wield your power, influence matters

There is so much benefit if and when one invests an amount of time in the study of a new language. In fact the more languages one embarks on the better.

You sure have heard it said that a mind stretched by a new idea never regains its original size, have you not? If you cant find a language to embark on I highly recommend you do then learn an instrument.

Stretch your mind.

Still on language what I am about to say I learned as I studied Biblical Greek and Hebrew as part of the requirement for both my BTh and MA in New Testament theology. I was later to fall in love with Biblical Greek and go on to return here to lecture the course. Greek is a very meticulous, intricate language and it is unquestionably not easy.

You learn the thinking pattern of a people by studying their language. The Greeks are inherently philosophical and are into existential matters.

Their language is built to handle such complex things. By contrast our languages here are languages of communicating requests and desires and are not built to handle existential matters the reason for which you can’t study PhD mathematics, physics or chemistry in any of them!

They would explode. They just are built to handle such complex complexities. I shall add that what I just stated even applied to Swahili, which is the most developed of them largely because it borrowed some Arabic, a highly developed language of the Semites.

Many students of theology avoid the pathway of theology called Biblical theology because there you can’t avoid Biblical Greek and Biblical Hebrew former for the New Testament and the later for the Old Testament. These languages will open one’s eyes to many things.

You probably have worked out already that I have no time for anyone who is reckless enough to suggest that it’s a great idea for a pastor to avoid formal theology education. Using the lame excuse that Jesus never went to school.

Of course such an excuse in and of itself is rooted in ignorance.

One day I shall come back to that. Right  now let me go to why I am here in the first place. Greek has two words that are used interchangeably but mean very different things.

Dunamis and Exousia 

The very intelligent and organized Luke will bring the two together here.

Luke 4:36 says: "And they were all amazed, and spoke among themselves, saying, What

a word is this! For with authority (exousia) and power (dunamis) He commands the unclean spirits, and

they come out."

The translation here is loose that’s why I am here and why we study Greek. Dumamis is the kind of power that deals with might and force root form from which you have the English noun dynamite the kind that splits things.

When in administrative position like Jesus was, you need to know what to do with both!

How you use them determines the kind of leader you are perceived to be.

Exousia is a very difference kind of power. What John Katumba is looking for is exousia. The moment he is declared the winner and sworn in like Joe Biden will be exousia he will have and that is what he will use to command the troops.

The whole idea of Commander in Chief is about exousia. Joe Biden may be 78 and a little frail but you cannot under estimate exousia even when it’s laden with a man with body weakness because it does things. Donald Trump has

lost exousia in some respects.

It’s very possible to have power and have empty power the kind that no longer has and commands influence and when this happens you know! A man can have bulging muscles and all but should he for some unfortunate reason

lose his potency or manhood there is a sense in which his exousia vanishes and he starts to press the

panic button!

That kind of man is dangerous to his close associates. He knows much about himself that many others may jot and his actions tell! He is insecure and very paranoid. He will accuse his wife of sleeping with everyone in the company where she works.

The moment exousia leaves you it’s often replaced by dunamis as a compensation. Terrible decision that.

This is the benefit of learning advanced languages you learn intricate things and how to analyse them for sure.

In your office setting avoid anything that erodes your boss’ exousia you will call dunamis on you sooner than latter and that won’t feel pretty. I am speaking here about the importance of influence, which is soft power.

That ability to get people to do things for you without having to scream at them and bullying them into doing things. I have seen kids play and you can tell which kid has exousia.

This kind of child is rare. Have you not seen kids refuse to play till so and so is available? They all go to the kid’s house and beg their parents to have them join the fray.How much exousia do you have?

If you see yourself to be overly reliant on dunamis it’s because you have failed to master exousia and the more you apply dunamis you don’t get any closer to exousia.

Because you beat your wife or kids to pulp does not mean you have become influential. As Jesus lead and founded the Christian movement he mastered exousia and see how many billions have signed up for his movement.

Its this kind of exousia that got young Africans walk and sing to death in Namugongo for a man they never

physically saw!

Its this kind of power that moves things on social media! Hence the term influencers. So many people have brought dunamis on social media recklessly hoping that that dunamis will translate into exousia.

They have miserably failed and when you fail you need not be told, you surely know.

I wont say much more. I hope I have influenced your thought processes and certainly given you something to think about. Look around for those who have no exousia and avoid them! A word to a wise is enough.