This power comes with no uniform - no financial reward - and no authority to control the behavior of others. And yet, giving us the authority to correct or rebuke, to warn people of their sin, has led to many unfortunate abuses. In fact, it has become the stereotype of Christians that they are tyrannical, bossy, accusatory, holier-than-thou.

But God says that our message to a sinful world is to be, "As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked..."

Our problem is that we might take such pleasure. Oh, I know, you'd deny it. But when someone gets what's coming to them, their just deserts, we often have a corner of satisfaction. It's not just that we are pleased that God is just. No, but we are pleased that we were proved right.

Wouldn't it be better to be wrong? What a joyful surprise it would be to discover that the boss whom you considered a Simon Legree (the wicked slave master in Uncle Tom's Cabin) is really, secretly, the one who is caring for the poor, tending the sick, and helping the needy.

When we warn the world against spiritual danger, it's a good idea to consider what uniform we wear, and whether we are representing our compassionate Heavenly Father, or whether we are representing our own interests. The power we're given is not just abused when it is overused. It is abused when we use it for our own benefit or pleasure, or to build ourselves up.

Instead, God gives us divine power, the mighty power of his word, to benefit and bless, to guide and save, to comfort and rescue.