Pride and Power by Steven Willing (shortened version)
Every generation produces its version of the holy tyrant. The names change but not the pattern. Even the titles can vary: senior pastor, ruling elder, or influential layman with the loudest voice in the room. What they share is a widening circle of personal authority and the slow accumulation of wreckage that follows them: broken relationships, silenced dissent, fleeing members, shattered congregations. This pattern should not surprise us. Augustine identified this impulse 16 centuries ago and gave it a name: the libido dominandi — the lust to dominate. In “The City of God” (14:28), Augustine drew the defining contrast between two cities, two loves, two images of self. The earthly city is built on love of self and contempt for God. The heavenly city, on the other hand, is built on love of God and contempt for self. In the earthly city, men are ruled by libido dominandi . In the heavenly city, by the love of serving. Augustine added a twist t...