Week 6: Chapter 5 — The Power and the Glory

1.Keller uses the story of Joseph to illustrate how power and control can be both genuinely good gifts and serious spiritual dangers. In what ways did Joseph's gifts — administrative skill, vision, and strategic intelligence — create a temptation toward the idol of control?

2.Keller argues that the desire for power is often really a desire for safety — that we grasp for control because we are afraid of what will happen if we don't control things. Does that feel true to your experience? When is your desire to control things most intense, and what fear is usually underneath it?

3.The chapter explores political idolatry — the tendency to look to political leaders, parties, or movements to provide the salvation that only God can give. Keller wrote before the extreme political polarization of the 2010s and 2020s, yet his diagnosis feels remarkably current. Where do you see political idolatry operating in your own heart or community?