The Drug Called Power

Acts 8 and Simon the Sorcerer expose a danger the modern church still faces: craving spiritual power, signs, encounters, and influence without deeper submission to Christ.

Simon amazed an entire community. People associated him with greatness. But when the Gospel arrived, Luke reveals that fascination with power and genuine spiritual formation are not the same thing. The issue was never simply what Simon could do. The deeper question was who he was submitted to.

The modern church knows how to create powerful moments. We know how to generate momentum and move rooms. But noise is not glory. Response is not fruit. Encounters reveal God's power, but encounters alone do not mature the heart. Formation does. Refining does. Obedience does.

God is not calling us back to stronger encounters at the expense of formation. He is calling us back to deeper submission. And that is where true power has always lived.