In 1793, as France reeled from revolution and the dissolution of the monarchy, members of the National Convention - the country’s governing body - produced a collection of decrees containing words that would echo through the centuries following: 

“The people’s representatives will reach their destination, invested with the highest confidence and unlimited power. They will show great character. They must consider that great responsibility follows inseparably from great power…”

These sentiments, inspired by Voltaire and fellow Enlightenment philosophers, became the backbone of France’s new governing principles. Voltaire - a tireless crusader against bigotry, tyranny, and cruelty - died nearly fifteen years earlier, but his ideas lived on in France’s revolutionary fervor.

His magnum opus, a novella entitled Candide, follows its naive protagonist who, after being ejected from his sheltered castle home, confronts a world of suffering that shatters his mentor’s insistence that “this is the best of all possible worlds.” Throughout his journey, Candide witnesses the abuses of those with power - religious authorities, aristocrats, government officials - all of whom fall under Voltaire’s unflinching satirical eye. Candide witnesses countless horrors along the way and ultimately resolves that the secret to a worthwhile life is surprisingly simple: “We must cultivate our garden.”

The idea that power demands responsibility has resonated with leaders throughout history from William Lamb to Rev. John Cumming to Franklin D. Roosevelt. While the details off the French Revolution and the philosophers whose ideas inspired it may fade from memory, this idea has embedded itself in our cultural consciousness.

This sentiment is perhaps most vividly preserved in American popular culture. In August 1962, Marvel introduced Spider-Man in the first issue of “Amazing Fantasy.” The character’s enduring appeal was crystalized in that first appearance with a caption that defined his entire ethos: 

“And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness aware, at last, that in this world, with great power there must also come - great responsibility!”

These words weren’t spoken by the main character, Peter Parker (Spider-Man), or his uncle - his confidant and interpreter of Peter’s new reality. They were spoken by an omniscient narrative voice about the true nature and burden of power.

This same question of power and responsibility lies at the heart of Miroslav Volf’s work. A theological bridge builder who connects Christian thought with culture, politics, and economics, Volf teachers a popular seminar at Yale University. This same seminar was used as the foundation for his 2023 book, Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most. The course invites students to engage with the world’s philosophical, cultural, and religious traditions in pursuit of what Volf calls “The Question.” 

The Question has many expressions: What matters most? What constitutes a good life? What kind of existence honors our humanity and the humanity of others? What is true, right, and good? Even though it resists a perfect definition, it is the fundamental inquiry that shapes our lives.

It is the question that animated Voltaire, guided Franklin D. Roosevelt, and transformed Spider-Man. And as we push beyond our immediate desires to answer it, we inevitably confront another challenge: What is our responsibility? Who exactly are we responsible to?

Volf says, “Without some sense of responsibility - to someone or something - for living our lives a certain way, the whole quest [for a life worth living] lacks urgency. It becomes a matter of preference. And when it comes to lives that are worth living, preference is dangerously close to whim…Before we can get serious about the question of flourishing life, we need to ask about responsibility.” 

The pivotal moments of our lives, Volf goes on to say, must transcend preferences - what we might select off of life’s seemingly limitless menu. Our choices alone cannot be the ultimate source of our responsibility. We must employ our consciences. For our consciences to really do their jobs, and we all have a conscience, we should pay attention to them and not leave them to arbitrary chance. 

If we aspire to lives of meaning and purpose, we must live as though answering to something beyond our arbitrary desires. We must recognize responsibilities that extend beyond self-interest. 

What we saw play out in the Oval Office a few days ago stands in stark contrast to this principle - it was irresponsible. 

For Christians, The Question, however we ask it, is rooted in Jesus Christ. Christianity doesn’t exist without him. Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion, a church, or a template for government.  Jesus came to help us answer once and for all what kind of life is worth living. A life where we are responsible to God guided by the Spirit to choose a different way of living guided by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. A life where we are responsible to one another as we follow Jesus’ example when he gives his mother and the disciple him he loved to one another to care for one another in one of his last breaths on earth (John 19:26). A life where the power of power ceases to be, well, powerful when Jesus overcomes death and rises to life on the third day. 

As Carl Jung observes, “The greatest and most important problems of life…can never be solved, but only outgrown. This ‘outgrowing’…is a new lever of consciousness.” Or conscientiousness. 

Our culture often suggests we need not confront our failures. Jung counters that precisely where we fall, we discover true gold. As we face today’s challengers of power misused and responsibilities abdicated, perhaps it’s time to return to Voltaire’s wisdom and cultivate new gardens if we’re truly hoping for resurrection.