[January 21, 2026] An ancient question continues to raise its head, even in modern times, and asks what is the greatest temptation of the most powerful people. Once we are in a position of authority, the temptation that immediately emerges is how to use that power for the “best possible reasons.”
Why not use that power to get things done faster?
Dr. Jordan Peterson, in conversation with several Biblical scholars discussing aspects of the Bible that provide us with lessons that leaders can consider to make themselves a better person, and to avoid doing untold damage with good intentions. And, he quotes Jesus in this famous quote:
“Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” – Matthew 16:23, Jesus rebuking Peter who is resisting Jesus’ path to suffering and death on the cross.
Most scholars believe in His rebuke of Peter, Jesus is resisting Peter’s reliance on earthly authority, and rejecting the word of God. He tells Peter to get back in his place as subordinate to Himself and God.
Dr. Peterson says that this quote is an indication that everything should be put in their proper place. This is an eye-opening observation by Dr. Peterson. For power, a leader must place that power behind them, to help propel them forward, and not to let it become the primary force in their lives.
He is also saying that this power is not to be removed but put where it is best utilized. Our desire to “do good” with our power is, in itself, insufficient, and may well be ultimately destructive.
We are forewarned that the kingdom of power is one of hell. Too many great leaders have used their authority to rush to do good things, and in doing so, have set backwards their original goals. They will fail in the long term, despite the usefulness of power in the shorter term.
This is the intellectual problem of Marxism, and its successor neo-Marxism, that power is everything. Such is a corruption of the idea of how we humans live. Social interaction is far more complex, and operates on a richer scale than we might imagine.
The mission of the leader is always in service of a higher good, and service to the people. When the leader twists his actions towards himself and friends, and “the greater good,” putting that power in service to our desires is the most disastrous of corruption. That pathway is laden with gold, gold that is false.
This is the greatest of temptations; to use our authority and power to achieve for the best possible reasons. This short quote from Matthew’s 16:23 is a warning of one of the most forward-looking passages of the Bible.
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Many here have noted the similarity of Gen. Satterfield’s comments generically to those who are a part of the American Democrat Party. For what it is worth, i agree with them. It seems to me, and no one has been able to dispel my thinking, that the Democrat Party exists purely for the political power they hold. Nothing else matters, and that is why they cheat in elections and rig the system in their favor. Like getting kickbacks of all sorts from NGOs, fake government programs, etc. Gen. Satterfield said it best here: “ The mission of the leader is always in service of a higher good, and service to the people. When the leader twists his actions towards himself and friends, and “the greater good,” putting that power in service.”
Plus, Winston, Democrats are just mentally insane, except for a few who are psychopaths.
🙏 Thank you, Gen. Satterfield. 🙏
Gen. Satterfield, very interesting. I’ve been a tad busy lately and missed a number of your articles. Not that I’m not educated by them. Ha Ha. But thanks for your late series on the Iraq War: Pre-Surge. I enjoyed them all. Please put them into a separate tab for easy reading and reference.
Here is an example:
Why Gavin Newsom demands the world’s elites oppose America
https://nypost.com/2026/01/20/opinion/why-gavin-newsom-demands-the-worlds-elites-oppose-america/
I think the man is nuts. But hey, all liberals are nuts. And the few that actually can work, have to themselves put up with their DEI hires.
Good one, Gen. Satterfield. I’m now having to sit back in my easy chair and “think” about what you just wrote. Hmmmmm. I also think that by reading more of the context of the quote in Matthew is giving me a better insight into what you’re trying to say. There is a higher-order priority in life as there are in our man-made organizations. Don’t be the one who thinks they can exercise their authority or power to achieve those for the “best possible reasons”. Of course, that can be very dangerous.
Maybe I’m slow, but I had to read this several times to get the point. As I understand, “for the best possible reasons” means that we cannot know what those reasons are – or at least all of them, thus we must use our power not to get ahead of ourselves and be tempted to intervene because we don’t understand all. Only God knows all. Not us. Those best possible reasons may not be what we think they are and we certainly cannot know all the second and third-order effects. I hope I’m approaching what Gen. Satterfield and Dr. Peterson are trying to tell us.
I’m stuck too. But some of the comments here, and knowing what Gen. Satterfield is typically writing about, I think I’m to believe that powerful leaders can be attempted to overuse or misuse their power inappropriately or at least unwisely.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.