John the Baptist lost his head over sticking his nose into the king’s private business. King Herod had an affair with Herodias, his brothers wife, and he ended up taking her to be his wife. John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry her” (Matthew 14:4). Herod had wanted to kill John over this, but he feared the people who thought of John as a prophet (which he obviously was). But when the daughter of Herodias won the king’s favor by dancing for him at his birthday party, he promised her anything she wanted, and at the insistence of her mother, she requested the head of John the Baptist.
This is a perfect example of John speaking truth to power. The truth was God’s law and the power was the king, who thought he could get away with anything he wanted including taking his brother’s wife. But why did John take this risk speaking the truth to the king? Because what he was doing was wrong — pure and simple. Herod was a Jew and at that time, the king of the Jews, and he was abusing his power to go against God’s law.
I doubt anything like this would happen today because some of us Christians are too enamored with power to risk speaking the truth against it. We are trying too hard to get on the side of power, thinking we can further God’s agenda by it, but God never uses power to accomplish His goals. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord (Zechariah 4:6)” And His Spirit only works in conjunction with what is right. You can’t cozy up to wrong and get anything but wrong out of it. “Power corrupts; and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton).
We must resist the temptation to power. We need to give primacy to the word of God. Our allegiance is to God and to follow in His ways which includes love, compassion, forgiveness, and humility. Or for a more complete list: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22).
We are rubbing shoulders with the world in the marketplace, which makes pursuing the fruits of the Spirit so important. Reject siding with power to accomplish anything for the kingdom of God. It will get us nowhere except to corrupt the very thing we are trying to accomplish. Truth to power is bringing the fruits of the Spirit in the context of lording it over or bullying someone. It’s what Gregory Boyd calls “power under” (to lift up) instead of “power over” (to hold down or oppress).
Truth to power — it’s the way we change the world. It may cost you your head.
John Fischer The Catch 
I want to thank you for this message about Power and John The Baptist. That story in the Bible is one of the most interesting and with a tragic end. I remember asking Mom questions when I was nine about what Salome had done. Mom told me she followed her mom’s instructions. But, as we have heard so many times judge not and ye not be judged. I believe John meant well with his opinion and speaking it to many others but, so true about this one being a mistake., I am glad their was finally a message about this event in the Bible and so true about God thru his Son Jesus Christ in faith and love.
I doubt it was a mistake. Herod was the king and he was breaking the law of God. John, the reigning prophet called him on it. At the same time, John had finished his work on earth. He came to prepare the way of the Lord and he did that.