Question Authority

What is your first reaction when you hear the word “obedience”? What about “authority”? Most likely your first thought went to some person who has had authority over you and you hate their guts and everything that they said, did, and stood for. While that may be harsh…maybe…we have all had to deal with that leader at some point in our lives. We have all had to submit to authorities that we can’t stand; yet we must obey them.

People of authority in church have wronged many of us. There are many leaders in our churches today who are not Godly figures of authority. There are many leaders who are not even real leaders by God’s standard. Maybe your pastor is one of them. Maybe your teacher or professors are one of them. Maybe you are one of them.

If the word “authority” ticked you off and made you immediately angry, then you have most likely let a worldly view of authority conquer your Godly view of authority. What we as a church have forgotten is that God and Scripture are our ultimate authority. They do not seek to bind us or limit us, but set us free. Jesus came to set us free, not hold us down. The problem with our postmodern society today is that we believe that authority can’t mesh with freedom. Instead of holding a traditional view of authority, we have given ourselves authority. We say, “Whatever we believe is right, whatever they believe is right.” We don’t want to listen to other people because we assume they are like us, self centered and corrupt.

Proper, truthful authority in the church is rare. So often, pastors become God’s replacement. People listen to the pastor and not God. They follow the pastor and not God. Pastors are intended to be God’s transparent voice, his vehicle, and his truth. Good pastors do not speak their own words, but God’s. Jesus demonstrated servant leadership. He told his disciples that whoever is last will be first. True authority comes from a dispossession of power, not a longing to possess it. True authority points away from itself and toward God. True authority does not require obedience to its own will, but to God’s. True authority claims no power, but disperses it. True authority has no desire for authority.

Obey those who have authority over you. Listen for the voice of God through those leaders. But…be discerning, be wise, and be a Godly follower. Listen to what you are being told and listen to see if it is the pastor’s voice or God’s. Look at your leaders. Do they claim authority and desire power? Or do they exhibit God’s authority and give power, rather than take it? True, Godly leaders are rare. Find them.