When God gives you authority to get a job done, it is imperative that there are no ego-trips. Authority can be used to enslave or set free. Authority should be used positively, in ways that bring liberty to people, not just limitation. Sometimes people think of authority as nothing more than telling people what they cannot do and keeping people in line. But in God's instruction to Moses (Exodus 6:13), we are reminded that authority can bring freedom to others when it is applied wisely and under the Lord's direction.

For example, a judge can use authority to release an innocent person from jail. A high school principal can use authority to obtain resources so that teachers are able to teach effectively. A manager can use authority to reward a worker's performance and encourage creativity and excellence. All of these are examples of those who are in non-public, Messianic positions of authority and responsibility for a part of God's flock. So at its best, authority can be affirming and supportive rather than controlling and punitive. One question that I believe God is asking this Passover/Easter season is: How are you inclined to use authority?

Let's turn and see what Paul has to say about spiritual authority at 2 Corinthians. He said at the end of this letter, "Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though we may seem disqualified. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. And this also we pray, that you may be made complete. Therefore I write these things absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the authority which the Lord has given me for edification and not for destruction." (2 Corinthians 13:7-10)

The Bible commentary on spiritual authority is as follows:

If you exercise leadership among other believers, carefully study Paul's comment about his authority. Like many of us, Paul liked to be in charge, and he felt frustrated when people failed to follow his lead, as the Corinthians had. As an apostle, he had spiritual authority over them, which at times led him to deal severely with them. But it's important to notice how Paul exercised his authority, especially as he grew older in the faith. He didn't lord it over others or try to use his authority to personal advantage. Nor did he abuse his power by using it to work out his own anger (righteous vs. unrighteous anger). Instead, he recognized that spiritual authority is given "for edification and not for destruction," for building others up, not for tearing them down.

Is that how you use your position and authority? Do you exercise leadership in order to accomplish the best interests of those who follow you? As they carry out your directives, are they built up in Christ or torn down?

"Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from him. And He said to her, 'What do you wish?' She said to Him, 'Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.' But Jesus answered and said, 'You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?' They said to Him, 'We are ready.' So He said to them, 'You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.' And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.'" (Matthew 20:20-28)

Responding to a controversy among the disciples, Jesus revealed a unique style of authority--servant-leadership. What does it mean to be a "slave" in order to become great? What does it mean to define leadership in terms of servanthood? Jesus suggested that both involve seeking the highest good for others -- good as evaluated from God's perspective. In light of Jesus' own example, particularly iin giving up His own life as a "ransom for many," we can observe that servant-leadership means: (1) seeing ourselves as called by God to serve/lead others; (2) knowing intimately the people we serve/lead; (3) caring deeply about the people we serve/lead; and (4) being willing to sacrifice our own convenience to meet the needs of the people we serve/lead.

A popular example of Jesus' belief in servant-leadership is when He washed the feet of the disciples. Jesus was giving a very graphic example of what those in political/spiritual control would NOT do as opposed to what these people should be doing, and giving the disciples the chance to decide for themselves which way was in God and which was not.

In today's world where most of our officials are elected, the democratic ideal is expressed as "government by the people for the people." To facilitate the process, democracies are organized on an electoral basis whereby the few represent the many. The representatives are chosen BY the people to govern for the people, but the paradoxical result is generally government OF the people. This is contrary to all the principles of democratic community and has nothing whatever to do with service. It is therefore in direct opposition to the concept of servant-leadership. In Jesus' day and in the area that he lived, there were some elected officials as with the Jewish High Council (the Sanhedrin), but they were still overruled by the Romans, who achieved their positions through force. Everyone was programmed into thinking that tyranny was the norm. What Jesus did by washing the disciples' feet was to show them that there was another way, that of God. Rule is not service and has no part in the justice, equality and tolerance of the democratic ideal, and when people are raised in a tyrannical society, it flows over into every single aspect of their lives, including their spirituality and relationships with the Father.

There is a big difference between the few deciding the fates of the many and the few actually SERVING the many, and this is what Easter is all about. It is the victim mentality, the slave way of thinking, that Moses had to deal with, and Jesus had to deal with in a different way, as Paul's writing to the Galatians shows.

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Written and designed
by Micki
March 2000