There is a third agent of
authority. And that is the state.
In Romans 13, Paul taught
that the government authorities have been appointed by God. Paul even calls the
government "God's servant." God has ordained kings and civil officers
whom He calls to govern by laws and policies so that the sinfulness of man be
restrained and things be conducted in our country in good order. God even gives
them the sword to punish the evil doer. Article 36 of the Belgic Confession provides a wonderful summary of the Biblical
teaching on this.
Typically, governments do
not acknowledge that they have their authority from God. In our country, called
a democracy, the governments of course think they have their mandate from the
people who elected them. That is only partially true. The full truth is that
God mandates them. God uses the election to bring them into power, but He gives them the authority they have.
Governments ought to realize that. The authority and power they have, they have
from God.
Now that we have considered
the source of authority and the agents of authority, we need to think about the
style of authority. How ought those whom God gives authority in this
world—parents, the church, the civil government—to exercise that authority?
What ought to characterize their authority? In a word: Service. All authority
ought to be qualified by service. Servant-leadership. To that matter we turn
next time.
(Next we speak about the style of authority.
This
series of blog posts were originally presented as a speech at the October 1998
Ontario Women's League Day in Ancaster, Ontario. Much of the spoken style remains.
