Authority (9): the rejection of authority

The rejection of authority began in the Garden of Eden. God told our first parents, Adam and Eve, that they could eat from every tree in the garden except for one. Not content with all-the-trees-but-one, they ate from the one excluded tree. They rejected God's authority. This spirit of revolution has been alive ever since.

Today's anti-authority spirit is largely a result and working out of the Age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution.

René Descartes (1596-1650), the father of modernism, coined the well-know phrase that is always associated with him: "Cogito, ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am). He started with the self. Man is the measure of all things. He thought that man could live apart from God. Revelation is to be rejected. We depend upon the self, upon human intellect alone, the ability to reason.

This spirit of revolution was cranked up a hundredfold by the French Revolution that lasted from 1789-1799. It was a revolution against the church and the king. Ultimately, it was a revolution against God. The battle cry of the French Revolution was: "No God! No master." The king was beheaded. France was de-Christianized. Dating the years on the basis of the year of Christ's birth was abolished. 1789 became Year One. The seven day week was replaced by a ten day week. The churches were closed.

A cycle of bloodshed ensued. Those manning the guillotine one day were its victims the next. The French Revolution killed itself. France ripened for a takeover. In 1799, someone did take over—Napoleon. He declared himself Emperor. They killed the king and got an emperor.

This spirit of revolution that cries "No God! No master" is still very much alive today. It is alive in the media. It is alive in the entertainment industry. You see it on TV. Authority figures are routinely ridiculed. On many sit-coms, the father is either a lazy oaf sitting in front of the TV clicking through the channels or a bungling fool just barely tolerated by wife and children. You see it in the many labour unions which are, by nature and constitution, against the employer. You see the spirit of revolution on the evening news as you witness screaming protesters waving their pickets signs.

The rejection of authority creates havoc, as does the abuse of authority. Both create disorder and chaos. Everyone ends up doing what is right in his own eyes.

Conclusion

God is the ultimate authority. He is the source of all authority. He revealed himself and his will in his Word, the Scriptures. He calls people to positions of authority in life: Parents, government leaders, church leaders. As those in positions of authority act as servants—not as tyrants, but as servants to those under them—things will be well. As husbands provide loving, kind, servant leadership to their wives, reflecting the relationship between Christ and the church, things will be well in their marriages. As parents provide firm but kind servant leadership to their families, reflecting the relationship between God the Father and his people, things will go well in their families.

This goes for churches and governments too. As those in positions of authority exercise their power by serving those they are called to lead, things will be well.

If they abuse their authority, things will go poorly. Families, churches, countries fall apart when those in authority abuse their authority.

As those under authority respect those whom God put over them, again, things will be well. As children respect their parents, as congregations honour their elders, as citizens obey their governments, things will go well in our families, churches and country.

May we all obey the Word of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Triune God has absolute authority. He has revealed his will in his Word. Let us obey it. Every word of it. As we keep the Word submitting to it in humility and obedience, things will be well in our lives. Reject the Word, disobey it, and your life will turn upside down. Obey it and things will be well.

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.

Authority (8): abuse of authority

In the state

Sadly enough, it happens that some who are in positions of authority abuse their power and position. Governments do. There are governments that oppress their people. We can think of the communist regimes of Stalin and Mao Tse Tung. Every November a Sunday is declared the International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians. In many Asian and North African countries, Christians are persecuted for their faith. They are oppressed by the state. Clearly, such governments are abusing their authority. God will hold them to account for this and will punish them for it.

In churches

This abuse of authority also happens in churches. In the 1500s, church reformers called the Medieval church back to the Word of God. Through the centuries, the church had strayed far away from the simple but true message of Scripture. The church had added all sorts of doctrines not found in the Bible. On top of that, many of the church leaders were living godless lives. The reformers called the church back to the Bible and away from false doctrine and permissive living. What was the reaction of the church? Persecution! Excommunication! Death by burning at the stake!

The church assigned more authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God. It refused to submit itself to the rule of Christ. It persecuted those who lived holy lives according to the Word of God and who rebuked it for its sins and false doctrine. The church of the Middle Ages would not take it. It used—or rather—it abused its power and authority to silence those who called it to faithfulness and submission to God's Word.

This example, which led to the Reformation of the church, is not the only example of the abuse of ecclesiastical authority. Throughout history, there have been many instances of churches abusing their authority, misusing their power, to silence those who would live godly lives and call a disobedient church back to the Word. The history of the Canadian Reformed Churches, which goes back to the Netherlands, bears this out.

In families

Abuse of authority does not only happen in the state and the church; it is also, sadly, found in families. All physical, verbal, and sexual abuse by someone in authority perpetrated against someone under authority is abuse of authority. We wish we could say that this does not happen among Christians and in the church, but we would be lying.

What must someone suffering abuse do? He or she needs to go to someone else in authority for help. We are all under several spheres of authority: the authority of parents, teachers, the police, and elders in the church. An abused person must go to someone else in a position of authority for help. The abuser must be brought to justice and face the just consequences of his crime. He must be brought to repentance at the foot of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only when we fall broken at the foot of the cross that we are reconciled to God and that we can be reconciled to one another.

(The final post in this series deals with the rejection of authority.)

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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.

Authority (7): limits of authority

Not only does authority have its appropriate style. There are also limits to authority. All human authority is limited. No human being has absolute authority. Only God does.

There is a wonderful story in the book of Acts that demonstrates the limited authority of man and the absolute authority of God. In Acts 4 we can read about how the Apostles Peter and John were arrested by the Jewish Council for preaching the good news of salvation by the cross of Jesus Christ. Peter and John were arrested. The council commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

What Peter and John said was significant. They were intent upon disobeying the authorities because they had to obey God. The Lord Jesus Christ had told them to preach the gospel. When the Jewish Council abused their authority—took unto themselves absolute authority—John and Peter said: "We will disobey you because we must obey God."

We need to be very careful here. The only time that we may disobey someone in authority over us—parents, church or state—is when they tell us to do something against the will of God. Only when obeying them will put you in conflict with the will of God, the only absolute authority, may you disobey the person in authority over you. Of course that includes if someone is perpetrating a crime against you. Some kind of abuse—sexual or physical abuse. Then too you disobey, if you can.

To that we can add the thought that if you may disobey, you must disobey. For the only time that you may disobey is when obeying the human authority will put you in conflict with the divine authority. In such an instance your highest calling is to obey God.

We were looking at Acts 4. If we go to Acts 5, we see that what we have seen so far is confirmed.

Once Peter and John were released, they promptly went out and continued preaching and teaching in the Name of Jesus. In short order they were arrested again and thrown into jail. During the night, an angel of God came, opened the doors of the jail, and sent them out with the command of God to tell the people the full message of this new life.

When the Jewish Council sent the police to get Peter and John out of the prison for them to be interrogated, the police found the jail cell empty. The report came in that Peter and John were preaching in the temple courts.

In short order, they were arrested again and brought before the council. Once again the council told them not to speak and teach in the Name of Jesus. But then Peter spoke the decisive word: "We must obey God rather than men."

That is the bottom line. When obeying man would make you disobey God, you need to disobey man to obey God. All human authority is limited. Only God's authority is unlimited and absolute. God is sovereign. Jesus Christ, alone, is King of kings and Lord of Lords. His is the kingdom, the power, the glory forever. His and his alone.

(The next post deals with the difficult topic of the abuse 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.

Authority (6): the style of authority

All whom God calls to exercise authority in this life—be it in the family, in the church, or in the state—must do so as servants. In this they must follow the Lord Jesus Christ. God gave Jesus Christ all authority in heaven and on earth. Today He is seated at the right hand of God the Father as King of the universe. However, Christ exercised authority already while He was on earth—authority to forgive sins, to drive out demons, to teach, to judge, and to give eternal life. What was the main distinguishing mark of the way in which Christ exercised authority? Service.

In Mark 10 beginning at verse 35, the Evangelist Mark related how the disciples of the Lord Jesus were arguing about who was going to get the choice spots in the kingdom of heaven. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, started it. They said to Jesus: "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." The Lord told them that was an inappropriate demand of them to make of Him.

When the other disciples heard about James' and John's request, they became very angry. It turned into quite a hullabaloo. So the Lord Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

The Son of Man (i.e., the Lord, the Christ)—the One to whom God the Father gave all authority in heaven and on earth—came to serve. To give his life as a ransom.

If we turn to John 13, we see this servant leadership of Christ at work. Jesus and the disciples were about to sit down to eat. It was customary to have one's feet washed before eating. This was a very important social convention in Palestine at that time. People walked barefoot in sandals, and so their feet would get dusty. Because people reclined on the floor when they ate, resting perhaps on a pillow, around a low table, it was very important to have the dust washed off the feet.

The lowliest servant in the house would typically do this. There were Jesus and his disciples, ready to eat. Apparently, there was no servant boy to wash their feet. Who would do it? All the disciples were very self-conscious. To get up and wash the feet of their peers would mean that they were less than the others. No one got up. No one wanted to look like he was less than the others.

Suddenly, the Master Jesus got up. He took off his outer cloak, wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water into a basin, and went around to each of his disciples, washing their feet and drying them with the towel. This was shocking. No other rabbi in Israel would have done such a thing. No other teacher would have stooped so low as to wash the feet of his students, his followers, his disciples. But Jesus did.

When he had finished washing their feet, He put on his clothes and returned to his place. He asked the disciples whether they understood what He had done for them. He said: "You call me `Teacher' and `Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am." Then He made a penetrating application: "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

The Lord gave us an example. The example is especially for those who occupy positions of authority. Those who have been placed by God in positions of authority must exercise that authority by serving. Their authority is to be qualified by service. The quality of service is what is to give their authority its texture and colour. Anyone—parents, church leaders, government officials—who do not qualify their authority by service (who do not provide servant leadership) become ugly monstrosities.

The account in John 13 challenges all who are in positions of authority—in the home, in the church, in the state—to be servant leaders. We need to exercise legitimate authority like Jesus Christ did, by becoming a servant to those God has placed under us.

(Next is the limits on 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.

Authority (4): the church as an agent of authority

But God does not only approach us via our parents. He also draws near to us through the church. The Lord Jesus Christ has vested authority in the church. This authority is, first of all, to preach the gospel. The church is Christ's preaching agency. Before He ascended to heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ sent his disciples out to preach the good news about salvation in his name and to teach people how to live in obedience to his will. He said to them: "… go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

The apostles took this command seriously. They themselves went out into the world preaching, discipling, baptizing, and teaching. Before they died, they trained others to preach. They told those they trained to train, in turn, others. In the last letter he wrote before he died, the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, minister of the church in Ephesus: "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others" (2 Tim 2:2). Timothy, taught by Paul, had to teach others who would, in turn, be able to teach others.

And so to this day the apostolic message has been handed down through the church. The faithful church of Jesus Christ has continued to preach the good news about salvation in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Not only does the church have the authority to preach the Word of God (to those who are already members of the church and in the context of mission work to those who do not yet know Christ). Christ, the Head of the church, also gave the church authority to exercise discipline over the members of the church—over those under its care.

In Matthew 16, the Lord told Peter and the other disciples that He was giving them the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and that whatever they bound on earth would be bound in heaven, and whatever they loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven. The Lord hereby gave the church authority to announce guilt or innocence. If a member of the church is living in disobedience to the commandments of God, then the church has the authority to tell that person he stands guilty before God. And when a person repents, again, the church has the authority to declare that person innocent—innocent before God on the basis of the blood of Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus worked that out more—what in fact He was giving to the church—He worked that out a bit more in Matthew 18. There He said that if a member of the church refuses to repent of a specific sin, if he hardens his heart and holds on to that sin, if he loves that sin more than Jesus Christ and obedience to his word, then the church has the power, authority, and responsibility to excommunicate that person. To bar him from the rights and privileges of membership in the church, and to declare that he, because of his hard-hearted sin against God, because of his unwillingness to seek forgiveness at the foot of the cross of Christ, no longer has a place in the kingdom of heaven.

We have an example of this process at work in the New Testament. In his first letter to the church at Corinth, chapter 5, Paul said that it had been reported to him that there was a case of sexual immorality in the church that shocked even the pagan unbelievers of Corinth. The case was that a member of the church was living with his stepmother. This was a case of incest. As depraved as Grecian society was, apparently incest was almost unheard of. Here in the church at Corinth, there was a case of incest. A man was publicly living together with his father's wife—his stepmother. And the church did nothing about it. In fact, the church was kind of proud about how enlightened it was that it could tolerate such a thing.

Paul said to the church: Put this man out of your fellowship! He continued: "When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord."

The church was to put this man outside, to excommunicate him, to hand him over to Satan. By expelling the man from the church, he would be thrust into the devil's territory, severed from any connection with God's people. The purpose was not only the preservation of God's good Name, but also that by being officially ostracized from the church, the man would experience such anguish that he would repent and forsake his wicked way.

So you see, do you not, that the authority to discipline that Christ gave his church is remedial? It is meant to reconcile the sinner to Christ and the church. All discipline is meant to be therapeutic. You can make the analogy with discipline in the family. It is supposed to be healing. Administered in a firm but loving way, it brings correction. Sadly, discipline is sometimes administered in a cruel, abusive and destructive way. That is no longer discipline. That's something else. It's abuse. We will turn to that painful topic in a future issue.

The point is that discipline in the family and in the church is meant to bring healing and correction—to reconcile the sinner to God.

(The next post will be about the state as an agent 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.

Authority (3): agents of authority

Not only does the Lord come to us by way of his holy Word; He also enters our lives through different agents. God comes to us by way of different people whom He puts in authority over us. We need to understand that. By the same token, the one who is in a position of authority needs to understand that as well. And he had better not abuse his authority. From the Word of God we can even say: Woe unto that person who abuses his or her authority and who thereby hurts the one under their authority. We will write more about that in a future issue—about the abuse of authority. But let the warning ring out now already that it will not go well for those who abuse their authority and hurt a little one. If he does not repent, it would better for that person to have a millstone hung around his neck and for him to be cast into the deepest part of the ocean.

But we have gotten well ahead of ourselves. This issue's topic is "agents of authority."

Basically, there are three spheres of authority that God calls us to place ourselves under. They are: our parents, the church, and the state.

Parents

The first persons in authority you came across in your life were your parents. Your mom and your dad. They were given the task, the responsibility to raise you, to teach you, to discipline you. Children are to submit to the good instruction and discipline of their parents. The LORD God even had something to say about this in the Ten Commandments. The Fifth Commandment says: "Honour your father and your mother." There are many places in the Bible that teach children to obey their parents.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul mentioned this as well. In Ephesians 6 he said: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother…'" In this context, he had a special word for the fathers. He added: "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

We can also think of the beautiful summary of what the Bible teaches about this in Lord's Day 39 of the Heidelberg Catechism:

104.     Q.        What does God require  in the fifth commandment?

            A.        That I show all honour, love, and faithfulness

                              to my father and mother

                              and to all those in authority over me,

                  submit myself with due obedience

                              to their good instruction and discipline,

                  and also have patience with their weaknesses

                              and shortcomings,

                  since it is God's will

                              to govern us by their hand.

(The next post is about how the church is an agent 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.

Authority (2): the source

The source of authority: God

When we speak about authority, then we need to ask about the source of authority. What or who is the source?

It is, of course, God. Ultimate authority belongs to God alone—to God the Creator and Redeemer of life. God is the absolute and final authority with respect to all things: Nature, history, faith and morals.

After the LORD God had shown his sovereignty over nature and history by bringing his people Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground and had drowned Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his soldiers in the midst of the Red Sea, then Moses and the Israelites sang a song which praised God as the One who has authority over people's lives and over all of creation. They ended the song (Exod 15) with the triumphant words: "The LORD will reign for ever and ever."

Many of the Psalms describe God as the great, ultimate, and final authority over all things. Psalm 93 says: "The LORD reigns, He is robed in majesty; … and is armed with strength. … Your statutes stand firm … for endless days, O LORD."

The Lord Jesus told us not to fear those who can kill the body and after that can do no more. Rather, said He, we ought to fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw a person into hell. And then He was talking about God the Father.

One of the apostolic letters of the New Testament, the letter of Jude, ends with these words: "… to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!"

We can also think of the book of Revelation which shows so powerfully the authority God has over all the peoples of the earth, over all of nature, and over all of history.

Authority given to Christ

God the Father has given authority to his Son—to God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ himself said in Matthew 28:18: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."

What kind of authority did the Lord Jesus Christ receive? He tells us, in the gospels.

The gospels tell us that He had authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). He had the authority to drive out demons (Mark 3:15). He taught as one who had authority, and not as the teachers of the law of his time. The people recognized that. When He spoke, they listened (Matthew 7:29). God the Father gave his Son authority to judge (John 5:27). John 17:2 teaches that the Father gave Jesus Christ the authority to give eternal life to all those the Father had given Him.

God the Son has authority by virtue of being God. Because He, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is true and eternal God, He has authority over all things. But He was given authority in a special way—authority to forgive sins, to heal, to teach, to judge and to give eternal life.

The authority of God's Word

How does this authority—the authority of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ—reach us today? Through the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ and of God the Father, speaks to us today through the Word, the Bible. The Scriptures, as the very Word of God, has authority over us.

The authority of Scripture lies in the fact that it is inspired, the infallible Word of God. In 2 Timothy 3:16 & 17, the Apostle Paul wrote: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

God breathed the Scriptures out. God speaks to us today by way of the Holy Scriptures. We need to listen to them. Woe unto him who would ignore what the Scriptures say. The Bible has total authority over us, over every aspect of life, both doctrine and conduct.

It is the Bible that teaches us how to live. It teaches us what God's will is and how to live a life pleasing to Him. We need to read the Bible, every day at home, to study it, in order to know what the Lord requires of us. It is the Bible that teaches the gospel which tells us about what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for sinners. It speaks about how He died to set people free from their sins.

The Lord has given the task of proclaiming the gospel and teaching the Word to the church. All people need to seek out the church of Jesus Christ to sit under faithful and authoritative preaching to hear the good news of salvation and to be taught how to live in obedience to God's Word and in thankfulness for his goodness and grace.

(The next posts begin exploring the topic of the agents 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.

Authority (1): often despised

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.

"Authority" is often thought of in negative terms. One would ask why. The answer is two-fold. Authority is often despised because of the frequent abuse of authority. Sadly it happens often that one in authority over others abuses his power. We will speak about that in a future instalment.

A second reason authority is often despised is because man has an inherent unwillingness to submit to someone else. Ever since the Fall into sin, every human being has a natural urge to be completely autonomous—a law unto himself. This is not a new development in humanity. You see it already with the first humans, Adam and Eve. God had placed them in the Garden. He had given them a beautiful place to live, work to do, food to eat. They could eat from every tree in the Garden, except for one. There was one tree they were not to eat from. That was God's law. The man and the woman, however, rejected that law. They rejected God's authority and ate from that tree.

Ever since, man has continued to reject authority. By nature, man is lawless.

Media comment on authority

It is very interesting to see how the media comments upon the biblical teaching of authority. There was a profound example of interesting media comment the summer of 1998. On June 9, 1998, the Southern Baptist Convention issued a Declaration on Family Life. It reads as follows:

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a life-time. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and his church, and to provide for the man and the woman the framework for intimate sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means of procreating the human race. The husband and the wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to his people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honour and obey their parents.

Media comment on this declaration was very interesting. That the media had lots to say about this statement was not unexpected. What was surprising was what the media focused on. The declaration began with a very narrow definition of marriage. It said that marriage is the union of one man to one woman for a life-time. Part of the liberal media agenda is gay rights. With the legalization of gay marriages, it is surprising that the media did not latch on to that point.

Furthermore, the declaration says that the marriage between a man and woman is for a life-time. It excludes divorce. Again, how surprising that the media had nothing to say on this point.

When the Declaration on Family Life spoke about children, it said that children are a blessing from God "from the moment of conception." Largely, the media rejects that. The message promoted in our culture is that a woman can terminate life in her womb if she wants. And yet the media did not zero in on that part of the statement.

Neither did they comment on the declaration's call to parents to provide "loving discipline" to their children. The child rights advocates hate the word "discipline." Yet the media let that pass.

It let all of this pass. It let pass the opportunity to lambaste Christians for their views on marriage and divorce, abortion, and child-rearing—typical hot-button items. Instead it fixated itself on one sentence: A wife is to submit graciously to the servant leadership of her husband…

Isn't that interesting? Of all the places the media could hook into this statement, they focused on this aspect. Why? Because of the hatred of authority. Because of the inherent human tendency to reject the idea that there are levels, structures, of authority in life—in society, in families. 

(The next post will be about the source of authority.)