Is All Authority Created Equal?

(That's a joke for those of you who think I'm being serious.)

"And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ “But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. “For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves." Luke 22:24-27

I am wrestling with a major part of my thesis right now. It is the question of spiritual authority in preaching. And by authority I mean, "what power source does the preacher draw upon to give him the right to say the things he says?" Why should I listen to him? Is it because he gets paid? Because he's a good person? Because he wears a suit or clerical robe? Because he's behind a pulpit? Because he has a doctorate? Why should we listen to the preacher?

Based on my postings, I would hope that it has become evident what my answer to this question would be. The preacher has authority only if he has "been with Jesus." The only thing that gives the preacher an anointed authority is if Christ, the only truly "anointed one", is bursting forth in the sermon. This was Moses' power base, Joshua's, David's, Isaiah's, Jeremiah's, the 12, the 70, and Paul's. They had authority only because God had given it to them as a gift (check out Acts 8:4-24 for an interesting discussion on authority as a gift.) But here is my dilemma. The most common word in the NT for authority is also used to refer to men like Pilate, Caesar, and the Jewish authorities. So do they have the same kind of authority as the 12, Paul, and David?

This has really been a tough question for me. If we just examine the word usage and texts like Romans 13, it is clear that governing authorities are established by God and used as His servants. But in the Luke verse above, it seems clear that there is a clear cut distinction between this kind of authority and real authority in the kingdom. Like in Matthew 7:28-29, when the people realize that Jesus was teaching as one having authority, not as their scribes. How did they recognize this distinction? The scribes certainly had a positional authority, but Jesus had something else.

I think Matthew 23:1-12 helps us to begin to unpack this idea. I will quote verses 11-12 because they summarize the overarching point.

"But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted."

God is the one who grants authority. If we accumulate and abuse position and authority, then we will be humbled. Let us submit to the real teacher, father, and master and from Him receive authority. In reality it is His authority, we are all slaves under that authority, representing it. Each preacher has to give an answer for how they represented the authority of Christ, the anointed one. Because if we are preaching the word, then we are preaching Him. And if we are preaching Him, then we are His ambassadors and heralds. And how would a king react to a servant that misrepresented His authority? Well check out Numbers 12, 16-17, the rest of Matthew 23, and James 3.

I have no authority, I only want to submit myself to the authority of my king, Jesus.

Preaching With Silence

I have been doing an overview of the corporate worship of the nation of Israel in the OT for an Elder's retreat that begins this evening. Something has captured my attention in this preparation. God always takes the initiative. With Abraham, God did the calling. With Moses, God started the fire on Mt. Horeb. With the nation, God came down onto Mt. Sinai. With Joshua, God revealed the sin of Aichan. Even when David had the idea to build a Temple, God says, "we'll do it on my time." Josiah found the book of Law. Nehemiah was sent back to Jerusalem. All of these initiations by God were either the formulation of corporate worship or the start of great revival among the people. God did something to make them bow low, He spoke, and then the people were to act. What if we functioned more like this?

When was the last time you searched out God to just speak to you? Not to speak to you about this decision or that decision or this idea or that idea, but just simply allowed God to speak. I feel that our Sunday morning gatherings are so full of our own words and speaking, that God is hushed so that we might hear what we have to say. Our own competing ideas about singing, our own creative initiatives using art, our own lengthy prayers, our own fascinating sermons that captivate the audience. But what would God say? I wonder if He closes His ears to our noise, just like He did in the days of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the prophets.

I am convinced that we should spend much more time in quiet submission before God than we should in saying anything to Him. Let God speak first, then we may respond when the time is right. In preaching, God should always be the initiator of a sermon. Until God has spoken, then you don't have anything to say. "But what if God does not speak to me that week?" Then either you have not been in His word or you should keep your mouth closed. I am completely struck by how many times Israel returned to the word of the Lord and they responded to the truth. Outward reforms did not accomplish much, but when God's word was read, things happened. You don't need more outward reform in your life. What you need is for God's word to be inscribed upon your heart. Then, and only then, will the words that we speak have any weight to them. Silence first, then preaching.

The Dead Flies Of Preaching

"Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor." (Ecclesiastes 10:1)

I am coming to believe more and more that the basis for true spiritual authority in preaching is the spiritual formation in the life of the preacher. Spiritual formation has been described in many ways. Some say that there needs to be evidence that these men "have been with Jesus." Others might say that they have devoted themselves to the spiritual disciplines. Some might call it ministry "experience." I think Solomon would have us to see that spiritual formation is the abscence of dead flies.

Jesus and Paul figuratively call it leaven. Solomon calls it dead flies and folly. The Bible expresses this great obstacle to spiritual growth with many words and images. But they are all pointing us to the same stinking heap of garbage known as sin. It is the "fly in the ointment", the leaven in the dough. And the more that sin is mingled into the life of the preacher, the further he gets from true spiritual authority, which only comes from Jesus and who entrusts it only to those who have been with him. So how do we become a perfumers oil that does not smell like dead flies?

We must first realize that nothing we do will get the sin out of our life. The more we try to fight that battle, the more flies get in the ointment. Surrendering myself to Jesus and to His atoning death will be the only way that the decisive battle over sin will be won in my own heart. Does that feel strangely elementary to the doctrines of christianity? Of course it is, but what else is there! This is THE greatest truth that man has ever known. That God Himself might give Himself to us so that we can behold His glory, power, and authority. Why would I want anything else? No matter how elementary we perceive this truth to be, it is also the most forgotten truth. We tend to think things like...

"Now that I am in the ministry, I should be able to fight these sin battles on my own. I will hide my struggles. God and I will both fight the battle of pornography (or gossip, or homosexuality, or drug abuse, or pride, or hatred, or any dark thing that we hide away in our corners.) We'll beat this thing together."

What lies Satan uses! You can not beat the sin in you. Jesus' death alone defeats that sin. How arrogant I have been in thinking that I can defeat Satan and sin all on my own. Jesus is our dread champion, our Christus Victor. He is truth and life and we defeat sin in no other way but through Him.

I hear your slight objection. Certainly we must do something. I would say not SOME thing but ONE thing. Pursue wisdom and honor. Or more plainly, pursue Jesus. Do not spend one second of your day not captivated by Him. Run to Him with full force. Wake up praying, drive listening to His words, sing about Him, talk about Him, look for opportunities to be an extension of Him, but just cling to Him. Flies get into the ointment because we leave it exposed to the outside conditions. If we flee every form of immorality and close ourselves off to only be exposed to Jesus, sin has no opportunity to lay ahold of us. Do not give sin the opportunity. Spiritual formation is simply this, to have been with Jesus and no one else. That was always Jesus' call to discipleship. If a preacher lacks true spiritual authority, you can almost certainly be guaranteed that he has been with something or someone besides Jesus. Let Jesus pick out the flies, then close the lid and be with Him for the rest of eternity.

Wake Thy Slumbering Children

"Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,
Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler, Prepares her food in the summer
And gathers her provision in the harvest.

How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?
“A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest”—
Your poverty will come in like a vagabond
And your need like an armed man."
(Proverbs 6:6-11)

How often has this been used as a banner to wave about the need for God's people to be hard workers? I don't disagree that we should be hard workers, but let us consider for a moment the spiritual depths of this proverb. It has huge implications for our churches and for the work of preaching.

Indelible Grace music released a CD entitled, "Wake Thy Slumbering Children." Besides this being a great collection of puritan hymns with a modern twist, there is obviously a message embedded within the album. And verses 9-10 of Proverbs 6 captures that meaning. When God's people fall asleep, they must be awakened.

We run to I Thessalonians 4 and are comforted by the fact that those who have died believing in Jesus Christ are only "asleep" until His return. And what comfort this does bring us. It is because of this truth that I no longer mourn the sleeping of my grandparents. But there is a kind of sleep in scripture that brings us no comfort whatsoever. It is a spiritual sleep. It is the kind of sleep that causes indifference, inactivity, and ignorance. This spiritual sleep has fallen upon our churches in America like a great plague. We are the slumbering children.

Sometimes sleep comes because we are too comfortable. Sometimes it is because we have been overfed, like at Thanksgiving. Sometimes sleep is a result of being lazy. Sometimes sleep comes upon us because we are not alert. But I Thessalonians 5:6 declares, "so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober." Alert means to keep watch and sober means to be self-controlled. The disciples could not keep watch with Jesus for even one hour. In this last hour, before Jesus returns, can we keep watch? Or will we be lulled to sleep by work, family, recreation, comfort, America, or any other thing? The role of the preacher is to shout from the rooftops, "WAKE UP SLUMBERING CHILDREN!!!" We are a city on a hill, the light of the world. If the light house workers fall asleep, what happens to the ships? If the watchmen in the city sleep at their posts, what becomes of the city? I will pray to God, along with the men and women of indelible grace music, that He will wake His slumbering children. And in the mean time, may I never rest until that final year of Jubilee when Christ returns.