Teaching

Much has been written and said on the use and abuse of authority in the Church. But first, let’s clarify what “Church” I have in mind. I think of “church” as the Body of Christ, not the traditional institutions of Rome or Constantinople. Unfortunately, after approximately 500 years of Protestant tradition, we now have Protestant denominations who are no less institutional than the great old Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions.

So when I speak of the Church, I refer to the Church as the living Body of Christ, not any of the institutional entities who currently pretend to be the legitimate representation of Christianity in the world.

1) Spiritual authority in Scripture

The issue of authority is huge in Scripture. Whether the dominion mandate of Genesis 1:26-28 or the marriage institution, authority is a recurring theme in the Biblical narrative.

In this brief article I would like to draw your attention to authority in the context of discipleship -- the willful choice a believer in Jesus Christ makes to pattern their life according to the principles of the teachings of Jesus and the apostles as revealed in the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament letters.

Spiritual authority is not the invention of man. It is a valid principle of growth and life in both the Old and the New Testament writings. Most importantly, it is God-inspired principles with a purpose.

Here are some examples:

a) The authority man was to have over creation -- (Gen. 1:26-28)
b) The authority man was to have over the garden (i.e. his personal life) -- (Gen. 2:15)
c) The marriage and family authority -- (Eph. 5:21-22, 6:1-4)

2) Spiritual authority is with a purpose

The reason most people have a problem with authority is because they have been burned in one way or another. They have come from a dysfunctional home where authority was abusive or completely absent and therefore too many people, when they become Christians are clueless of the Biblical concept of authority. They think authority is for the sake of authority and they rebel. But the truth is that authority has a purpose. We need to understand the purpose of God for our lives, for the Church and for the world in order to understand the purpose of authority.

Once we look at the objective reality around us, we realize that man had better exercise the authority God has given him over the earth. Much of the resources of mankind are actually geared towards examining, learning about and exercising dominion over our planet.

If we don't, nature will end up destroying us.

If we don't exercise authority in our personal lives we will be victimized by circumstances or other people who will not wink at the possibility of exploiting someone who is weaker than them.

And finally, if there is no spiritual authority being exercised at marriage and family level there will be dire consequences in the home as well.

The purpose of authority is to ensure the proper administration of life and the divine provision in our society. Authority was never meant to be abused with, it was meant to serve as a tool and administrating divine blessings on the earth and securing the proper structure needed for longevity.

When people realize authority has a purpose, they also realize authority doesn't come from them but from a higher source and also they realize they will be accountable to this higher source for the way they handled this awesome responsibility. Whether you're a pastor, a city council member, a husband, a parent or a company executive, you will be held accountable for the way he used the authority it had.

That authority was meant to bring forth good, to establish a pattern, to secure the flow of blessing in one way or another.

4) Spiritual authority in the Church

Because of the dysfunctional nature of many families today, when people come to Jesus Christ and become part of the Church they need discipleship.

It's obvious from Scripture that the idea of the Church came straight from the heart and mind of Christ. Church is a community but church is also an institution. Not a carnal community but a community of people reborn of the Spirit who live according to the principles of God's Word. Not a worldly institution but a spiritual institution which is patterned after Jesus Christ and his government as revealed in the New Testament.

The only way Christians can make the shift from being natural people to becoming Kingdom people is by the establishment of authority structure patterned after the government of Jesus Christ. We see this very clearly in the New Testament. Jesus Christ established the apostles as his representatives on the earth. This is significant because the Jewish people had their authority structure in place already. The synagogue, the Temple and the social structure of the Jewish community at the time of Jesus were solid enough as they were. But they weren't able to contain the outpouring of the Spirit and therefore a new structure had to be established on the earth.

The new structure was the Church. Again, not the church as we know it after 2000 years of history. Rather the church as we see her in the Book of Acts.

The authority of the apostles was needed to establish a new order so that the new blessing, the outpouring of the Spirit can be accommodated on the earth. Authority has a purpose.

But it didn't end with the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the teachers and the pastors (Eph. 4:11). The authority of Christ on the earth was meant to be replicated and multiplied to mankind through discipleship. This is the reason Paul the apostle urges her younger apostle Timothy and 2 Timothy 2:2.

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2Tim. 2:2

This is the basic premise of discipleship -- you voluntarily, by conviction, through the leading of the Holy Spirit bring yourself under the authority of Jesus for the purpose of being cultivated as a kingdom compatible person.

The purpose of discipleship is to train you to function as a kingdom person. In Matthew chapter 8 we understand that a person who understands authority is someone who understands the Kingdom.

Matt. 8:8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

Matt. 8:9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, “Go,’ and he goes; and to another, “Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Matt. 8:10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

Likewise, Christians who don't understand authority and how it functions, will be lost in translation.

5) Discipleship begins at home

God's original purpose is for discipleship to begin at home. However, because of the dysfunctional families we have today, many Christians come to the faith with no understanding of how authority functions. They want discipleship but they don't understand discipleship works on God's terms and not on the terms of the disciple. Again, I am not endorsing in any way abuse or any of the extremes of past movements such as the shepherding movement.

However, we can't live in the shadow of the failures of the past. We must rise up and boldly declare we're not ashamed of the patterns the Word of God reveals to us in this hour.

One of the greatest problems in the church today is the lack of healthy, capable and willing spiritual parents/coaches in the church.

Discipleship to many is simply about learning, accumulating intellectual knowledge, attending a conference or a seminar, or being on staff at a church or a parachurch organization. However, discipleship really has to do with someone taking interest in who you are, taking the time to pray for you and with you and to find out from God where God wants you to be and help you get there. Then and only then someone can have the moral and spiritual right to become your spiritual authority.

Because discipleship begins at home it's imperative we help as many families to reorganize and reconstruct their family life to resemble Christ and his nature and patterns for life. The whole divorce madness has to stop! Christians need to understand we will be held accountable for our selfishness and for damaging children and young people through the trauma of divorce.

Marriages can't be helped unless they willfully accept the fact that help from God comes on His terms not on our terms. Just like discipleship, marriage is all about stewarding God's blessings, channeling them in the right way and multiplying them for the generations after us.

None of this can happen without spiritual authority functioning properly in our lives.

Why Christians will never be strong without having a functioning spiritual authority in their lives by
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George P. Bakalov