Authority in Western Christianity - “it’s complicated”

A few weeks ago we began a four-part series examining some of the most polarizing issues at present within western Christianity today. Last week we briefly considered the topic of sexuality and how God’s Word lays out a definitive foundation for what is blessed and not blessed for humanity. Today we move from the proverbial frying pan of human sexuality, and into the fire of authority. To put it succinctly, western Christianity has serious “authority issues”. 

Consider the following colloquial phrases: 

• “Just wait till your parents get home” 

• “You aren’t the boss of me”

• “It’s my body, it’s my right”

• “Stick it to the man”

All of these phrases have their own unique uses, but they share a common theme; they all have to do with authority. While at first authority may sound amorphous, or vague as a concept to speak about and consider, we will come to realize just how practical and impactful authority is on a daily basis.

In every relationship you are in, authority is a component. Do you have parents? Do you have children? Do you have an employer? Do you have employees? Do you teach others? Do you learn from someone? Are you a citizen of a nation? Do you have membership in a community of faith? Are you a part of a specific association or society? While I was pondering this “hot topic” within the church the absolute necessity and proliferation of authority was a “lightbulb” moment. 

Relationships inherently involve authority. Due to sin every category of human relationships has a compromised perspective on authority. Authority within relationships is a design feature, not a bug or error. Yet, because of the grievous and heinous nature of sin, all relationships are impacted by fallen humanities distaste, distrust, and desire for authority. 

Think with me for a moment just how many wrongs (and rights) have to do with authority:

• If a parent is neglectful, that is due to their laxity in exercising their authority in oversight, care, provision, and protection towards their children. 

• If an employer is gracious, consistent, just, and profitable - that is due to their appropriate use of authority over their employees.

• If a group of people listens to a speaker they are submitting to an authority exercised through verbal means. (quick side note, this is one of the reasons why interrupting is so disrespectful, harmful, and in many cultures highly offensive. I personally need to grow in this area as I too often finish the sentences of others. This is not a good habit and I am seeking to grow in my respectfulness in listening). 

• When a loved one is gravely ill, someone will have the authority to decide to what extent medical extremes should be pursued. 

• As the 1970s song by Five Man Electrical Band proclaims: “sign, sign, everywhere a sign”, all of those signs have a relationship to authority whether those signs are perversions of authority, or proper uses of authority. Every person interacting with a sign then reveals and communicates a disposition towards the authority of the sign. 

Bringing the examples into a Christian framework, think of how violations of each of the 10 commandments are related to authority. To disregard the commands of God is to usurp, undercut, and attempt to undermine the authority of God. Whether the violation is rooted in the neglect of the command (what is classically called a sin of omission, not doing what should be done), or rooted in the disregard of the command (what is classically called a sin of commission, doing that which ought not be done), either way the sin is in someway an illegitimate response to the authority of God. 

R.C. Sproul went so far as to say the problem of willful disregard for God’s authority is the central problem in the universe:

At the most fundamental level, sin is an act of rebellion and disobedience to a higher law and Lawgiver. The biggest problem with the world is lawlessness. The reason people are violated, killed, and maimed in battle, the reason there are murders, robberies, and so forth is that we're lawless. We disobey, first of all, the law of God. The root problem in all of creation is disobedience to law, defiance of authority. And the ultimate authority of the universe is God Himself (Click here to read full piece).

To say that we (as humans) have a complicated relationship with authority would be a severe understatement. In our fallen state we rebel, reject, and refuse authority. For the lost sinner the default attitude towards any external authority is to view that authority as hostile, hurtful, and hazardous. For the Christian being renewed in the image of Christ, there is still the tug and pull of the “old” ways of the flesh. It is a struggle for the believer to respond to authority. While Christians grow in this area of submitting to authority, it is nonetheless a struggle. God’s grace grows the new affections of the believer to submit to authority and to exercise authority as the Lord Jesus has commanded. 

The ongoing struggle with authority (and our old relationship to authority in sin) is fully on display within communities of Christians. This is especially true within western Christianity. All of the questions humanity at large may ask pertaining to authority are also questions asked within the framework of the community of faith:

• Who has authority?

• Who should have authority?

• What does authority do?

• What should authority do?

• Why are we so opposed to authority?

• What does the proper application of authority look like in daily living? 

If you think this isn’t a hot topic within western Christianity then I’ll simply lay out one, clear cut propositional statement for you - The VAST majority of distinctions within churches in the west boils down to issues related to authority. The reason there are X number of different professing Christian groups within your city, county, state, province, region, nation, and continent, are primarily due to distinctions and perspectives regarding authority. 

Communities of Christians can stay joined together even over massive issues of distinction, including sacramental practices, doctrinal statements, perspectives on daily living, even styles of music in worship! While many times churches and communities can gather and maintain external unity with differences in these areas, when it comes to the exercise and place of authority within the church there seems to be a grand canyon of divisions. 

At a denominational level the way communities are structured comes back to issues of interpretive authority. Some groups (Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Pentecostals) see layers of hierarchy as proper and beneficial. Others (Independent Baptists, Congregationalists) see authority as more equally distributed among all members of the church. Still others (Presbyterians, Methodists) see authority as delegated to representatives to act in the best interest of the community.  

On an individual and family unit level, authority exercised (rightly or wrongly) within the community of faith can be the deciding factor in joining a community, or leaving a community. I’m sure all of us could recount stories of our acquaintances, friends, and relatives of how authority played a key role in their Christian living. There is no sin that is harder to forgive in the west than the sin of misused authority. Perhaps this is partly due to the west’s over-realized individualism, fostering an idolatry of the self. 

On a national level there are differences over the extent to which Christians are to submit and support their governments. Does anyone need a reminder over the vast and severe disagreements that were lived out in our cities, counties, countries, churches, and families during lockdowns for Covid-19? This generation had never previously experienced such a time of division and internal tension or strife within western churches as there was during Covid-19. While aspects of public health, turning the other cheek, the significance of Lord’s day worship, and public witness all were part of the conversation, ultimately the decisions made were reflections of differing perspectives on authority. 

Perspectives on authority often shape a community's understanding of the role of sacred scripture. Some within western Christianity proclaim the Bible is equally important to church tradition. Others proclaim that the Bible must be interpreted by the experts. Some see the Bible as a helpful text, but historically inaccurate. Others see the Bible as the ultimate rule and guide for the Christian in life. These differing perspectives mean that even varied communities within traditions of western Christianity have a difficult time finding common ground relating to one another. Those problems are often based on distinctions of the role, scope, and efficacy of scripture as more, or less authoritative. 

By now we’ve thoroughly, although admittedly not exhaustively, demonstrated just how central authority is as a hot topic within humanity at large, and western Christianity in particular. How do we (Christians in the west) move forward? 

My answer will be similar to what I wrote last week regarding human sexuality. We need to return to what has worked throughout the history of the church regarding authority. The church today, individuals today, families today, need to discover and content ourselves with God’s authoritative Word in sacred scripture. 

A Proactive Biblical Understanding of Authority

The proactive biblical understanding of authority is that the ordered instructions regarding authority are for the benefit of those exercising and submitting to authority. When an individual, family, or community lives in submission to what God’s Word prescribes for authority it is better for the individual, family, and community. In other words, sacred scripture’s instructions regarding authority are NOT arbitrary, but instead are for the merciful benefit of those who will listen and obey. 

Beginning with the opening pages of the Bible we see many answers regarding authority. All authority originates from God. This is as plain when we consider the creational order as accounted in Genesis. God has creative authority over the entire universe as he is sovereign over creation existing in the first place. 

God’s word, in a very straightforward sense, is authoritative. Have you ever noticed the repeated refrain “God said” in Genesis 1? This little phrase occurs 11 times in the first chapter of Genesis 1. When God speaks, each time something in creation responds and comes to be. God is author, and his activities are authoritative. He rules, he has jurisdiction, he is sovereign, his borders know no boundaries. God has revealed what is good and just. As long as humanity (and the church in the west) exists in rebellion to what God has commanded regarding authority and submission there will continue to be confusion and contention. 

Genesis 1 sets a preliminary foundation regarding authority, but the account of creation isn’t the only time the Word of God has something to say on the subject. Throughout the Old and New Testament there are extensive narratives and instructions regarding the proper use of authority in nearly every sphere of human relationships. Positive authority examples and systems are described and prescribed for the: 

• Family (Deut 5:16;18, Col 3:18-25)

• Marriage (Deut 22:13-30, John 4:17, Eph 5:21-33)

• The employer and employee (Prov 10:4; 16:3; 8; Col 3:17; 23)

• Disputing parties (Deut 25:1, Matthew 18:15-19)

• Governing Leaders (Deut 17:14-20, Rom 13:1-7)

• Friendships (Prov 17:17; 18:24; John 15:13; 1 Peter 4:8-10)

• Younger men (Titus 2:6-7)

• Younger women (Titus 2:4-5)

• Older men (Titus 2:2)

• Older women (Titus 2:3)

• The church (1 Tim 3:1-12; Titus 1:5-9)

• Followers of Christ (John 14:15)

There are more examples than these, but these are a few categories that demonstrate just how comprehensively the Bible speaks regarding authority. 

Throughout church history there have been many who have contributed wisdom in applying the principles and prescriptions of God’s word regarding authority. One notable contribution on the subject of authority was the 1644 work, Lex Rex, which still shapes and influences political and religious thought (click here to read a copy of Lex Rex). The author, Samuel Rutherford, laid out a principled, biblically informed argument regarding authority. In Rutherford’s day, monarchies were the preferred, popular and established form of national government. The highest superpowers in the visible realm were kings. Yet, even those highest levels of human authority were under another authority. Rutherford was writing correctively against the notion that kings were above any law or correction. We today need the reminder that human rights do not supersede or override God’s authoritative Word. We today are not “above the law”. Those of us who are Christians, have by God’s grace, been given new life and affections to love the Lord and pursue the pleasure of abiding in God’s law. As the Psalmist wrote:

O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Ps 119:97-105 KJV)

Within human existence there is both an exercise of authority over creation, and an exercise of submission to those God has placed over us. For kings, who were supposedly above earthly judgment, Lex Rex posited that the monarchs of the day were not above the law, but that the law was the very substance which kings themselves were to submit towards as their appropriate obedience to God. The king was not God, the king was under God through the laws which God had established. This is partly what makes Lex Rex such a helpful contribution to our contemporary angst regarding authority. 

While monarchy isn’t the dominant flavor of world superpowers today, the principles of Lex Rex still apply for constitutional republics, democracies, oligarchies, and the community of faith. God is the source of authority. All authorities will give an account to the Lord for what they have been given responsibility over. That reality extends to the largest and most powerful earthly leaders and groups, and to the youngest of children. 

When the church abandons a commitment to faithfully proclaim what God’s word proactively states regarding authority, that in itself is a neglect of authority as the church has been given the revealed Word of God to guide and lead the people of Christ. In the absence of proactive teaching regarding proper use of authority, misuse, disregard and abuse of authority abound. 

The corrective solution to much of the confusion regarding authority is to remain firmly, faithfully committed to what God has said. Just as humanity suffers when God’s Word is rejected in favor of fallen human ideas and practices regarding sexuality, so too humanity suffers when God’s Word is rejected regarding authority. 

While the misuse, disregard, and abuse of authority leads to dire consequences, the proper use leads to thriving. The Word of God speaks to the blessing of authority rightly exercised. In the 10 commandments the first commandment that comes with a promise of blessing is related to authority:

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. (Ex 20:12 NIV)

In the 5th commandment children were instructed to observe with respect, dignity, and submission the authority of their parents. Rightly living towards parents came with a blessing of long life in the promised land for children. This command is not a limited command to only the believers of the Old Testament. The Apostle Paul when writing to the Ephesian church reiterated the command in Ephesians 6:1-3:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—“so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” (Eph 6:1-3 NIV)

The principle is the same for children regardless of testamental period, the instruction of God’s Word is timeless (unless otherwise stated). The household will suffer with children who are disobedient, disrespectful, and disdainful of their parents. 

Parents likewise are instructed regarding their use of authority for the benefit of their children. The exercise of authority as the Word of God prescribes is for the benefit of those exercising the authority and submitting to the authority:

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Eph 6:4 NIV)

The proactive principle of biblical authority is again on display for parental usage of authority over their children. Parents' use of authority is for the benefit of their children. The family that is well parented provides benefits to all the household members. When various humanist societal pressures or ideas supplant or suppress God’s beneficial instructions, the individual, family, and larger community suffer. Consider what Proverbs says regarding use of authority on a large scale:

When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan. (Prov 29:2 NIV)

By justice a king gives a country stability, but those who are greedy for bribes tear it down. (Prov 29:4 NIV)

Through beautiful comparative poetic expression, Proverbs reinforces the biblical principles of authority. A society at large benefits when Godly people lead. By contrast, When the ungodly lead, there will be suffering. When those who are of Christ-like character exercise authority well there is tangible benefit for the community. When selfishness rather than Christ-likeness is present in the exercise of authority, tragedy for the society is not far behind. 

Authority is not in itself an evil thing. Authority, like sexuality, is a hot topic, but not an unsolvable topic. God’s Word, our rule and guide for faith, instructs us on the warnings of invalid uses of authority, and the proper use of authority and accompanying benefits. 

As we close today, consider these words from Jesus on authority:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18b)

If you are a believer in Christ, these words are of tremendous comfort. If you are not yet a believer in Christ, today is the day of salvation. You will appear before this Christ Jesus at the end of your life, and all of your improper exercise of authority and submission to authority will be held against you in an eternity of grief. This same Christ Jesus, who is the Lord and judge of all things, is merciful and gracious and has provided the very means of your escape from that tragic eternity. Put your trust in this Christ, submit to him as your Lord, for all authority in heaven and earth is His. 

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