I have my doubts that this convo will take off, but who knows.
I'd like to have some discussion on authority. What type of Authority does the Pastor of a church have? How about a parent? The government? The rink guard at the skating rink?
In light of all authority being established by God what do we do will authority that appears unbiblical?
Finally what is a proper hierarchy of authority?
I'd say...
God
Family leader (Father / Mother) if still under their authority
Local Congregation Leadership
Government
Share your thoughts,
Jay
I will have to do some more research on the matter...in the Bible of course. But for the most part I have to agree with you. I might say that the government would be higher in some respects, and lower in others. Same with the church.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is one that has always been one of interest to me, and so I guess I will try to put my "two cents" in. I was just reading a discussion on the "Enlightenment" (partly in "Sophie's World," Ben --hah, hah) and its significance to our past history and present sitution cannot be underestimated. Our country's "Declaration" came right out of Enlightenment emphasis on the individual and the challenge to the age old notion of "the divine rights of kings." It is interesting that the revolutions in Europe took a much different direction than it did in America, particularly regarding the authority of the church. Because the church in Europe was part of the corrupt "system" people even threw out many of its positive traditional values. In America, since initially the church was not part of the power structure, it was more readily integrated into our culture. Perhaps there are some lessons here for us, since Jesus never seemed to use His authority for political purposes. His Kingdom is not founded upon human values and human power or authority, but upon selfless service to the Father and to others. Therefore, to start with, I think we must see authority in a much different way than what is customary. . . the "top--down" idea of lording it over others. Our authority is from a "bottom-up" position of service. And while we must be willing to engage and even challenge corrupted authorities, we must do so in the right spirit.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Mr. Rabb. I must point out the scripture where Jesus says "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's". I think there comes a point when we, as Christians, have to take a stand against authorities, especially when they go against God's supreme authority. At the same time, however, we shouldn't be so directly against an authority that we bring a negative image to the church or even Jesus. The Bible says that God will repay and that we need to leave room for his wrath by living at peace with everyone. This doesn't mean we make ourselves human punching bags either though. If we, like Mr. Rabb says, have a "bottom-up" mindset then authorities will look to God instead of relying on their own knowledge.
ReplyDelete