Monday, February 28, 2005

God's definition of authority

This past weekend at the men's retreat we talked about Godly authority. My pastor summed it up to say that authority means taking responsibility. In our homes we don't take control or govern authority, we walk under it. We take responsibility for our family. We serve our family. We wash the dishes and let our wives go to bed. We work with our children when they do their chores. We serve without expectation of anything in return. In church we take authority by taking responsibility there. If we see things that need to be done, we do it. If there are children running amok, we stop them and take them to their parents. I have learned so much from this past weekend. We don't lead in authority, we lead under authority.....God's authority.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

AMEN!

All true authority is delegated by God, not by inherant "right." That simple understanding makes all the difference when looking at authority in Scripture, as well as living out authority/submission in practical circumstances.

CWG said...

I'm glad you coined authority and submission together, you can't have one without the other. Authority is given, not taken. If the reciever is not submitted, there is no authority. Thanks for sharing.