Authority or Power
It is sometimes painful to watch people with power who have no authority. The reverse of that is tough as well, when people who have authority have no power. Leadership to me in more about influence then authority or power. There are times when authority is called for. Power is a bit more subjective. There are those who submit to powerful people out of fear. There are those who challenge powerful people out of disrespect for the position they hold. There are others who are wealthy who also try to wield power over others.
Jesus walked the earth with power and authority but didn’t abuse either. He was on purpose and very deliberate with all His actions and even simple responses to the religious leaders. Check this out…
23 When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”
24 “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied.25 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”
They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask us why we didn’t believe John. 26 But if we say it was merely human, we’ll be mobbed because the people believe John was a prophet.” 27 So they finally replied, “We don’t know.”
And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things. (Matthew 21:23-27 NLT)
In the US, our constitution gives the power to the people. We elect leaders to lead with authority at the local, state, and national level. It is painful to watch some of these leaders who started out with humility seeking office only to become obsessed with wielding power over the very people who elected them. I believe people elected to powerful positions should hold very loosely to power and be very gentle with authority. Jesus managed this perfectly. Pride can bring destruction to people who are reckless with power or authority. I believe authentic humility can speak volumes without words. In fact, I think words can get in the way of humility when we don’t listen carefully to one another. The religious leaders only cared about Jesus words because they were trying to think ahead to His rebuttal. Leaders with power and authority should be careful to listen to understand rather than rebuff or argue their position.
Pressing On!
Dwayne