Leadership positions rightly come with vested authority.
If you don’t have some discernible measure of authority in your leadership position, run and get out now! Yet, power and authority are intoxicating.
Authority can become the drug of choice for a leader.
Leaders can see their positions and titles as synonymous with their authority.
The wrong view of authority can lead to domination, manipulation, and outsized ego.
The consequences for followers are subjugation and servitude.
This picture of abusive authority can be equally true for the spiritual leader as the secular one.
Sometimes the spiritual leader can be even more manipulative because of the spiritual element.
What is a right view and use of authority?
As spiritual leaders how do we channel our authority towards serving others and not towards placing others in servitude to us?
What does leadership authority unplugged from all of its cultural trappings really look and feel like?
I am on a biblical journey to discover how Scripture addresses the topic of leadership authority. I still have a long way to go. The primary word for “authority” in the New Testament is “exousia.” It means “the right to do something or the right over something.” It is the power to decide and act.
There are two principles I have discovered that I want to highlight in this post. The first is found in the example of Jesus and the second is found in the teaching of Paul.
In John 5:25-30 Jesus is recounting for the Jews that he can do nothing of his own accord. All that he does he does at the behest of and according to the will of the Father. Jesus is demonstrating that there is a functional authority in play between the Father and the Incarnate Son. In verse 27 Jesus specifically states that the Father has given him the authority to execute judgment, because of his identity as Messiah. In verse 30 Jesus continues to highlight his functional submission to the Father by stating “my judgment is just . . . because I seek not my won will but the will of him who sent me.” Here lies the first principle of right perspective on authority:
Our positional authority must always be submitted to the will of God who granted it to us.
It aids us to remember that all authority is derived authority. We only have positional power because a sovereign God granted it to us. Therefore it is rightly used when it is properly submitted to him. This is a sure check on misplaced and misused authority. This does not mean we will not have to make some hard and unpopular decisions. It does not mean that we can shirk our leadership responsibilities. It simply means that we begin each day by submitting the authority that is on loan to us back to the Father who granted it.
In 2 Corinthians 10 Paul is reminding the Corinthians of his rightful authority as an apostle of Christ. Through both of his letters he has had to deal with some specific problems among the congregants of the church in Corinth. It is clear that there were some among the church who doubted Paul’s apostolic authority. In the midst of his defense Paul give us our second principle:
The primary purpose of our positional authority is always to build up and not to tear down.
In verse eight Paul states, “For even if I boast a little too much of our authority , which the Lord gave me for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed.” Paul clearly points to the aim of his apostolic authority, which is to build up the community of believers. This does not mean that you can avoid the necessary hard conversations with individuals. it does mean that you do so with a proper motive. Your aim is correction and restoration, not shame and condemnation.
If we remembered these two principles alone related to our use of authority we would be well on our way to living out a Christ-centered servant leadership. Our starting point is the submission of our positional authority to the Lord. The purpose of our positional authority is for the edification of others. This will ultimately allow you to lead from a foundation of granted authority from those you lead, rather than a demanding one based on title alone.
What are your thoughts?
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