Purpose And Power Of Authority (2 page)

Because we misunderstand what authority really is—and because this misunderstanding perpetuates the abuse of authority and its consequences—we are always somewhat suspicious of it.

We may have a passing (superficial) knowledge of authority, but we have totally missed the richness of its true nature. Consequently, we deal with it as a necessary evil. For example, when people go to their jobs, many do what the boss tells them to do—not because they want to or feel that it will benefit them in any way, but rather so they can keep their positions and their paychecks or maintain working relationships with their supervisors. In another example, some people grudgingly submit to the laws of the land while driving their cars, but if they run a red light or exceed the speed limit and get stopped by the police, they try to negotiate or argue with the officers. They recognize them as representatives of the law, but they want to challenge the law to see what they can we get away with. A similar attitude toward authority can be found in other realms of life.

Entire cultures have developed that are suspicious of authority. For instance, throughout the entire Western world and in developing countries, authority is looked on distrustfully, though for different reasons.

I believe that in the Western, developed world, people have what you might call “an affair” with authority—they use it when it’s convenient, but they don’t want to give it permanent status in their lives. In the developing world, authority has become a hated enemy, one that represents the chains and whips of slavery and oppression.

The Western world keeps authority at arm’s length and even fears it because Westerners highly value the concept of freedom, which has become synonymous with individualism. The ideals of the democratic psyche have evolved down through the years to the point where freedom means liberty or license without control or restriction. Anything that seems like control or restriction must be contained. That is why, if you were to suggest to Westerners that they create boundaries for their behavior, many of them would rebel against that recommendation. In short, the masses are suspicious of authority in all its forms, largely as a result of the evolution of ideas derived from, or influenced by, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the American and French Revolutions, governmental involvement in scandals and unpopular wars, relaxed moral and ethical standards, and the emergence of democracy as the dominant political force in the world.

Meanwhile, in the minds of many people who live in Third World nations, due to those countries’ histories of colonization and slavery, authority has come to represent not just restriction or control but outright domination. Those in the Third World revile the idea that anyone could have authority over them. Many former colonies are now emerging democracies with nationals in positions of leadership, or they desire to move in that direction, and the last thing they want is to have to submit to some outside authority that could reverse the progress they have made.

In this way, the concept of authority has slowly come to be seen in a negative light—sometimes, a fiercely negative one—throughout the earth. Again, one part of the world fears authority, while another hates it, and the result is that few people trust it. Much of the problem is that authority has been misinterpreted, misused, and abused by a great number of individuals, leaders, groups, and nations over the centuries. And large numbers of people have experienced demeaning and even deadly treatment from this misuse and abuse so that few would imagine embracing authority as a valuable and necessary component of a peaceful, productive life.

Yet, even though most of us want to exist without authority being exercised over us, I believe we suffer from an inner contradiction because, somewhere deep within us, we recognize that we need authority in our lives. We don’t want authority to control us, but we want our lives to be stable, orderly, and fruitful—the result of established and consistent authority. We’ve all seen a microcosm of this dilemma in children who seem to enjoy a chaotic atmosphere where there is little adult supervision but who then become fretful until someone comes along who gives them structure and parameters to live by. Suddenly, they are more relaxed and content and are able to interact with others in a constructive way.

As adults, we hope to have learned to govern our personal behavior to a large extent. Yet, we may be living in a larger version of the above scenario as we interact with others in our homes, our workplaces, our churches, and our nations, where structures and parameters are spiraling out of control, preventing us from enjoying the rich and fulfilling lives we were meant to live. We may be in the middle of the chaos, in which case we cannot fully realize the effects that the stress of this type of environment is placing on us. Or, we may be well aware that things are not right with us and with our societies.

The purpose of this book is to unveil the beauty of true authority and to restore authority to its place of dignity in our personal lives, our cultures, and our nations. Authority needs to be reintroduced to both the individual and to society at large as a true friend—no longer the object of a transitory, arm’s-length relationship or a deadly enemy.

Authority has been turned upside down so that it has come to represent the opposite of what genuine authority is. Instead of control, authority promotes real freedom and opens the door to possibilities. Instead of domination and death, authority ignites the personal potential within each person, while bringing protection and life.

The cultures and nations of our world are experiencing unnecessary conflict and wasted potential because so many people misunderstand authority. It is impossible for us to maximize our lives apart from a clear understanding of the character of true authority—that it is not only good but also beneficial and necessary for maximum fulfillment and achievement in our individual purposes, in our family relationships, and in the broader social structures of our nations and the world.

Chapter One

Neither the judges nor the audience expected anything from the plain-looking, middle-aged, unemployed woman from Scotland who was a contestant on the reality television show Britain’s Got Talent in the spring of 2009. When asked what her dream was, Susan Boyle answered, “I’m trying to be a professional singer.” As she talked with the judges before her performance, they were openly skeptical, and many of the audience members rolled their eyes and shook their heads incredulously, perhaps thinking this contestant had been included for a comic element by the producers of the show. When the introductory notes of her song started to play—“I Dreamed a Dream,” from the musical Les Miserables—some audience members even looked as if they were anxiously holding their breaths, afraid that this unassuming, naive woman would humiliate herself before millions of people.

Then, she began to sing.

With lyrical tones, compelling emotion, and a professional delivery, she sang the song as if she had written it herself to describe her unfulfilled life up to that point and her hopes for the future. Most of the audience members were clapping, cheering, and standing when she had sung just a few lines, and she received a resounding standing ovation at the conclusion of her performance. In minutes, she went from being perceived as a joke to being considered an inspiration and a role model for all who are seeking a second chance in life, or for all who want a first chance to manifest to the world who they are on the inside.

Susan Boyle became an international phenomenon overnight through her television appearance, the popularity of the tape of her performance on YouTube, and the overwhelming attention of the media. People were captivated by her voice and moved by her story of decades of struggling and longing to make something of her life.

Though her instantaneous rise to fame has caused inevitable stress for her along the way, she seems to have come to terms with the crush of attention. After finishing the contest in second place, she went on to build the professional singing career she had always dreamed of. Her debut CD, I Dreamed a Dream, has sold over eight million units worldwide as of this writing. The apex of her dream came to pass when, during the historic visit of Pope Benedict XVI to England and Scotland in September 2010, she was chosen to sing for the Pontiff at the conclusion of his open-air mass in Glasgow, which was attended by 65,000 people.

What does authority have to do with a television performance or even a singer? Doesn’t authority have to do with exercising some jurisdiction or control over other people? Doesn’t it involve, for example, leaders and followers, bosses and employees, parents and children, teachers and students, law enforcement officers and lawbreakers—in other words, those in charge and those under them who are instructed, directed, ordered, or made to do something?

There is an underlying aspect of authority that has not often been acknowledged or addressed by leaders, corporations, governments, and individuals but that is crucial for effective and fulfilling human endeavor. It provides the key not only for individual accomplishment but also for corporate success.

Susan Boyle’s story illustrates the essence of authority, as well as the heart of this book: true authority is personal, and true authority comes from within.

Authority does not mean having power or control over others.

Authority is not something you automatically receive with a title, either, such as “manager,” “boss,” “CEO,” or “president.”

Personal authority is inherent within every human being, whether that person is considered the one “in charge” or the one following orders. Authority is also inherent within every living thing created on earth. It is natural. It does not have to be “worked up,” and it cannot be given to someone—only released and developed.

Personal authority can be defined as the intrinsic gifts a person or thing possesses in order to fulfill the purpose for which that person or thing was placed on this earth. Because authority is intrinsic, every person or living thing already has the ability to fulfill his/her/its authority in the area, or the domain, of his/her/its gifting.

You have a personal authority that enables you to fulfill your purpose on earth. Have you identified your own personal authority? If you believe you have, are you functioning in it to the fullest extent that you would like to and that you are
able to?

In this book, you will discover how to apply four foundational principles for understanding authority and entering into the power of your personal domain:

The Principle of the Author: The release of your personal authority is linked to the origin of your gifts and power, by which you can fully carry out your life’s purpose through your personal domain. Once you discover the true source of the authority that is inherent within you, opportunities for experiencing fulfillment and for contributing your unique gifts to the world will open wide.

The Principle of Authorization: You not only have personal authority within you, but you also have the permission and the right to carry it out in the world. No matter what your past experiences have been, or no matter what restrictions you have previously felt, you have the authorization you need to start fulfilling your life’s purpose. You’ll discover the key to that authorization in coming chapters.

The Principle of Authenticity: No person is truly authentic until he is manifesting his inherent authority. Once you understand and become your true self—who you were born to be—your life takes on authenticity. In other words, you are real, or authentic, while you are being who you were meant to be and doing what you were meant to do. In the following pages, you will learn how to identify and develop your authentic self.

The Principle of Authority: The above three principles lead to this fourth and foremost principle of authority, which is twofold. First, everyone and everything is designed to fulfill its purpose. Because your authority is inherent, you are automatically equipped to be what you have been authorized to be and to do what you have been authorized to do. You have been designed to fulfill your life’s purpose. Your personal authority guides the focus of your life and enables you to accomplish what you were born to accomplish. Second, everything depends on and must yield to something else in order to function, grow, prosper, and succeed. As you read this book, you will increasingly see how you can tap into your unique design and begin to apply it to the various aspects of your life. Your personal authority will emerge, and you will be able to live an effective life as you work in collaboration with others to fulfill each other’s purposes.

Because authority is in essence personal, some people make the mistake of thinking that it is therefore exclusive to them and has nothing to do with others. They may think, I’m following my personal authority, so don’t get in my way. Or, they may tend to pursue their unique gifts and abilities only for what they can get out of them. Yet that perspective does not reflect the nature of personal authority, which is designed to operate in concert with other people and for the benefit of others, as well.

Since authority is within every person, and since humans are social beings who interact in social institutions, what happens when my authority meets your authority in the family, in the government, in the church, in the business world, and in other relationships and realms of human interaction? Authority works in such a way that people’s personal authorities are interrelated and function interdependently in corporate life. This isn’t just an observation but a vital principle: we need each other’s authority to fulfill our own.

Personal authority is carried out in the context of many realms of life and in association with a variety of human interactions and organizations. It operates in conjunction with collective human endeavors, such as we experience in families, communities, governments, churches, nonprofit organizations, schools, small businesses, and large corporations.