Purpose And Power Of Authority (28 page)

Also contributing to the erosion of authority in our nations are changes in social mores, which have moved away from the Manufacturer’s original design. Again, an attitude of “I can do anything I want, and you can’t tell me what to do” has superseded a basic understanding of the value of living according to the Creator’s principles and laws. The trend today, allegedly in support of people’s individual rights, seems to be a dedication to eradicating foundational authority. Yet, this is the only thing that can renew and preserve our contemporary society.

For example, such a perspective can infringe on family life in a case where, if your thirteen-year-old daughter becomes pregnant, she has a right to withhold this information from you, and you have no authority in her life in this situation. Instead, the state, through the public school she attends, has the authority and influence over her. In this and other ways, parents have lost their authority to other authorities that are operating under false principles. Under such circumstances, do we wonder why society has continued to disintegrate? The question is, what kind of authority will be promoted in society—a false or a genuine one?

Ignorance of true authority is the father of anarchy. A society without authority is no longer a true society because a society is made up of social relationships, and social relationships need the framework of authority to function in a healthy and effective way.

This is why the principles of genuine authority must be clearly communicated to people in all nations. People need to understand the benefits of personal and corporate authority for their own lives, as well as the lives of others. True authority in a society brings a necessary structure, peace, and fruitfulness to life. Rejection of true authority sacrifices people’s purposes and vision, while adherence to authority protects people’s purposes and produces personal vision and the confidence to fulfill it. When everyone understands his purpose and role in light of the Creator’s purposes, this knowledge creates the smooth functioning of social relationships and the exercise of personal authority.

Without Authority…

Without authority, there is no basis for accountability, and people therefore feel insecure because they don’t know what they can expect from others. “Freedom” without law, or responsibility, eventually becomes chaos.

Without true authority….

• life has no order.
  

• there can be no confidence.
  

• purpose has no protection.
  

• there is no effective functioning.
  

• destiny is abandoned.
  

• power is wasted.
  

• energy is abused.
  

• potential is miscarried.
  

The authority that has eroded in our world needs to be reestablished. When true authority is put in place, it renews a sense of security, so that people experience less stress in their lives and reduced tensions in their relationships. This is why restoring true authority will promote national and global security, peace, and growth.

The following are keys for reestablishing legitimate authority in the earth:

To restore legitimate authority, we first need to acknowledge that there is a widespread lack of genuine authority in all the basic realms of society—including our families, local and national governments, churches, and businesses—and that this is a critical problem that needs to be addressed.

Reestablishing legitimate authority will not happen if we think that some unnamed “group” or “the government” will fix things for everyone. It begins with each of us, individually, as we rediscover true authority ourselves and then communicate its truths and principles to others.

In communicating what authority is, we have to clearly define it. Authority has lost its meaning for most people, and they often mistake it for oppression or control. That is why I devoted several chapters in this book to defining and explaining the true nature of authority. The term must be reconceptualized and renewed in people’s minds. Authority is not inherently evil or even a necessary evil but rather a means for good.

You can utilize the principles throughout this book, but especially in part one, to help others understand the true definition and purpose of authority. You can also build on the positive aspects of authority that people recognize from everyday life. For instance, when people attend weddings, they usually hear the clergyman or justice of the peace say something like, “By the authority (or powers) vested in me by the state of _________, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Or, when a university confers academic degrees on those who have completed their educational requirements, the president or academic dean will say something similar to, “By the power vested in me by the Board of Regents of ___________ University, I confer upon you the degree of __________, along with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities associated with it.”

These are positive and joyful aspects of authority that establish new families and reward personal effort and achievement rather than oppress and constrict. In addition, personal and corporate authority involve the granting and exercising of rights and privileges from a higher authority.

All authority must be based on the Absolute Authority, the Creator, or else it will fall apart. Self-authorization is not authority; this is the historic mistake of what we have come to know as “humanism,” which promotes the idea that man is his own measure in life. Since true authority is always delegated, it would seem that the greatest culprit to the erosion of authority in this and previous generations is the elevation of human beings as the ultimate authority. Humans, in themselves, are no authority at all. Instead, people need a solid reference for who God is, especially as our Creator, and for our dependence on Him. “O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:8).

In our contemporary societies, many people don’t want to accept the idea of absolute authority. Yet, as we saw earlier, the word absolute is defined as “fundamental, ultimate.” Whatever is outside of God and His ways is lesser or inferior. Again, true authority must be grounded in an author, and therefore, we must first identify our Author. We must begin with a general acknowledgment of our Creator and of His basic laws as recorded in His Word, the Scriptures.

God’s first commandment for His people given through Moses confirmed His absolute authority in their lives: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2–3). Recognizing and serving God as our Creator and Ruler will enable us to rebuild the age-old, sure foundations of society:

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. (Isaiah 58:11–12)

The world needs to come back to its senses; we must return to the reality that there are absolutes, which are fundamental, strong, stable, and supportive to both individuals and society as a whole. As we do, we will be called “Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” Communities will be restored and lives rebuilt.

The erosion of and disillusionment about authority within our nations can be traced to people’s movement away from the pillars of authority established by the Creator for the effective and successful functioning of His creation. The Author of all legitimate authority revealed Himself within the context of the biblical text, which clearly established the fundamental laws and principles by which all living things, including humanity, are to operate.

Building on key number three, then, after relaying the general foundation of the authority of the Creator in our lives, we need to identify His laws and principles, which are our reference for everyday living. This is the only way to effect the true restoration of authority.

Almost all nations are built on law because law produces and maintains a functioning and stable society. For healthy national development to take place, the whole nation must agree on what the law, or authority, will be. Many nations have a constitution, which we can define as “the basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the people in it.”

A constitution establishes what has been called the “rule of law,” in which it is ultimately the law that rules the nation, not the president or prime minister, congress or parliament. Although we often repeat the phrase that “no one is above the law,” this principle has to return in practice. When people think they ultimately rule the nation based on their own opinions, then authority is weakened and even cancelled because people’s opinions can be arbitrary and changeable.

Governing through opinion polls might sound fair, until we see how inconsistent people’s attitudes can be from week to week and from month to month, depending on the immediate circumstances of their own lives and the events in the communities and world around them. This is why a solid foundation for governing can be found only in the fixed nature of established laws and principles.

Again, God’s authority, which He provides through His Word, is stable; it doesn’t change on a whim. Another definition of absolute that we looked at earlier is “independent of arbitrary standards of measurement.” We also saw that the word ruler refers to a Latin word meaning “to keep straight, direct.” True authority gives us a reference point, a clear direction in which to go.

The reality of the current crisis in our nations and the world is that we need to decide what our fundamental authority is and what direction to go in. To solve our problems, legitimate authority has to be instated, and this will happen only as nations learn to align their laws in keeping with the Creator’s principles.

Where there is no authority, there is no law. When there is a return to a respect for authority, there will be orderly development in a country. For example, if people value the law, crime will decrease because people will respect others’ property, and there will be fewer broken homes because husbands and wives will take seriously their vows to one another.

In other words, society needs to be reintroduced to its bedrock principles.

So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line.”(Isaiah 28:16–17)

We have to bring back the Creator’s justice and righteousness as our measurement for living. That will be the precious cornerstone of our individual relationships, communities, and nations. We need a cornerstone that has been tested and proven to be immovable—a solid Rock.

An anchor can sometimes be a good analogy for stability, but my experience growing up in the Bahamas has shown me that if a storm comes, an anchor is useless without a rock. Rocks don’t move, but anchors certainly can, and boats may be pulled away from their moorings and into dangerous waters. The Authorized Dealer, who is “the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20), is the One who leads us back to the Creator God and our stability as human beings. He said,

Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.(Matthew 7:24–27)

The next key is that people must understand that everyone is accountable to authority and that submission is a voluntary surrendering of one’s independence for a greater personal or corporate good. We can never succeed in isolation. Life doesn’t permit that because we were created and designed for relationships.

In fact, if people don’t learn to submit voluntarily, society may make them submit. For example, when a judge sentences someone to prison for violating the law, he is simply taking a lawless person and placing him under authority again. A prisoner is told when to get up, when to go to bed, when to eat, when to bathe, what to wear, what work he can do, when to start working, when to stop working, who can see him and for how long, and so on. His life is subject to a strict authority under which his personal desires are set aside. So, even though the prisoner disregarded authority, he is made to live under it nevertheless.

It is much better to respect authority and receive its benefits than to suffer for ignoring it. Many people suffer from ignoring authority. They may not be in prison, but their lives are disordered, unsettled, and unproductive.

We must communicate to others that true authority and submission are for the purpose of giving and receiving what is good for our lives. Just as we submit to the oxygen that the plants produce, we keep one another thriving by respecting others’ authority and receiving what they are authorized to give. If you know what your authority is and what it is not, then you can respect other people’s authority as they provide you with what you need but do not have. We are not to control others but to use our authority to serve them, and we are accountable for the service that we use it for. Let us encourage people to trust others’ authority, respect it, and allow them to exercise their inherent gifts, as we exercise ours.