I've been thinking a lot about authority this week. In particular, I've been thinking about Church leadership and authority. Mark Dever has a little book about Church leadership in which he shows that Christ, as the head of the Church and thereby the ultimate authority over the Church gave a certain degree of Authority to the overseers of the church. I have been wondering about what this means and the first thought is that it seems that it means that Church leaders have a very high degree of responsibility.
We talked some about this in a meeting at church this morning and we were reminded of Hebrews 13 where the Church is told "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account." This verse tells me three things: there are people in the church who have authority to rule over others, those who are under their authority have an obligation to be obedient and submissive to their leaders, and those who have been given the responsibility for leadership actually have the responsibility for the souls of others and must give an account to God one day for those souls under their care.
My conclusion then for myself and any other leader in the church (and I think this is particular for elders - including pastors - and deacons) is that we need to understand the position of authority that God has placed us in and start acting with that authority because even if we don't realize our responsibility I don't think we will be allowed to plead ignorance before our heavenly Father.
A final note: Authority does not just entail telling others what to do. Authority in it's large detail entails making disciples, training, teaching, shepherding, and a host of other things that affect the soul of the person you lead. In short, leadership is influence infected with love and compassion or a desire for the welfare of the one you lead.
What a weighty responsibility!
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