Church Leaders Need Authority from Somewhere

First, though, let me characterize (or caricature) the problematic ways that authority is treated in the current dysfunctional church structure.  My heart especially hurts for the well-meaning Christian pastors who are trapped in these unbiblical positions of church authority, doing harm to themselves and to the congregation because they don’t know any better.

When most pastors and other church leaders claim authority, they face a fundamental problem. They have to claim authority, but they often don't really have any authority.  Where do they get their authority?  Who issued them their “submit cards”?  

The question of whose hands can magically bestow religious authority has been a disputed subject for some time.  To a student of church history, the Roman Catholic doctrine of apostolic succession is far out enough that it sounds like a Monty Python routine. 

“Ok, so you’re the pope.  How did you get this job?” 

“Well, it started with Peter laying hands on Linus who laid hands on etc., etc., who laid hands on one of the three popes who were all excommunicating each other who laid hands on . . .etc., etc…who laid hands on the last pope.” 

“So, the last pope laid hands on you?” 

“No, the cardinals picked me.”

Protestants, though, have their own pit of quicksand regarding authority.  Become a member of almost any church, and you have automatically come under the authority of one person, the pastor.  This “little pope,” in some denominations, is the final authority in the church.  In other denominations, he or she answers to authorities in the denominational headquarters. 

And what authority do pastors and denominational authorities have?  They have usually been elected by their underlings to inherit these “little pope” positions from their denominational forefathers, who got authority by leading a rebellion against some other Christian group. 

The violent beginnings of most Protestant groups are called “reformations” or “renewals,” but now they call any challenges to their own authority “rebellion” or “sedition.”  Sound a bit ironic?

Hang with me as we consider this problem...I promise we will get to the solution.

Coming soon...Chapter 5.4: The Birth and Slow Death of a Pastor

Share