Handling Authority

As Christians, we place ourselves under the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church. The Books of Kings give many illustrations of rulers who usurp that with their own authority.

Church leaders have authority in the churches they lead. This is delegated to them by God, is given to them by the church community, and in many churches under a higher authority eg a bishop. However, in turn, they authorise other church members to carry out particular ministries. Authorising others does not need to diminish the authority of the leader. However, if possible the leader should truly empower the newly authorised minister, since if   he/she is to overturn their decisions and actions too frequently, inevitable problems will arise.

This authority is best made explicit - many churches have formal licensing of lay ministers, often following a period of training. This is useful for three reasons.   It ensures that the individual has had some training, their ministry becomes approved by the wider church, and the local church community sees the individual being granted the authority for ministry in that area.

This process also enables discussions of covenant and contract to take place between the church member taking on the ministry and the church leadership.  This need not be formal or written, but does help to get the expectations of both parties in line with each other!

Authority is entirely compatible with servanthood.  Indeed ministry is itself a "servant" word. The Gospel rather suggests that authority should be exercised by servant leaders. Servant leadership is at the heart of Christian leadership, and is different from servanthood. All Christians are called to be servants, one to another, to follow Jesus' example in washing his disciples' feet, and to love our neighbours as ourselves.

Servant leadership goes further to consider the motivation behind our actions as leaders. If personal desire was the sole decision criteria, Jesus would have chosen not to go through the pain and suffering on the cross. In the garden at Gethsemene, Jesus prayed, 'Father if you are willing take this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours, be done.'(Luke 22:42) The weight of the burden of taking not only our guilt but also our sins themselves, had become too heavy. Even at this point, Jesus could have got up and walked away. Servant leadership will lead us too, to make sacrifices, to put the needs of others above the direction we may prefer for ourselves.