A Crisis of Authority

It can rightly be said in the early twenty-first century that we have a crisis of authority. This has many causes: American individualism and democratic ideals, the influence of both modernist and postmodernist philosophies, and natural human nature.

Matters of religious authority have also been affected, although disputations regarding religious authority are nothing new. Authority, in many instances, is discussed ad nauseam, and I have no desire to cause further nausea. It is important, however, to bring to remembrance many of the fundamental aspects of authority and our need for it. These fundamental aspects revolve around the nature of authority, faith, and the nature of man.

The term "authority" is often thrown around rather casually, and it is easy to forget precisely what is under discussion. "Authority" represents "power," and most often refers to "delegated" power. There is generally an authority figure, and persons act according to the will of that authority.

The Bible's claims regarding authority too often conflict with modern American sentiments of the same. In modern America, people are raised under the banner of the "power of the people," that authority comes from the people and is delegated to various representatives. While this authority hardly has any substance, it is a powerful mental concept, and one freely proclaimed at any hint of perceived overreaching of any figure invested with authority.

The Bible would proclaim quite the opposite, as the interaction of Jesus and a centurion clearly indicates:

And the centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goeth; and to another, 'Come,' and he cometh; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he doeth it."
And when Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, "Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel" (Matthew 8:8-10).