Thursday, April 02, 2009
Authority
Greg Peters recently wrote a fascinating piece on ecclesiastical authority at "Middlebrow":
Very early in the work of the church, the handling of money was separated from the ministry of the Word.
It could be argued that making the primary focus of the authoritative bodies of the congregation the management of the budget is a form of idolatry. If we take our authority from other than our God, are we not worshiping at the wrong altar?
Greg opens his post by a discussion of the signs of papal authority that overwhelm Rome. They are everywhere, in some cases overbearing, in others ostentatious, and in many cases self-defeating. The clear attempt to establish authority by the display of wealth did, to my protestant mind, rob the papal office of some of its authenticity. Certainly the pope "ruled," but none of it answered my questions concerning his ministry - those were answered elsewhere in his writings and speeches and work.
If you are involved in pastoral ministry - you might want to examine how you exercise your authority. If it is through the budget, you might want to think that through a bit.
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I have really come to think that there should be a clear authority structure in the church.He then goes on to talk about what authority is given to pastors and what kind of people should have such authority. An excellent discussion. What he does not do is talk about what kind of authority should not be exercised by pastors.
Very early in the work of the church, the handling of money was separated from the ministry of the Word.
Acts 6:2-6 - And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. "But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. "But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word." And the statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.If we look at what was going on here, we find that the apostolic authority flowed from doing the ministry of the Word, not from controlling the budget. And yet, in the modern church, things break down most frequently when "authority" is viewed to stem from budgetary control.
It could be argued that making the primary focus of the authoritative bodies of the congregation the management of the budget is a form of idolatry. If we take our authority from other than our God, are we not worshiping at the wrong altar?
Greg opens his post by a discussion of the signs of papal authority that overwhelm Rome. They are everywhere, in some cases overbearing, in others ostentatious, and in many cases self-defeating. The clear attempt to establish authority by the display of wealth did, to my protestant mind, rob the papal office of some of its authenticity. Certainly the pope "ruled," but none of it answered my questions concerning his ministry - those were answered elsewhere in his writings and speeches and work.
If you are involved in pastoral ministry - you might want to examine how you exercise your authority. If it is through the budget, you might want to think that through a bit.
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