Thought 2: Do I have to respect Cartman's authoritah?

Authority is a very pervasive idea. It is everywhere. Humans spend a tremendous amount of time and effort trying to determine who is under their thumb and whose thumb they are under. Pecking orders exist throughout our lives. Most of us try to make sure we're not at the bottom, though not everyone has the drive to try and get to the top.

We see the same thing in animal circles with some very interesting results. Alpha animals tend to have higher serotonin levels which lead to more alpha behavior which leads to higher serotonin levels. It's a small natural positive feedback loop. Of course once you lose status you stop exhibiting alpha behaviors which leads to a drop in serotonin levels. That's the downside. Perception of dominance making us more dominant is a very interesting phenomena.

Since authority and domination of others is a big part of our lives logically it is something that our religions will address. Some have caste systems. Some have delineations between a clergy and a laity. Some have all members being equal. Some have what looks like a pyramid requiring ascension up the ranks. This isn't something that most religions agree on, like say not stealing and murdering.

As someone who was raised in a very independent strain of Christianity the idea of submitting to an authority structure outside of the local congregation was something that never really occurred to me. Interpreting the Bible was always a question of people arguing out which interpretation was the correct one. No one had final authority to say "When Jesus says X what it means is Y". People would of course make the assertion that X meant Y but the appeal was "I know because I am smarter/wiser/older/understand Greek/etc..." not "I have the authority from God to make this declaration".

I imagine this makes a big impact on the way I look at authority. The few times people have tried to tell me what God wanted specifically for me to do I imagine I looked at them like they were crazy. Here I don't mean "give to charity" or "love your neighbor" but rather "Go to this specific college" or "Take this specific job". They got a crazy look because I have always believed they weren't part of the conversation. That conversation happened between me and God, not me and God and them. I am also very willing to argue with people about what the Bible means.

So this is all background to help you understand my thought process on the "biblical" idea of authority. I claim no ability to authoritatively explain the Bible. I'm doing my best to understand it and if I find something true I like to share that with others. If someone disagrees with me I can't threaten them with "You are disobeying God". The worst you'll get from me is "When we're all dead and find out I'm right I'm going to say I told you so."

The Bible definitely talks about authority. It talks about the apostles agreeing on things and Jesus being behind them. I'm not wading in to break that down in its entirety and determine apostolic succession. It's not my goal. My question is more about my every day life. What is the authority given to me in any role of spiritual leadership?

I think this question is inherently flawed. I'm not saying there isn't an answer but the emphasis of the question is approaching the situation from the wrong direction. Spiritual leadership has very little if anything to do with authority. It has everything to do with responsibility. The question being asked is "What can I do?" The question that needs to be asked instead is "What needs to be done?"

Changing the emphasis pulls us from a mindset of seeing others as resources into a mindset of seeing others as people to help. A simple analogy (which I'm stealing because it's so good) is we stop seeing people as water faucets and start seeing them as buckets. I think this is what spiritual leadership is about.

Our example is the Incarnation. Jesus is remarked upon as being someone who spoke with authority. He commanded nature in a variety of ways. He explained who God was and spoke with God's backing. Yet the description of his leadership style is that he came to serve not to be served. This needs to be what drives our view of authority. Jesus comments on humanities natural tendency to accrue power so they can turn people into resources for themselves.

Jesus pushed his disciples to stop thinking in those terms. Rather they were to make themselves resources for other people. People become the goal rather than the means to another goal. For leaders people are a responsibility not a tool.

Note that this doesn't do away with the ideas of organization and direction. Having a leader to direct effort in an efficient manner doesn't necessarily break away from this idea. Jesus definitely assigned tasks to his disciples. I'm not advocating anarchy, but rather a change in perspective.

Leadership isn't about pushing or pulling people to a path. It's about walking our path and helping the people who walk beside us.

So if someone starts listing out all the verses in the Bible that talk about the different rights and privileges that people in authority have over others they may need a gentle reminder. Jesus' view of his own authority was not what abilities it gave him, but rather what responsibilities it placed on him.