Leadership Training Seminar II, Understanding Spiritual Authority

A point in the scripture, Mark 10, beginning in verse 35. James, who's up there? Don't want to start me right now, please. We want to erase the last 10 minutes. Thanks, brother James. And John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? Even that's interesting, isn't it? Sounds like they're really arrogant. And Jesus goes along with it. And they said to him, grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory. But Jesus said to them, you do not know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, we are able. And Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you will drink. And with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. And when the 10 heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John, probably because they didn't think of it first. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, you know that those who are supposed to rule, you know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles, Lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant. And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. One of my recollections that's rather clear about my time in college was the fact that I went to an all male school that functioned under a very effective honor system. The honor system at Washington Lee University, where I attended, was very, very effective. It was held in high esteem by the students. People just didn't steal. They didn't lock their cars, they didn't lock their dorm rooms. People didn't cheat. And it was really a pleasure to live in an environment where really you were totally free to trust the integrity of the people that you were associating with. But unfortunately, the people that lived in the small town in which the school was located didn't function under the same system. And so on occasion, townies, as I'm sure they were called in your campus or something similar, were Frequently caught slipping into the back door of a fraternity house or perhaps finding their way on campus somewhere and ending up where they shouldn't be. And so to kind of keep control of that, the campus administration had hired a man to be the campus cop. This guy was strictly undercover. He was a townie himself to kind of blend in. He was sort of heavyset, didn't smile too much, and always had a chew going. And that guy could mix with the students and kind of be their buddy. But he also knew everything that was going on in that campus at any time. And when somebody saw someone slipping into a fraternity house or something, they'd run up to his office and say, hey, Murph. That was the guy's name. I think there's some trouble down at the. The Delta Tau Delta house or something. He said, yeah, I know. The three punks are in there again, or something. He'd already had that pegged out somehow, and he was so on top of it that literally, you never questioned his ability to handle the situation. And further, he was probably the ultimate deterrent for anybody who might have even thought about slipping past the honor system. I didn't know anybody that represented authority any better than that guy, because he had the whole authority of the university behind him. He could prosecute students as well as people in the town. And the only power that he needed to enforce his authority was tucked right up under here. Every once in a while, when he'd be sitting over in the desk, his coat would fall down, and you'd see his little pistol shoulder harness thing he could pull out. It was very interesting to be around this guy because he was unique. He was just totally unique and very, very effective. And we're going to be talking here for the next several weeks about authority and power and relationships. Now, I want to move quickly through what we have tonight, because we want you to talk a good bit about where you are in this whole spectrum, this whole topic, because I feel, as you know, those of you who came to the Leadership series in the fall, our purpose is to get down into the meat of these subjects. We can't do this on a Sunday morning. And you're here because you want to be challenged in your spiritual walk. You want to grow as a leader. You want to function in the fullness of God's gift in you. And we hope to get into the Word and into these principles enough so that you can really come to terms with where you are concerning these things. We are building a foundation here. And I think, as Dan said, beloved, we are Finding ourselves at a very important time. I said the Sunday before last that our doctrine and the way it's laid will determine the quality of the final work. It's a foundation that we're laying. And as we talk about spiritual authority, we are talking about very foundational and yet very, very important matters. I would like to see the hands of somebody here that's been hurt by the abuse of spiritual authority. Anybody? I'd like to see the hands of someone here who don't know how to exercise spiritual authority. Okay. And if I went on, I would imagine that as related to spiritual authority, all of us have some questions about what's appropriate. When do I go on? When am I being a little Christ to somebody and lording it over them? When do I give them God's will, and when do I let them find God's will for themselves? When do I intervene and when do I not intervene? When do I take control and when do I release? The reason why this is such an important subject is because we are building. And I have to say perfectly clearly, in the last three or four months, God's been, as Gene talked about the scroll of heaven rolling back so vividly. I think there's been a veil over my eyes that's been rolling back about the need in this area because I've been finding myself doing an awful lot of relating to people on subjects that really should have long since been worked out. And the reason why we're relating on those subjects is because there's a misunderstanding of spiritual authority. There's a frustration built into the fact that we can say things a thousand times, but if people aren't prepared to receive them and hear them, it's like bouncing off of that pillar right over there. Now, this shouldn't have been unexpected because, as you know, the charismatic movement, as it were, general and North Way kind of in specific, in that whole umbrella, under that whole umbrella, has come along in the process of, in effect, reacting to, stifling. Am I right? Most of us, apart from those who found the Lord in the last few years, perhaps came out of churches where we felt just shoved down into a mold and restricted. Maybe not with any reference to spiritual authority, but with the idea that somehow limitations were placed on our liberty in Christ. Is that right? And consequently, the whole momentum of our life was to get more liberty, more freedom, move in more responsiveness to the Holy Spirit. But it's very characteristic of the charismatic movement, and it is becoming interestingly proven right here in this place as well, that there is, along with that Liberty in the charismatic movement and irresponsibility toward commitment. And I have to say I've underestimated that. And I. And my own experience. How about you? I grew up with a fierce loyalty to my church. I mean, the preacher that taught me when I was a kid talked about Time magazine, but I went every Sunday and heard about Time magazine and God bless him. I mean, he's a loving guy and all that, but he didn't preach the gospel. How many of you had a Sunday school teacher that you remember clearly that was there and really strongly influenced your life? Anybody? How many of you had a Sunday school teacher that taught your kid? We had that in our church. Sunday school teachers that were there through generations. I mean, that kind of fierce loyalty, even though it was not really enlightened loyalty. And we've missed some of that. And so charismatics, rather than being known for calloused knees and calloused hands, are getting known for calloused feet, because they're always on the go. And as soon as you get close to the real need in their life, well, let's go somewhere else where the spirit's flowing bag that place. I want to tell you something that's a real problem. You want to know, Dan, one reason why people are looking around? Because in some ways, when it starts costing, well, then I don't want to pay the cost anymore. I'm free. Glory to God. Let's pack up, honey. I think the spirit's moving over and Sharpsburg now. And the tragedy is God wants to do a work with the people and fashion them and shape them and move them on. And I really believe that that's what he wants to do right here. I'm committed to it. The elders are committed to it. Fred's committed to it. Blaine's committed to it. I believe you're committed to it. You wouldn't be here. You want to see it happen. We don't need to look very far to see that inconsistency. How many of you are part of a home group? How many of you have people in your home group that are on and off? You don't know whether you'll see them or not. You know, one of the things, interestingly. Get ready for this one. One of the things that I've given some thought to in the last nine months. Hold on now. Is membership. What? Membership? You mean being a member of Northwood? We've talked about this. Because one of the things that membership does in the minds of people, probably not so much in reality, but in their minds. Is to kind of cement in them the fact that, hey, that's where I've been placed. And, you know, in our biblical understanding of the fact that they probably didn't have little pledge card boxes and stuff that they passed out in the church in Jerusalem, we've hurt a little bit because people have not understood the idea of identification and what that identification means in terms of spiritual authority. And, you know, one of our greatest struggles as pastors and elders, we don't know who we are spiritually responsible for. And so someone calls Fred, for example, today and says, gee, I need to see you. And Fred and I go through the same thing. Well, we want to be available to people, but am I spiritually accountable to God for that person or not? And these aren't easy questions, are they? There's not a simple answer to it, but it's all linked with this subject of what is spiritual authority and what are we to do in growing in our exercise of it. The other thing that I've noticed here at North Way is this, because we encourage you to be open in your relationships. I trust that the last couple of teachings, or at least last week and the week before, have made you think a little bit about what does it mean to be more than just here, but to be revealing yourself and opening your heart to another person. You know what that does, though? That somehow makes you vulnerable in opening your weaknesses. And there are those here in the community who will use that. That revelation of something in your life that they don't like to discount God's use of that person as a vessel of spiritual authority in you. You know what I'm saying? That you'll call into question whether or not I should really listen to the word of the Lord through that brother, or even that just their suggestion, because I know that there's some weak spots there. Let me say it this way. The Catholic priest who stands up there, who you don't even know the first thing about him, is an authority just because he is the Catholic priest. But the elder who stands up here and reveals something of his own hurt and struggle in a moment of openness and vulnerability and shows you who he really is, begins to expose his need and weakness. And we say, well, and that's an elder, and the enemy can use that. And so that's been, I think, another ingredient in working out this matter of spiritual authority. Are we together so far? But I don't believe, brothers and sisters, that we'll be able to go on. I think we'll just, you know, what we'll end up doing. If you'll follow the analogy of building with the blocks, I think we'll just end up taking off one block and putting on another one for the next five years unless we understand what God wants to do in this matter. What I'm saying is, unless we begin to hear what God's saying about spiritual authority, I think what we're going to see is just simply a slow rolling turnover of people. Not you people. You people are here to stay, but the other hundreds of people will take some in. They'll start to get sort of tied in, knit in with God's purposes, and then they'll just roll right out and another one will roll in. And I believe in the end that would be a tragedy and it would not be God's best for us. I see TGIF as an illustration of that. God, there's so much, much need for understanding spiritual authority. And that young adult group, boy, there's such a need there. They'll roll in and they'll begin to get close and tied in. And the minute things start to happen in their life, well, not any longer. Roll out and someone else will roll in. Now spiritual authority strikes in us a sense of fear perhaps. Maybe you're here as one who put your hand up that I was hurt. I had an elder who caused strife in my household, or I had a pastor that abused the authority and somehow called me into condemnation or whatever. And listen, we know very clearly that that's a real struggle with some of you. How many times was it said earlier, Grant? Remember you used the term that we were a hospital, those first years in particular, we were a hospital picking up the wounded and the refused and just loving them. But the abuse of authority should not, beloved, keep us from experiencing the benefits of its proper exercise. I'll tell you what I believe that a greater fear that I have is not that someone would abuse authority, but that I wouldn't be loved enough for someone to care for me. I think ultimately true spiritual authority is the highest expression of care. It's protection. It's meant to be by God protection. It's not domination. It's a covering under which you can function freely. I had a woman come up a couple of Sundays ago, just the classic misunderstanding of spiritual authority came up and said, I'm just so glad that you let prophecy happen in this place. She trying to remember exactly. She said, most places the pastors and the elders shut it down and I'm just glad I could come in here. And well, I said, well, ma', am, I thank God that you enjoyed being here. But I'll tell you something, if the pastors and elders felt that you were prophesying incorrectly, we'd shut it down. And you know, there are people who feel like that's a threat instead of seeing it as a protection. If you have a spiritual gift and you have no place to submit that gift, then you become wholly and strictly accountable to God for it and the impact that it might have on 500 people who will hear it that day. You may want to bear that, but I'm not sure that that's really what you do want, but rather to be safe. And I appreciate the spirit of most everyone who is an abiding part of North Way is to understand responsibility is to submit and allow God to use his government to work the way it should. I'll tell you, once you understand the responsibility of being a spiritual authority in someone's life, you don't run quickly after that. You know, one of the most sobering scriptures in my whole life is why don't you share it with me? Hebrews 13, would you turn there? Hebrews 13, are you there? Verse 17. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as men who will have to give account. Now beloved, if you are in any way responsible for the well being spiritual oversight of anyone, I'm talking about teachers and children, I'm talking about home group leaders, I'm talking about deacons, I'm talking about and any level of relationship that verse applies to you. Now what does that mean? Is God keeping track of what you're doing? Yeah, absolutely. That's what it says. We have to give account. We have to answer. God cares about what we're going to say. Do you read that? Look what it says. Let them do this joyfully and not sadly, for that would be of no advantage to you. So it is an advantage to you. Do you see the other side of that? It is to your advantage to obey your leaders and submit to them. Now listen, I've been struggling all day long with the fact that teaching on this subject can sound very self serving and it would probably be better to have someone else come in that doesn't belong to North Way and teach you on this, right? But it's our responsibility to try to bring you the whole council of God. So best of our ability we're going to do that and trust that you'll apply it as the Lord leads. And so let me say then what spiritual authority is not, it isn't self assertive it's not militant, kind of domineering, commanding, do this, do that. No, I'm not even on Roman numeral I of your outline yet. If you're looking. Spiritual authority isn't. Hearken to my every wish. That's not spiritual authority at all. Spiritual authority is not wheeling and dealing and manipulating. Spiritual authority is not received at ordination. Spiritual authority is not related to the number of degrees or titles that you have. Right. I struggled with finishing my doctor of Ministry degree because somehow for some people that's a barrier more than it is a blessing. Doesn't mean anything in terms of spiritual authority. There's a lot of people out there that have degrees that have no spiritual authority at all. It also. Listen, spiritual authority has nothing to do with your spiritual gifts. And don't be misled by the one who can prophesy the best or heal the best. That doesn't give them spiritual authority. Do you know that we tend to think that the person who can have the gift, whatever that gift might be, there is an authority. No, that's not spiritual authority. That's the authority of every believer. Every believer can move in the authority of Christ Jesus in healing and according to the gifts of the Spirit that God's released in him. Remember that. It's very easy for us to equate those two and figure out if that person can have a word of knowledge that clearly they're really. That's not necessarily true at all. Be careful of that. Alright, so what is spiritual authority? What is the nature of it? Let's talk just about two elements. The nature. This isn't Roman numeral one in your outline. What is the nature of spiritual authority? Well, first of all, All spiritual authority. All authority, in fact, spiritual and otherwise, comes from where? It comes from God. He is the absolute source of all authority. Why? Because he alone can totally and completely enforce his will at any time, in any way. That's what gives him the authority. That means that when he wants to do it, he does it. In your household, if you're a father or a mother, what gives you the authority over your children? If you want to have dinner at six, that's when you have dinner. Now God gives you that authority, but you're the one who has the will and the power to enforce what it is that you want to do. Now, do you know that even civil government is under the authority of God? What you mean communist China? That authority comes from God. All authority. Look at Romans 13 just real quickly. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this But I think it's important to see one principle. Quickly. Romans 13. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God. And those that exist have been instituted by God. Now listen, I believe that in our government systems of today, we see really a picture of what happened in the eternities of times past. And that really what you're seeing is a reflection of the nature of man. Because God created man with a capacity to obey and to enjoy and to delight in his will. And what did man do? He rebelled. And so though he was given that capacity, he rebelled. And similarly so that God gave authority for man to rule, man has rebelled. And just as we saw Satan seek to usurp authority, you see, Satan moved in the eternities past to usurp the authority of God, right? In so doing, we see the picture of what man has done with government. They've sought to usurp God's rule. God is allotted for a time. That's all we can say. He's allowed them to abuse or usurp, seek to usurp his authority. But it's only for a season. We know that at one point what's going to happen. We sang about it tonight. Every authority, every power is going to be subject to the name that is above every name. And every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord now. Jesus was the embodiment of that authority. He was in one person, fully, completely, totally authoritative. Wow, what an incredible thought that is, isn't it? To know that spiritual powers of darkness, when they laid their eyes on him, said, what have you to do with me? You're the son of the most high God. And what do we see as a result of that authority in Jesus life? Just tremendous liberty to move in every situation according to God's perfect will over any obstacle. And that's of course what we all long for. Which interesting, the Bible says we all should be able to do because Jesus lives in us. And the day will come, beloved, when we will be able to move in that free exercise as we are released into that perfect completed son or daughter of God. But in the meantime, what then becomes the source of our ultimate authority? Let's get this down clearly. It's important since Jesus was embodiment of God, who is the source of all authority. But Jesus isn't here. What then becomes our ultimate source or reference of authority? The Word of God, the Bible. God's word is the authoritative word. And the reason why we have to make this very plain tonight is because everything else that I'm going to say from here on in is based on the Word. If it doesn't line up with the Word, it's not authoritative. And if it doesn't, I need to say there are a lot of people who can bring something to the Word and make it fit what they want it to say, rather than going to the Word and letting the Word speak. Am I right? How many people have brought their tradition to the Word and made the Word fit their tradition? Really? And you can do that with the Bible, unfortunately, you can make it fit your tradition. You can look at it through glasses that say it's going to read infant baptism somewhere and make it say that. Let me give you just. If I were investigating something to see what the Word said, here's how I do it. Number one, I'd do everything I could to extract the meaning of the specific passage in question right in its context. So if I was looking at what is the nature of spiritual authority, I'd pick the authoritative places where that issue appeared right in context. For example, here in Mark 10, I'd look at it in context. Number two, I'd compare it with the other parallel passages that also talked about authority. Or to make it something easier, baptism would be an easier one because there's not nearly as many passages. So then I take after I had the in context, then compared with parallel, then I take it as enlightened by all of Scripture. And that's the third way or the third test of truly exegeting a passage. Then you know what Scripture is saying and not what you're saying through Scripture. And boy, you know, that's eye opening when you do that. It takes some time, but it sure is eye opening. Now, if you do that in terms of spiritual authority, you'll find four things, at least, that the Bible teaches about it. Okay? There are four kinds. Civil, we just talked about. That's the man's ability to rule his governing bodies. You know, you want to do something interesting, Read Acts in the fourth chapter, where Peter and John are commanded to no longer preach in that name. And they say what? Oh, okay, right. No, what do they say? Yeah, we have to obey God rather than men. Was he being submitted to the authorities? He was submitted to the highest authority, and he was obeying that. And that's the rule, basically, of all believers, that we submit to our governing authorities until and unless their command directly violates a clear say, hey, brother, you said two times, and that's the door. The other part of me was saying, golly, this guy so needs someone. He so needs what we're doing here. He so needs. And if he goes out the door, he might walk out of the fellowship. What would you do? Tell somebody what you'd do. Go ahead. Go ahead, turn to someone. Tell them, here's what I'd do. Go ahead. Everyone have a chance to share. I see some of you winding up for a long explanation. How many of you would give him the right foot of fellowship? Come on, put him up there. How many of you would encourage him, start over again someplace else or with some other. Not some other church. But say, brother, that's it. How many of you would say, you said it and that's it. Okay, go ahead, put them up there. All right. How many of you would say, I feel that he needs the encouragement of being together and we ought to try to support him in that. Look at that. That's 50. 50, Sir. I feel better. Well, if you want to know. Yes, Gene, that would make a difference. Well, it might make a difference, but there's been a lot. Let me say this. There's been a lot of repentance. Up until that time, there was repentance. Each time that he blew it for the previous three months. I can't believe. That's terrific. Well, just so you know, I couldn't throw him out. I just couldn't. He's not there this week. Now that I know that I have support to half of the fellowship, We'll move with a real. Yeah, all right. Yes, brother. The real issue is, Well, I can stand right now in front of you, say, yes, that's right, brother. That's right. When I see that guy trudge up those steps and I realize he's marginal basket case. If I send. No, really, I don't. When I send him back out, he struggles with that. In a trap. I think you have to be flexible. Sure. I mean, the idea. The idea was John, to have him so motivated himself. I mean, he did agree on it. He said, yeah, okay. So, I mean, I felt like it was clear. I just lacked, at that point, the fortitude to reinforce it. Now, if you're saying there's a way of saying that so that he himself knows that it's all over. He knew it was over. That's the irony of it. And somebody picked him up, I think that morning brought him. See, I was conspired against. So they walked up together, and I had, you know. Okay, well, I just. Doug. Thanks, Doug. Half the group of me. That we want to try to maintain in that is a Person's respect. Yeah, well, I think the seriousness of the issue has a lot at stake there. I mean, be assured that there have been cases where I have had to tell people that they could no longer continue in the condition they were in. Then they've chosen not to. But this isn't, you know, this was a matter of personal discipline. It really wasn't a moral issue. Do you understand that? Okay, I'm not selling us out. Totally there. All right, number three. Anyhow, do you all see. I'm glad to see that you all struggle with these same questions, and I think they're relevant to where your personal sphere of ministry. Number three, the greatest, I think. And Paul's preferred mode of authority and exercising spiritual authority was through personal example. Paul said those terrific words in 1 Corinthians 11, 1, follow me as I follow Christ. I'll tell you what. He was so confident that he was hearing from God that he could say to someone. And people interpret that as saying, well, they discern when Paul was right or not. So basically it wasn't any statement. I don't believe that. I think Paul was saying, hey, I'm going the right way. You come with me. That's what he was saying. How about the Book of Philemon? Are you familiar with that story? Didn't you teach that not that long ago, Fred, at one of the men's meetings? Philemon. There's the story where Paul chose. If you want to turn there, I'll give you three and a half minutes to find it. Philemon. Who said that? Okay, it's just west. Just west of First John, right? No, Hebrews. Okay, well, I'm. Now west of Hebrews. It's east of Titus. Okay, now he loves Philemon. Now look in verse eight, would you? Here's ecclesiastical authority, church authority. Although accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required. Well, kind of. Pretty brazen, isn't it? Yet, for love's sake, I prefer to appeal to you. I, Paul, an ambassador, and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus. Philemon starts to cry. I appeal to. You know, there's a 10 tenderness in that, isn't there, for my child, Onesimus. And then of course, Onesimus is a slave that's violated his covenant, I guess, and he should. Could have easily been thrown in jail or whatever. And Paul is appealing to him to be received back. But the point is, notice he appeals to him on the basis of his personal love. And let me say something, beloved, to us, we have no greater appeal than that. That is the. Write this down. I don't think it's on your outline. Would you please? True spiritual authority. Here's the definition. True spiritual authority is the authority of personal integrity. When you're talking about spiritual authority, what you are really saying is it's in the power of who you are in Christ. It's in the matchup between what your life reflects and what you say. What we are, who we are validates what we say. That's true spiritual authority. It isn't gifts, it isn't knowing the Bible. It's who you are, what your life is. That's spiritual authority. Do you know what I'm saying? And so really, the bishop that stands up there with all the regalia may have very little spiritual authority. He may have a lot of ecclesiastical authority, but very little spiritual authority. And spiritual authority is the kind that we quicken to. It's the kind that changes our lives. It's who I am. So that who I am matches what I speak. Do you know someone like that? Do you know several like that? Are you like that with the people over whom you've been placed? Can they say of you, who she is is the same as what she says? If so, that's true spiritual authority. I remember not too long ago, maybe it's been a year now, I was invited out to lunch with somebody who had a lot of credential and a reputation that preceded them as being quite a person of understanding in terms of church of and church matters. And I remember thinking, boy, this is going to be something. And, you know, when we sat down and he just began to talk and go on and on and on, I really had some struggles. And the more I found out about who he was, the less interested I was in what he had to say and his spiritual authority. Just because of the attitudes that he had toward other people, things like that. I just began to realize whatever he had to say about church ministry and church planting didn't amount to much. Because who he was inside was bitter and angry and judgmental toward others. You see, spiritual authority is matching up inside with what we say in our mouths. And I'll tell you something. There's not one of us here that doesn't struggle with that. We all know our faults, don't we? Why does Billy Graham have such tremendous authority? I mean, he is. He's ju