today at lunch i was engaged in a conversation that reminded me of a priniciple that i, as well as many others, would be wise to remember:
you can't be in authority if you can't be under authority
i hope you will take the time to really marinate in that thought. i believe that every person regardless of age, race, profession and stage of life can benefit from realizing the truth of this statement. all too often i find myself longing for control. i think there is something in all of us that wants to be "in charge" "in control" "in authority." we all want to be the "boss" of something or someone.
i remember my days as a youth minister. i can't tell you the number of times i had to deal with a discipline issue and in the process heard a teenager say "you're not the boss of me." i can also remember adults along the way that were really hard on the students. at their core they loved the kids but saw their "position" as an opportunity to exercise "power" and "authority." what they didn't realize is how they actually undermined their authority in the process. on top of that i, as their authority, had coached them on how to deal with and respond to students. by ignoring my lead they wound up negating their authority and losing their influence. sad but true.
everyone is under at least one authority. most of us find oursleves under the authority of many. perhaps it is a parent, a teacher, a manager, a ceo, a board or any number of other people but we are all under authority. how are you currently submitting to the authorities that God has placed in your life? if you were the parent, the teacher, the manager, the ceo, the board, etc and you had someone like you working under you....would you want to keep them around?
as we go about our lives we, especially Christians, really need to evaluate how willing we are to submit graciously to the authorities that God has placed in our lives. humility and meekness are characteristics God expects to see in His children. i'm convinced that when we are willing to submit to the authorities in our lives God will then be willing to trust us to lead others the way He does.....with loving kindness and compasison. how are we doing?
2 comments:
I like this. It really makes me think. A lot of people at my school, including myself, get irritated when a teacher says we can or can't do something. Even if they are wrong we should respond with kindness and understanding to show Christ through the way we live and respond to our authorities. After all, He is the ultimate authority we are under. Thanks Randy!
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Ali
you know I was just kidding when I told Larry "he's not the boss of me" the other day, right? I realized many years ago that his love for me included wanting what's best for me. As a result of the trust came submission to his authority as my husband. Instead of struggling for control, I can relax and really enjoy our relationship as husband and wife. Too bad it takes some of us so long to finally get to this point. Kinda reminds me of my relationship with Christ, my ultimate authority.
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