“Whoever will be great among you, shall be your servant”. Mark 10:43.
“Jesus made authority in the fellowship dependent upon brotherly service. Genuine spiritual authority is to be found only where the ministry of hearing, helping, bearing, and proclaiming is carried out.” said Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an influential servant of Christ.
The humble state of being a helpful listener and a burden bearer is a necessity if you are to bring out the word in a helpful way, assisting your brother to grow in faith. Your spiritual authority is only from God, not your self, when lending an ear. His words are then given to you to aid your fellow believer within the redemptive love of Christ. Our purpose is to bring Christ forward, “I must decrease, while He must increase” is our scriptural mantra so that the light is shining on Christ in us.
Bonhoeffer writes in Life Together, “Every cult of personality that emphasizes the distinguished qualities, virtues and talents of another person, even though these be of all altogether spiritual in nature, is worldly and has no place in the Christian community; indeed, it poisons the Christian community. This relationship springs from a spiritually sick need for the admiration of men, for the establishment of visible human authority, because the genuine authority of service appears to be so unimpressive.”
Some of the most respectable servants of Christ are virtually unknown with in the church. But I have visual snapshots embedded in my memory of one person doing an array of services; bible teaching, evangelism and vacuum running. This one particular servant is an “all-around” Christian man who doesn’t have one particular boastful gift, but embodies all of them. He is Christ to others, incarnating Him at various times in a variety of ways, unnoticeable by many, but admired and loved by a few.
Genuine authority realizes that it can exist only in the service of Him who alone has authority. This is why we do not force issues. This is why we accept when doors are shut, and opened, despite the reason. This is why we trust in God’s sovereignty and tolerate bad decision making with in the church. It is God’s authority that supersedes all of our awful efforts to “get it right”. We look to Him for authority and leadership.
Who will we obey, God or man? Through the ruling work of the Holy Spirit, I see reasons why I need to be merciful and understanding to all earthly authority of mine and I thank God for His provision of truth and discernment in matters. This is how I follow the Lord's established yet faulty leadership. The Lord Himself presents true righteousness for us when we have life together. And then we are able to proclaim Him in small and big ways.
