Sunday, December 22, 2013

Do You Really Have Any Authority?

What a fabulous quote that really is just a paraphrase of Jesus' own words from the bible:

"You can't understand truth because you care what other men think about you."

If that's accurate, and being reminded that it was first spoken by Jesus, after all, then doesn't it stand to reason that so long as one is bound by the opinion of man, he will be unable to discern, and thus, understand, much less, know (or, perhaps, even see) truth as it really is?  He likely cannot even call truth truth.  So this being bound by the opinion of man is a big deal.  One could say that it is a major roadblock to seeing truth.  (Ah… artery blockage, if you will.)

Wayne put it this way, "If you care what other people think about you, you'll never find the truth.  Because you're making true whatever ingratiates you to the people with whom you want to be ingratiated."

The authority of Jesus is what threatened the powers that be-d... ok, were.  As Wayne points out, the New Testament speaks extensively of the authority that Jesus had.  But, to what authority is it referring? Because it certainly wasn't granted by man.

Wayne goes on to say, "It was the authority of an indestructible life.  It was the authenticity of a man who spoke and lived truth, in the context of love.  And that completely overturns the power structures of our day."

The logical play out is that without truth, you have no authority.  (And, if you are a slave to man's opinion of you, you have not truth.)

Wow.  If that's real authority, and I believe it is, then doesn't that speak volumes to us on many levels… only one of which is in the authority of the parent to the child?

How might that kind of authority shape/change a life?

- With Unveiled Face

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