Authority In the Church
The question of authority versus power is a vital one, especially where it concerns the Bible. It's a question that encompasses order and structure in the Church and the roles in the family that God put in place. The keyword is “role” since this is the box within which authority and power exist, and it's the box that each of us operates out of in the family and church. Our role dictates the authority given to us by God, and on the other side of things, it also details the authority we are not given. It is the abuse of power that leads to negative outcomes from leadership. When a person in a position of authority begins to take more power than their position warrants, it is a recipe for tyranny. In God's system of doing things, power is used by righteous authority in the way that has been granted by God, and they do not take more power to themselves than their role grants to them. This is the way kings were supposed to operate in Israel, but they failed. Remember, the rol...