Do we need another Authority?

 When discussing biblical authority, it’s important to ask some questions. If the Bible is authoritative, how does that work? How is it that books in the Bible like Joshua, Ruth or Song of Solomon can be authoritative in life? What does that look like for a story to be authoritative?

Before answering these questions, there’s some even more basic questions to ask. First, does anyone want another authority in their life? Second, when the claim is made that scripture is authoritative do people hear that as good news or bad news?

Perhaps the answer depends on an individual’s experience with authority figures in their life. Without a doubt all people have had mixed experiences at best. As a parent, I can affirm I’m not a perfect parent...and I know I’m not alone. Parents are the first experience of authority in a person’s life and the very best parents are flawed. After parents most of us have teachers, coaches, police officers, politicians and pastors to name a few. These roles can be associated with amazing good, or incredible hurt.

This takes us back to consider our questions, do people want to hear about another authority in their life, and does the Bible being called authoritative sound like good news or bad news? It doesn’t take much imagination to know that some might understandably recoil at the word authority. Even those who have been blessed with good experiences with authority might recoil at one more voice telling us what to do - most of us don’t like to be told what to do...Especially if the that voice is a book often considered to have archaic, culturally irrelevant and outdated rules.

Framing a discussion about ‘scriptural authority’ in this way gives the opportunity to express how it could be good news to have ‘another’ authority in our life.

How is it that scripture can be authoritative? It gives witness to the God who is the ultimate authority. Before Jesus ascended, he did not say “all authority in heaven and on earth is going to be in the books you guys are going to write”. Rather he claimed that all authority had been given to him. The books that his followers wrote give witness to Jesus’ authority and are authoritative in that they express where true authority comes from and what the nature of that authority is.

This still doesn’t get us to an understanding of authority as “good news”. We need to look at what Jesus followers were writing. They described the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as being “in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-5). The phrase “In accordance with the scriptures is not about finding verses that make predictions about Jesus’ coming that are came true. Rather “in accordance with the scriptures” is saying that Jesus is the place where the whole story was going.

What is that story? It starts in the beginning of the Bible. It’s the story of the God who created the world and humans. It’s about a God who loves humankind but humans decide to go their own way which results in death and destruction. It’s the history of God who commits himself to use his power and authority for the restoration of humanity.

In English power and authority are two different words, but in Greek, the word exousia can either be translated as power or authority. Jesus claims all exousia has been given to him. What we see in the long biblical narrative is that God is using his power to reverse the damage that humans created by distorting their God-given authority. History is full of power hungry humans who keep using their power and authority to dominate others. The history is true whether it’s inside of families or if the family conflicts grow up to be conflicts between nations.

God does give power and authority to humans but it is supposed to be used for human flourishing, not advancement of one at the cost of others.

There is a vivid biblical picture of what authority gone wrong is like. We find this picture in one of those laws that sounds old, archaic and at first glance maybe useless. This strange law comes three times, “Do not cook a young goat in its mothers milk”. Ex 23:19 (Repeats in Ex 34:26, and Deut. 14:21) Some figure this must be one of those ridiculous laws that Jesus came to free us from. Others might consider this a sign that God hates cheeseburgers.

However, if we consider what this law shows us we gain a powerful picture about what happens when authority goes wrong. A baby is sustained by its mothers milk. The milk is the vehicle for life going to the youngling. Cooking a baby goat in the mothers milk is taking the milk that is supposed to steward life and flourishing and using it as an instrument of death. It’s swapping what is meant for life and turning it into the means of death.

God crowned humans with Glory and Honor (Psalm 8). This is a way of saying God gave humans authority and power. Authority is given to humans so that they can steward life which only comes from God. Within human communities this shows up in many forms listed above: parents, teachers, police, pastors, kings, presidents, politicians, doctors, etc. When the God given authority is used for the flourishing of others, these roles are powerful. But when humans abuse their authority, the roles that were meant to steward life can become instruments of destruction and death. Young goats are cooked in mothers milk.

Instead of looking at the sordid history of humans abusing authority, I’d like to offer how it is that scripture can be authoritative and good news. Scripture tells the story of God, who is not just a vehicle, a steward or conduit for life, but he is the source of life. The biblical narrative is about authority or power being used in a very different way. God continually picks to do power by using the younger (Jacob not Esau), the smallest (David 1 Sam 16:11), the smallest nation (Israel Deut 7:7). The problem is that power keeps corrupting humans.

Instead of abandoning his plan to work through humans, God comes as a human as Jesus Christ. Though he was God and had authority over all, he didn’t use it to his advantage. Instead he took the form of a slave (though rightfully king of all). He did this on behalf of others. Power and authority did not corrupt him. As a result he demonstrates that he is an authority (power) unlike any other. He defeats and delivers all rival, lesser powers and that enslave humanity. This is the authority that human hearts long for...whether they know it or not.

Scripture gives witness to the one true with true authority. Jesus has all power and authority but he is the lamb who was slain, not one who cooks kid goats in mother’s milk. The Bible is authoritative because it puts true power and authority on display.