Authority, Audacity and Creative Response

Authority is an ultimate concern within our Scriptures. Who has formal authority? Whose authority is emerging? To whom do you and I give authority in our lives?  They say that culturally, we are at a low ebb in respect for authority; fewer people formally join civic groups that claim authority. Institutions are suspect in their intent and thus their authority. It’s a great time to assess and reconsider authority. 

In as much as the church has emphasized the ultimate authority of God as enthroned authority deserving of adoration and praise, the biblical imagination often imagines and offers us a much less enthroned God. The biblical God is often alongside and entrenched in the human experience. This God is assessing, reconsidering and responding to the limited circumstances in which human beings find themselves. 

The biblical imagination arrives to a fullness in the Gospel wherein Christ’s authority is recognized per his relevance to human circumstances. Authority, not given to him formally, is given to him by the people – and not only given to him by the people who were physically proximate. People still tell this story -- now the Old, Old Story still whispered, lauded and taken deeply into memory today. 

Authority remains an ultimate concern. When traditional forms of authority seem irrelevant, people can become desperate to express their dissatisfaction. To some, the way people reallocate authority over their lives can seem irrational and out of touch with reality. In fact, it is a reaction against tradition that can remake itself. 

God, within the Scriptural tradition, is deeply attuned to the reactivity of people and the reallocation of who or what has authority in their lives. Whether it be golden calves, foreign kings or idle anxiety, the biblical imagination portrays a God who strategizes for relevance in the human condition. It’s a strong example and expectation for the church or any institution who identifies with the Judeo-Christian tradition. When people react, the issue of relevance and relationship are at play. It is the burden of tradition to adapt and respond for the stability and creativity of the human community. 

To greater or lesser degrees, every ministry faces reactivity or desperate messaging on Monday. It is part of the burden and privilege to respond and remake.