Authority – Chris Linzey

Today I read an article titled, “Less Than Half of Christian Americans Read the Bible.” In fact, only 37% of self-proclaimed Christians pick it up on a regular basis. This is a real problem for Christian culture – a culture that is dependent upon sacred Scripture. More and more, our contemporary culture is turning away from the text as THE authority for a Christian’s life and thought.

american-football-referees-1476038_1280 In his article, “Inerrantism as Narcissism: Biblical Authority as a Cultural Problem,” James Moseley points out that authority is a term of relationship and not of some special property. That is to say, whenever one claims authority, the people under that claim must agree, even if silently, that the claimant does indeed have authority! In a football game, if the players refuse to do what the referee says, does the referee have any actual authority? No – the players and coaches agree to the idea that the referees are in charge of enforcing the rules.

Authority, then, is the ability to influence the thought and actions of others when those particular others have agreed to submit to the influencing agent. This is especially true regarding matters of faith. The term Christian carries with it (or should carry with it?) the notion of one who lives under Scriptural authority.

The conservative and liberal camps often argue how the Christian Scripture is authoritative, but I would venture to say that the average Christian acknowledges some manner of Scriptural authority. Scripture does not contain any authority in and of itself. It is authoritative because of the authority which backs it up. That is to say, the authority of God is exercised through Scripture. Technically, then, God is ultimately authoritative Scripture possesses a secondary or delegated authority. Scripture, though, pushes that authority upon the believer. There is a relationship between text and disciple and authority is given and received when the believer confesses that Scripture is the Word of God. This is the crux of the matter for the Christian and Scriptural authority. Scripture is only authoritative through faith. One cannot prove Scripture’s authority to a non-believer using rational arguments.

Any confession of faith that results in authority yields both a sense of identity and a set of norms for faith and practice. It is the sense of identity that allows one to claim the title Christian, Muslim, or Jew. But with that confession (and thus the title) comes a set of norms for thought and action, i.e. any claim must be accompanied by life characterized by the claim. The confessing Christian acknowledges that the one true authority is God, yet the confession also acknowledges that God has revealed himself through human words. These human words form the norms and standards for that confession.

But when people claim the title “Christian” and accept the sense of identity without accepting the set of norms we speak of them derogatorily as “nominal Christians.” This nominalism has led many biblical scholars, theologians, and pastors to proclaim a modern crisis of biblical authority. The expression “crisis of authority” assumes that Scripture should be normative for Christian thought and behavior. Indeed “Christian praxis” without the “Christian” is merely social action or moral behavior. “Christian praxis” without the “praxis” is merely mental assent to the possibility of the Christian God without allowing God to possess any practical power or authority to influence believers.

We know more about the Bible than ever before yet there is a disconcerting lack of use of the Bible in everyday life. Scripture holds a special place in the Christian heart but sees little real function in terms of influence. Lutheran theology in particular seems to emphasize the influential and functional use of Scripture a mainstay of their theology, thus combating this lack of regular use. Scripture is not simply a repository of past revelation but is a current Word of God for the church with immediate authority.

The application of this theology could be one of the most difficult aspects of Scriptural authority. While most Christians acknowledge the theoretical functionality of Scripture, allowing Scripture to be the major influencing force in life and thought is difficult. When we flat out refuse to allow our lives to be molded by the text, we have rejected the authority of the text.

Yes, Christianity exists beyond the text. People followed God before it was written. Cultures without a written language still follow Yahweh. But the Christian faith was born into a textual relationship, understanding that God revealed Himself through the Old Testament and continued to reveal Himself through the inspiration recorded in the New Testament. A Christianity devoid of Sacred Scripture is not an authentic Christianity at all, but a cheap replica that desires to hold to the “nice” elements of faith without being accountable to the Word of God.

And that’s not okay.

This government shutdown is some crazy stuff, huh? And much of it seems to be revolving around the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly referred to as Obamacare.

What I find interesting is that the act was already signed into law years ago. The fight now comes down to funding and rehashing arguments from years past. I’ve seen a lot of Christians who are really upset by this legislation. It has been criticized as drawing the United States into Socialism. And, honestly, I think there’s something to that argument.

I don’t know if I’d put a label on it but it seems like the left leans socialist. The idea of big government mandating what the citizens need to do for their own good seems socialist. Government regulation isn’t necessarily a bad thing – sometimes it takes THE MAN stepping in to see necessary changes and growth. It was good in when it came to women’s votes and desegregating the nation. In ethics – the government stepping in is good. In business, however, it’s a different game. More government regulation means less capitalistic freedom for citizens. It’s the government system or nothing.

Merriam-Webster says: Socialism is a way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government rather than by individual people and companies….

I guess I focused in on the control element, but I would say that the ACA does tend towards socialism. Big Brother is taking away control from the companies to run themselves and imposing regulations. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – Jesus and the early Church had some similar leanings. In fact, early Christians seemed downright Communist! Luke tells us in his book of Acts:

And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. (Acts 2:44-45)

Dang! Really? They practiced a distribution of wealth? Crazy, right? They clearly were not Republicans. But in a small setting where people knew each other and the distribution was VOLUNTARY, the system seems to work. They lived out the principles of 1 John 15-17:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life – is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

But that was about the close-knit Christian community taking care of itself. You knew where the money was going and why it was going. Large-scale socialism simply says, “We’re taking what you have and giving it to someone else because it’s all ours anyway. You don’t really own it.”

But in order for socialism to work then all the sheep need to be sheered equally. The problem is that it never works out that way. Some of the fat sheep who run the flock always find a way to beat the system – to live through loopholes so that there becomes a dichotomy between those who lead the Socialist system and those who merely live in it.

I actually think it’s a good thing to make sure all people have access to health care. I think that Christians ought to be leading the way to ensure that people are cared for. The part that gets my knickers in a twist is fining people who want to opt out. Can you picture that at McDonald’s?

“Would you like fries with that order?”

“No thanks.”

“Okay – that will be five dollars for not giving you fries.”

“What?!?”

Someone told me that, while the ACA is not a perfect system, it is a flawed system taking steps in the right direction. Perhaps. I guess only time will tell as this thing gets resolved (maybe…hopefully…one day).

However it comes out, I urge Christians to behave decently. We don’t like to be told what to do. We rebel against authority we feel is out of line. And, if the government ever tells us to do things contrary to our spiritual convictions, I will be standing with you on the front line saying, “NO WAY!” But this isn’t the case here. It’s not a spiritual issue, it’s a governmental issue. Let’s back off the rhetoric and defamation of character and all of the other inappropriate behavior for followers of Jesus. It’s okay to disagree. It’s okay to seek to change legislation. However, too many Christians are led by their political passions and forget that their ultimate allegiance is to Jesus.

The Apostle Peter tells us:

Be subject for the Lords sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (1 Peter 2:13-15)

I don’t anticipate things will die down quietly. Most of us will hold to our positions without even considering an alternative. But, no matter what your political position, let us act like followers of the King of the Universe.

Sound off! Where do you stand on the ACA? Have you seen people behaving badly? Please keep comments and conversation civil….