Parker J. Palmer in his book The Courage to Teach talks about the authority of a teacher.
External tools of power have occasional utility in teaching, but they are no substitute for authority, the authority that comes from the teacher’s inner life. The clue is in the word itself, which has author at its core. Authority is granted to people who are perceived as authoring their own words, their own actions, their own lives, rather than playing a scripted role at great remove from their own hearts. When teachers depend on the coercive powers of law or technique, they have no authority at all.[1]
Parker Palmer couldn’t be more right; authority, real authority, comes from what is already within the author. But let’s take this a step further. What is within every believer, guiding actions, lives and the very words they speak? If the “author” is led by the Spirit of Jesus, as they should be, the Spirit of Jesus is leading the believer, and he himself can become the author.
This is the secret of how Jesus leads a gathering of believers. Every believer has the Spirit of Jesus living within them. When they gather (the meaning of “ekklesia” the Greek word for church) Jesus is among them. This throws new light on Matt. 18:19-20: “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Of course he is with them. He is within every believer. Every time they gather they have access to his leadership, his authority, because he can guide every believer from the core of their spirit, and therefore he can guide every meeting of believers.
This in turn puts new light on I Cor. 14:26-32.
What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.
Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.
What is going on here is at once very supernatural, yet should be very normal. Jesus is leading a group of believers. He is doing this through the gifts of the Spirit; how he chooses to manifest himself in individual believers. What the church is doing is looking for, and discerning, the authority of Jesus as he manifest himself in different believers; sometimes through inspiring a song, other times through a prophecy, other times through teaching. In every manifestation they are asking themselves, is this coming from Jesus? Wise churches look for the authorship of Jesus in each instance; each individual contribution. In doing so, they allow Jesus to lead each and every church gathering.
For post of Jesus centered gatherings see: Redwood Churches, A Body without a Head, Jesus as Our Capstone and Book Review: An Army of Ordinary People.
- How is this different from humans leading from positions of power?
- Is this the first time you have thought of authority coming from the “author”?
- Have you ever been in a church meeting where Jesus is leading?
- Why isn’t this normal practice in churches nowadays?
- Does this seem impractical to you? Why?
[1] Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998) p. 33.
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Here in Bahrain, Middle East at our church prophetically called Rivers of Joy we have a leader who is led in Spirit and in Truth through the Author and Perfecter of our Faith Christ Jesus. In our pre-prayer meeting before the church service starts the Holy Spirit is flowing amongst us. God is already there indwelling in us and through our prayers, prophetic word, scriptures, spontaneous song we activate the supernatural and it flows on through the worship, the message – to change hearts and to heal minds, bodies, hearts and souls.
I, through God, can testify to the realness of Emmanuel in my life through supernatural encounters that have happened very recently and that continue. A scripture shown to me by God supernaturally (gold flakes on the scripture) and that I know now is to be shared with all the saints to bring them back to focus on the One who IS I AM is this one. Psalm 62:5 Amplified. “My soul, wait only upon God, SILENTLY submit to Him, for my HOPE and expectation are from Him. The gold had settled over the words SILENTLY and HOPE. Amen!
God Bless, Susan
Amen! This is what I have been teaching, and also experiencing for many years in small groups. This is what we are trying to bring into the simple church.
I do have a very honest question:
In 1 Cor 14, it says that women should keep silent in the church, because they are not permitted to speak, as it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church. The Word of God then goes on to say that if anyone does not recognize that what is written here is the Lord’s command, then such a person should not be recognized.
How do you view this, how are we to think about this, and how do we honor the Word of God in this regard in the simple churches?
Dear Slabs,
You’ve asked a deep question about women. It is much too complex of hermeneutical, theological, cultural and philosophical question to go into here. However, I can point you to a good resource which handles this question well, Jon Zens What’s With Paul and Women? You can order it from Amazon here.