Power and Authority

Power & Authority

Have you ever considered the source of power and authority? Power and authority can be established or exercised by muscles, money, or might. Today we see power and authority increasingly exercised through technology and the control of information. Regardless, of how power and authority are obtained or maintained, what is their purpose?

The late nineteenth-century British historian, Lord Acton, famously observed, "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." It is a well-established fact, both today and historically, that humans have never exercised power and authority in a perfectly just and righteous way. From a Christian worldview, we understand that this results from a broken and fallen world. 

In Luke 9:1:11; 37-43, Jesus sends the twelve disciples out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and he sends them with his power and authority. From this, we are reminded that power and authority do not belong to humans it is borrowed and entrusted. We also learn in Luke 9:37-43, that power and authority among humans are always temporal and limited.  

So what is God's purpose for us as followers of Jesus? It starts with understanding that we have been empowered by Jesus with His power and authority for a specific and urgent purpose. We are to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus and the Kingdom of God.