There is the authority of the Child in the Father's Family.
There is another authority within that Family.

God puts brother over brother, sister, also.
God positions His children.
They are equal by Love, by Belonging and by Worth.
But they are subject to the Father's organization.
 
True authority is rare because it requires
a "dead man."

Joseph was assigned by Abraham
(and therefore by God also)
to rule his brothers.
He wasn't the eldest. He wasn't the ablest.
He was just the one chosen.

But he had to be a "dead man" to carry
that authority with the brilliance he later possessed.

Deborah had authority as judge.
God appointed her so.
She didn't usurp the position. She just sat under
her palm tree of communion with the Father and
became known as the representative of
His mind.
She didn't just settle the disputes of people.
She was a prophetess who declared God's heart . . . .

        And the children of Israel come up to her for judgment.
             Judges 4:5

Barak had the wisdom to acknowledge her authority
and the temerity to seek her dominion
to gain his own destiny as warrior.

Authority in the Body of Christ is an issue
of first, election.
God chooses. Period. By some age-long plan of His
secret orchestra, He appoints the chair we sit in.

Second, authority resting on a person is a
matter of training.

But the training is not training as a school of how-to.
It is a severe fire of annihilation,
of silver in a long burning-out of vile mixture.

Silver boiling is a long - horrifying - gaze in
the mirror of fallen humanity,
your own,
and the humiliation of it is a grim finish to
confidence and ambition.

The cup must be empty to carry true authority.

Authority represents God and permits nothing human
to call itself "God."
Authority wears His Mantle,
spills over with His love,
gives only His speech,
assesses by His evaluation, by knowing the mind of Christ.

The one who stands in the Father's appointing
carries His opinion of matters
and conveys to you His vision of your worth
and often, the correction of His nurture.
 
The policeman is a man of no personal power.
He is a representative of all
that stands behind him, the Law, the Government
so his power is truly over life and over death!

The judge on the bench is just a person but in his
robe he represents the Law of Government
and as its "judge of situations"
by the authority behind him,
he holds life, liberty and even death in
his delegated power.

Many are those who have abused their power.
Be sure they will answer.

But there is an ideal in the spiritual kingdom, the church:
a reachable function of authority
where one is merely a representative,
uninvolved as a person,
bearing purely, the Life of the Only One who
is fit to "judge" by His holiness
and given authority to judge by His Father.

Only One in the universe is fit for the role of authority.
Only One has authority!

Copyright © 1999 Martha Kilpatrick