Obedience: not a power struggle

If you had the power to change something, would you? I guess that depends on what it is you want to change. I guess it depends on whether or not you have the authority to bring about the desired change. Having the power to do something and having the authority to do something are two entirely different things. Just because I have the power to do something does not mean I am authorized to do it.

An example of Authority and Power can be seen with the chief priests and the elders questioning Jesus about His authority. "Should they be doing that? Are they authorized for this sort of thing?" What’s the motive of these men? There is a huge difference between not knowing and not wanting to lose your power; your control. There is a huge difference between the innocent, "who are you?" and the arrogant, "just who do you think you are?”

What's at stake here is power, status, and control. These men know that Jesus is operating with great divine authority. Nicodemus even confesses this in John 3 when he comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness and says, "We know you are a teacher from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him."

What does it mean to acknowledge the authority of Christ? It means that things have to change. These men could not be the self-proclaimed authoritarians anymore. They would be forced to humble themselves under the authority of Jesus Christ. There's a very real possibility that the fear, love, and trust of the people that they so craved would now be redirected off of them and instead directed to God. We wouldn't want that to happen, would we?

Don’t judge these men though; think about your own life before God. Do any of my readers enjoy being knocked down a couple of pegs or put in our place? Every single one of us likes to be in control and calling the shots, especially when it pertains to how we choose to lead our lives. When our control is threatened or questioned, we fight back. After all, we've got a good thing going and we don't need some outsider messing it all up!

This sinful behavior, unfortunately, invades and trespasses into Church all the time. Like the Israelites, we often take it upon ourselves to judge what's right or wrong, just or unjust, regardless of what God has already said on the matter.

This infects us much deeper than just these obvious issues. Try teaching on what God says about premarital sex or living together before marriage nowadays. Try addressing the sins that we commit day in and day out; sins like gossip, greed, holding grudges, or not being forgiving.

You don't make many friends when you address all sins. God is very clear about these things in His Word. It hurts to hear people close to you tell you to keep quiet or rethink your position in light of a "unique situation". If the wrong people are confronted with the authority of God's Word, they'll turn on you. You may hear, "Who do you think you are?" or “You’re not telling me something I don’t already know”, or “I think I would know more about this than you would”.

Who is in charge here? You, me, or God? Do we have the power to hold grudges, gossip, withhold our gifts of time, talents, and treasures because we don't agree with something? Do we have the power to go play somewhere else when we are confronted with something that we don't like or we don't want to hear?

YUP!

Some exercise that power more often than we'd like to admit or confess.

Just because we have the power to do these things, does it also mean that we also possess the authority to behave in such a way towards God or fellow Christians? Do we have the authority to put ourselves in the place of God, judging His Ways?

Nope!

By whose authority are your sins (all sins) forgiven?
John 20:31—"As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you…. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld."

Rom. 3:23-24—"All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and all are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and my sins. None of us has the authority or the power to even conquer a small pimple. We certainly don't have the authority or power over sin or death.

Jesus said to the Church, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go now and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name—the authority—of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them—by my same authority—to obey all I have commanded you."

Obedience in God…That's pretty clear.

To forgive is to live.

I'm convinced that most of us, at one time or another has had someone that we have fallen out with. There have been times when anger has filled our hearts, we felt that we would never be able to forgive and forget. Maybe it was a brother or sister, a parent, someone at school, a business partner, a neighbor, or simply an acquaintance.

When I was a teenager, I shared a bedroom with my two younger brothers. Being the oldest, of the 2, I didn’t think this was fair. One day, after putting up with their kids’ stuff (I was a man after all), I took a piece of chalk and divided the room with the stern warning that they were not to cross the line or suffer the consequences (saw this done on The Brady Bunch).

This morning, as I write, I think this happens in every area of relationships, marriage, family, jobs, and associations. Something happens in the office, something happens in the neighborhood, something even happens at church, and chalk lines are drawn.

Matthew 18:15 "...if your brother trespasses against you..."

"Trespass" means "to come across." In other words, "You are on my side of the chalk line. You have infringed upon my rights. This is my private territory, and you have come too far."

Jesus says that His followers are supposed to act differently than that. We are supposed to try to get rid of barriers and chalk lines. And if we don't handle bitterness and hostility differently than the way the world handles them, then we have not learned what it means to be a Christian.

Mathew 18: In the Parable of the Unmerciful servant, we see how the master was willing to forgive a servants debt of over 10,000 dollars yet this same servant accused a fellow servant for not paying back a debt to him for a little over 17 dollars. He had the man thrown into prison until he could repay the debt.

When the Master found out, he revoked all he gave him and did the same to him and worse. Then Jesus said, "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." Jesus says that God expects us to forgive others even as God has forgiven us.

I don't know how many times I have had to ask for forgiveness, or that I have been forgiven. But there is nothing that will take the load off, nothing that will help you more, than the burden of bitterness being taken off of your heart. As someone has said, "To forgive is to live."

When there is harshness, resentment, a spirit of retaliation or bitterness, this attitude becomes a dam, an obstacle to the grace of God so that it just simply cannot flow through our hearts. God does work through us. We are the body of the Lord. He works through us. But when there is hatred and resentment. . .

Is there anyone reading this who can stand up and say, "I don't have anything hidden in my closet. Everything I've ever said, every thought I've had, has been good and kind. I've nothing to be ashamed about." I doubt seriously that any of us would be ready to say that.

As humans we make some sins more serious than others. The consequences may be bigger, but in the eyes of God I don't believe that to be true, or else we are going to have to call sins "small sins" or "big sins." Sin is sin. Sin is a fracturing of our relationship with God.

These last few months, “who I am” has been greatly challenged. Things have been changing around me and I wondered why I wasn’t being included in these changes. The reason: because I resisted the change. I had the “if it isn’t broke, why fix it” attitude. There’s nothing wrong with this attitude unless it really is broke and you don’t want to admit it.

Sometimes, instead of fixing things, we adapt and get used to the brokenness. We become unforgiving.

Only God can bring about change in our lives. We may try, but we can't do it by our own power. But God can. It may be a tough road for us to follow, but God is willing to follow, but God is willing to lead us every step of the way.

Thank you for your forgiveness!