Teaching With Authority (Part 2)

In God’s Church—led by those who actually seek God for a Word to give to the people and His direction—Holy Spirit leads the service—in praise and worship, shepherding of the sheep, and especially in The Word—they teach God’s Word with authority—keeping everything aligned with The Word. They encourage the congregation, they teach by living The Word, and they are willing to undergo the scrutiny of microscopic inspection and know they live to please God. In God’s church—everyone, from every walk of life is welcomed and encouraged to develop a right relationship with God. In God’s Church, He can make a little—much—and everyone is encouraged to give as the Lord as put on their hearts to give. Every offering is considered a blessing and the biggest giver to the least—are treated equally—encompassed with the love of God.

This could go on and on, but I do not wish to digress from the premise of teaching with authority. No one can teach anyone anything with authority unless they actually know what they are talking about—not just heard about.

This is why, Paul admonishes us through his letter to Timothy to study to show ourselves approved and then seek Holy Spirit in how to use practical analogies to simplify the lesson. This is what the Pharisees could not do because they were so “religious” they had only memorized the law and did not have a clue as to how to present it to people to apply to their lives. They were too busy trying to keep people adhering to the letter of The Law, rather than the spirit of the law.  They thought it more expedient to hold people in bondage than allowing them the freedom to seek God for themselves. It was their determination to “maintain control” over the people that led to oppose everything Jesus did—from not honoring their rituals of washing hands before eating (which is a pretty good habit) to healing on the Sabbath (a specific day of the week). When Jesus taught them that He was The Lord of the Sabbath, they were incensed—angered at this newcomer—the carpenter’s son—who dared to defy them openly.

The same attitude prevails in many churches today. The congregation is never allowed to question the leadership openly—they just go along to get along. And when people have had the courage to question the leadership openly, they were rebuked and embarrassed and they eventually left wounded. But this is not one of God’s churches; this is one of the leader’s churches. The leader’s churches are always in the hands of a family member—the church is a business of nepotism—instead of God-led inspiration and direction. 

(Part 3--tomorrow)