The Source

When I was small, a traveling evangelist named Mid McKight came to town. He was a Texas rancher/farmer turned preacher. His mother prayed for him before he was born. She asked God for a boy who would become a preacher. She got both. Mid didn't learn why he was a preacher till his mother was on her death-bed when she told him of her prayer. This self-studied preacher told me something that stuck. There are three questions one must answer in life. 1) Where did I come from?; 2) Why am I here?; and 3) Where am I going? I never forgot that and have tried to live my life with the knowledge of the correct answers to all three.

Jesus knew where he came from. There are two possible sources for all things, heaven or earth. There is a frequent phrase Jesus uses to teach us, "the one He sent." Jesus is the "sent-one." But, sent from where? Once Jesus was asked by what authority he did what he did (Matt.21:23ff). He replied with a question. "The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?" (NASB) "From what source" is the critical part. Where did I come from? Is the authority merely going out from me or coming down into me? Which? If it merely goes out of me, then you are free to listen if it "floats your boat." But, if the authority comes down from heaven and then goes out of me, then that's different.

The source of all spiritual authority is from heaven. Jesus embodied this authority and he gave this authority to others. In our fellowship we have downplayed "spiritual authority." We shy away from words like "ordained" and "clergy." We believe, and rightly so, in the priesthood of all believers. But there are obligations and responsibilities within the body of Christ that carry with the them authority from heaven. Acts 20:28 says elders/shepherds/overseers were made such by the Holy Spirit. Heb.13:17 says spiritual leaders are to be obeyed with joy (be persuaded by) because they will have to give an account for the souls in the their care. Ephesians 4:11-16 explains the purposes of such roles as gifts given by Jesus. What we have tended to do is to define away such teachings because of the abuses we have seen.

The same principle was in play in Jesus' day. The source of all life (zoe) is Jesus. He is the supreme authority (Matt.28:18). He was standing before this crowd in John 6, yet they reserved the right to decide whether they would accept His authority over them, and the gift that came with this. They had switched roles. They now were the critics of God's source just as the Israelites of old were critics of God's man Moses. When they grumbled against Moses, they grumbled against the One who gave him the authority to lead. The question was not whether Moses was a perfect leader and provided everyone with exactly what they needed or wanted over a 40 year period (BTW the grumblers could not go join another congregation in the wilderness). The structure God set up was to remain intact.

We will see this idea in the term "the ones you have given me" as Jesus spoke about the disciples, and how in John 17 Jesus took great pleasure in knowing he had not lost any one of them, except for Judas who was destined for destruction. Jesus worked to unify every person into Himself and to sustain them and maintain them. This must be played out in practicality in life, and it should be and can be in the family and in the local church. If it is not seen there, then the world cannot see the point of the one who was sent from heaven (John 17:22ff). Personally I am fighting for the very integrity and authority of God that is destroyed by every level of disunity and division.