10 Authority & Submission

There's a wonderful story of Jesus meeting a Roman centurion. This Roman centurion wasn't a Jew. He probably didn't understand the Old Testament scriptures. He shouldn't have had an understanding of the Messiah, certainly like the religious leaders who so often attacked Jesus. This story of the meeting is incredibly powerful.

We find it in Matthew 8:5-10. "When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him asking Him for help. Lord, he said, my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering. Jesus said to him, I'll go and heal him. And the centurion replied, Lord, I do not deserve to have You come under my roof. But just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me. I tell this one go and he goes, and that one come and he comes. And I say to my servant, do this, and he does it. And when Jesus heard this, He was astonished. And said to those following Him, I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith."

Let us talk about these verses. Why did Jesus respond as He did? And say, wow, I've never seen such great faith in a man. The reason for that is, He understands the heart and the mind of this Roman centurion, who understands that Jesus is under authority. And therefore has authority. Jesus was under the authority of the Father and the Roman centurion recognizes that Jesus is a man of authority.

What It Means to Pray in Jesus' Name

He has authority over nature. He could calm the storms. He had authority over the demonic. He just had this supernatural authority that this Roman centurion recognized that many of the Jewish leaders didn't. But the centurion's worldview is really helpful for us. One of the things we often get asked is about the concept of praying in the name of Jesus.

Anything you ask in My name will be given you. What does that mean? Does that mean, if I add "in the name of Jesus" to a prayer, I'll get what I'm praying for? If that was the case, I could say, I would like a red Ferrari in the name of Jesus. No matter how many times I've prayed that, I've not got a red Ferrari. That phrase, "in the name of Jesus," is not a spell. It is not a mantra. It's a concept.

And the best way I can explain that concept is this. Years ago, I don't know if it still happens today, but the caricature was a policeman would knock on somebody's door and say, "open up in the name of the law." Or in the old stories of knights, the knight would bang on the door and say, "open up in the name of the king." And what he was saying was, don't obey me because of who I am, obey because of who I represent. Because the power that I carry is not in me.

The power that I carry is in me being a faithful representative of something far more powerful. And when we pray in the name of Jesus, what we're saying is, it's not our power to do anything. It's not our authority. We are praying in the authority of another. Of course, then we've got to take care. Because if we say we are representing the authority of the kingdom and we are not, then we're in big trouble.

Imagine the ambassador of a nation. Imagine the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa meets with the president and says, "Oh, we're declaring war on you." But that's not the position of his government. His statement carries no power. And in fact, if his government finds out, he said that he's going to be recalled and disciplined. So we don't want to be those who try and exercise an authority that isn't in Christ. We don't want to exercise our own authority.

Authority Under Authority

And the Roman centurion seemed to be understanding this concept because he understood how his army worked. He was a centurion. He had responsibility for a whole bunch of guys who would obey him. Not because of who he was, but because of his rank and what he represented. He had the authority. If one of his legionaries disobeyed him, he could order the rest of the army to beat that guy to death. Not because of who he was, but what he represented. He represented Rome.

And basically what he's saying to Jesus there is, I am a man under authority. So I carry authority. I see that You carry authority because You're carrying the authority of heaven. So, in the church leaders are called to carry authority. But it's not my authority. It's the authority of heaven that is delegated. We need to understand that we are carrying an authority that is delegated. And if we want to have true spiritual authority, then we need to be people under authority. The more submitted we are, the more authority we carry. One of the things I've said to leaders before is, with very rare exceptions, if you have to say to somebody, "do as I say, I'm an elder, do as I say, I'm a deacon," you're already lost.

You've already lost your authority. People shouldn't be listening to us because we've got a title or because we hold a position. Yes, Scripture says in Hebrews 13:17, obey your leaders and submit to them. But we shouldn't be reliant on that for how we lead people.

The expectation of people is to recognize elders and deacons, but as elders and deacons, it's not our job to use that office to be a stick to beat people with. What we should do is make sure we are under the authority of heaven so that when we speak, people recognize a spiritual authority on us.

Different Kinds of Authority

Authority can come from many places. Psychologists talk about a founder's authority. You know, somebody who started a thing carries an authority. Owner's authority or positional authority. Positional authority is like a judge. He carries certain authority because of the position he carries. Relational authority, like a parent.

Charismatic authority. Some people are able to lead others just because they're so charismatic. But there is a recognition, even among psychologists, of something called spiritual authority. And while some of those other means of authority aren't completely invalid, our primary source of the authority that we carry should be a spiritual authority.

That people recognize that when we speak, we are ourselves, men and women under submission. And they recognize something of the voice of Jesus when we speak. That we imitate the attitude of Jesus who said, I can only do and I can only say what I am instructed to do by the Father.

Submitting to Godly and Earthly Authority

Let's be a people who understand the need for us to submit to the right authorities. Both godly, eternal, spiritual authorities, and earthly authorities. And like that Roman centurion, understand that the more submitted we are, the more spiritual authority we will carry.