by Henry Knapp
“Says who?” “How come?” “Do we have to?”
Sounds like a petulant teenager. But also sounds like a lot of questions I’m getting these days concerning our discernment process. As we explore where we believe the Lord is leading us in the future in terms of our denominational connection, we are often forced to say, “we must…,” or “we have to…,” or “we can’t…,” and inevitably, someone asks, “well, who says we must/have to/can’t?”
Like every human being, Christians live under a variety of “authorities,” things that dictate to us what we must do. Think “gravity” for one. “Gravity” exercises authority over our lives every minute of the day—we can’t escape it. Think “parents.” Now for most, the authority “parents” exercise fluctuates through life, but when present, you can’t deny it. Think “driving laws.” You can, after all, drive anywhere you want, but if you don’t stick to the right side of a road, you’ll likely have trouble. Think “society/peers/culture.” How much of what we do every day is “dictated” to us by the norms of our society, how we speak, dress, act? Think “our own reason.” How much of your day is “dictated” to you by what your reason, your own thinking and/or experience?
Of course, these different authorities have varying power—break the authority of gravity, and you’ll quickly know it! Break the authority of driving laws, and sometimes you can get away with it (I usually can’t, but I hear stories…).
The real question is what to do when different authorities conflict with one another? What to do when one authority (say, your parents) tell you one thing and your peers tell you something else? What happens when your experience tells you one way and your faith leads you in another?
Here at Hebron Church, like biblical Christians everywhere, we embrace the ultimate authority of God and His Word. The key word here is “ultimate.” Almost all who acknowledge God’s existence would admit to His having some kind of authority. It is a question of how much—what happens when different authorities come into conflict? When our reason tells us one thing, our parents another, and our sense of “right and wrong” a third? Where do we look for an authority that has supremacy? The Westminster Confession of Faith, a theological statement which has great historic force for Reformed believers, claims that the Bible, the Word of God, is “the rule of faith and life” (I.2), that it “speaks authoritatively and so deserves to be believed and obeyed” (I.4), and that it “is the supreme judge of all religious controversies,… all human teachings, and every private opinion” (I.10). That is, Scripture is the ultimate authority which exercises authority even over other authorities!
While the Word of God is our final authority, there are other subordinate authorities that we also have to deal with. One such is the commitment we make at Hebron to abide by the rule of elders—our Session has authority over our congregation. Another is our connection to the denomination and their practices—the regulations and rules by which churches are to function together. However, these are subordinate authorities, ultimately submissive to the Scriptures.
Yes, sometimes the answer to “who says?” is, well, this authority, or that authority. But, ultimately, for every person, our final authority, the crowning authority, is Jesus Christ, before whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess (Phil 2)! All to the Praise of His Glory, Henry