5. We Must Obey Delegated Authority
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We Must Obey Delegated authority
Imagine you are in rush-hour traffic in Bombay, India—one of the world’s most crowded cities with more than 18 million people. Streets are jammed. It’s like a swarm of ants— buses, trucks, cars, auto rickshaws, bicycles and pedestrians everywhere. I’ve heard it said, “Our traffic system in India is the most organized confusion in the world.” And this is what you’re looking at—this organized confusion.
In the center of this maze stands a skinny little man. Now you’re thinking, Does he want to get himself killed? What in the world is he doing in the middle of all this hubbub? But there is more to the picture. This is not just anybody—this man is dressed in a tan uniform, with the hat and badge of a traffic policeman, holding a sign that reads “STOP.”
Mind you, he’s no celebrity or public figure. He may have never been to college, but the moment he holds up his sign, you can hear the screeching of brakes. All the vehicles stop—Mercedes-Benzes, taxis, BMWs, trucks, you name it. It makes no difference whether the people in the vehicles are politicians, truck drivers, movie stars or taxi drivers, Sardarjis, Malayalees, Oriyas, Europeans or Americans. Everybody comes to a halt. When the man in the uniform waves them on, off they go once again.
Let’s say the following week this same individual comes to the same spot, but he’s wearing his pajama kurta1 while standing in the middle of this crazy Bombay intersection. Now what do you think is going to happen? “Oh!” you say. “This time he will get killed!” What’s the difference? When he stands there as an officer, he’s not just representing himself. His uniform, badge, cap—they all indicate he works for a higher authority. He represents the laws of the land, the judges and the punishment that awaits those who disobey. If you choose not to follow his directions, you will have more than just him to deal with. As a policeman, he has the backing of his superiors’ power. He is not the authority himself. He simply represents it.
In the same way, our delegated authorities represent God. When you rebel, you are not simply disobeying your husband— you are disobeying the Lord. When you whisper criticism about your pastor, you dishonor God. When you take your employer lightly, you disregard the authority with which God backs him.
Look at Romans 13:1 -2: “The authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God.” The word ordinance means something specifically ordered or ordained. It’s an official decree, and in this case, a decree ordered by God. With absolute understanding of His purpose for time and eternity, the Lord places people in authority. For us to reject that authority is to reject God Himself.2
Throughout Scripture, we see this principle clearly illustrated. When the children of Israel wanted to be like other nations and have a king instead of Samuel, Samuel thought the Israelites didn’t want him. But God explained, “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me” (1 Samuel 8:7, nkjv).
The same is true today. When we reject the authority over us, we are actually opposing God Himself.3 I don’t know how you feel about this, but it causes me to have a holy fear regarding delegated authority.
When you speak privately against your boss at home or on the phone, when you criticize authority, whether it is the prime minister, the president or a cabinet member, God responds in the same way: “They have not rejected their human authority; they have rejected Me.”4 This thought should cause us to be sober.
If we truly realized that the authorities—in our nation, at work, in the church and in our homes—are actually God’s delegates and not just the people we see or read about every day, we would have less difficulty obeying them. If we could picture them as that policeman in the Bombay intersection—with a uniform and badge indicating they represent the authority of the living God—it would change everything for us.
Established by God
When God appoints someone as His representative, He stands by them. Numbers 30 is a serious passage. An Old Testament law stated that if a woman made a vow, it was only binding if her father said nothing against it. If she was married, her vow had to be approved by her husband.5 God would rather have her obey authority than maintain her vow. He would not hold her responsible because her delegated authority was over her. Not even God will supersede delegated authority.
In fact, God uses His power to establish His authority. This includes warnings, correction, discipline and setbacks. The continuation of Romans 13:2 says, “Those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” Punishment awaits those who rebel against delegated authority.
Remember Miriam?6 When Moses was born, he was put in a basket and placed in the Nile to keep him from being killed. And who helped? Miriam, his older sister. But as an adult, even though he was the younger brother of Miriam and Aaron, Moses was still their God-appointed authority. It was their responsibility to respect him and obey him as God’s representative.
But “Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. ‘Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?’ they asked. ‘Hasn’t he also spoken through us?’ ” Next we read, “And the Lord heard this” (Numbers 12:1-2, NIV).
God called to them, “Come out.”7
I imagine Aaron and Miriam looking at each other and saying, “Good! God wants to talk to us! What we are saying must make sense to Him too.”
But the story turns out differently. Instead God says, “Listen to my words: When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” (Numbers 12:6-8, NIV).
You see, when the living God appointed their younger brother to a place of authority, it was no small matter. Therefore, judgment came upon Miriam for her disrespect, and she was immediately afflicted with leprosy.8
Aaron then asked Moses to intercede for her healing, pleading, “Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed” (Numbers 12:11, NIV).
So Moses prayed for her, and the gracious but stern response of the Lord was, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back” (Numbers 12:14, NIV).
How many people today walk around with a similar leprosy, only on the inside? They can’t sleep, and they no longer have a glow about them. They are bruised and hurting. I have been in this place in my own life. You know, brothers and sisters, the sooner we learn to submit and respect authority, the better it will be for us.
The story of Korah in the Old Testament is one of the most sobering accounts you can find.9Being a Levite, Korah was called by the Lord to serve His people. He was a person who represented supremacy in spiritual matters. He and his friends, Dathan and Abiram, rallied 250 leaders—not a couple of little boys, but 250 leaders—to rebel against Moses and Aaron.
They gathered together in their opposition and said to Moses, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?” (Numbers 16:3, NIV).
Moses immediately fell facedown and proposed to let the Lord choose who should come near Him. Then he added, “Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? . . . It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together” (Numbers 16:9, 11, NIV).
The next day, along with Moses and Aaron, this large group was to come bearing incense and fire before the Lord, to see whom He would choose. I’m sure Korah’s large company had little doubt that they were right and would be proven so. They thought they were simply opposing Moses and Aaron. They never imagined they were defying God Himself, for they pictured themselves as His people. I’m sure they fully intended to keep serving Him.
Do you remember how severe their judgment was? God said, “Moses, step aside. I am going to wipe out the whole congre-gation.”10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord to show mercy. So God said, “Alright. Tell everyone to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.”11
Next we read these chilling words: “And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly” (Numbers 16:32-33).
How many people perished? How many children and old people died? And for what? For rebelling against delegated authority. God will stand by those He has appointed to represent Him!
Aaron had already learned the hard way the price of rebellion. In the book of Leviticus we find the story of his two sons, Nadab and Abihu.12 Ten times their names are mentioned alongside their father the priest.13
His sons helped with the offerings and the sacrifices. What a holy job! But something unfortunate happened. They decided to offer fire before the Lord themselves, bypassing the authority of not only their father, but also a priest.
Yesterday, the day before, all last week and last month, they saw their father performing his ministry before the Lord. They were right there with him as his assistants, and they got used to what was going on.
Aaron would say, “Give me the fire.”
“Yes, Dad. Here it is.” And they’d hand it to him, and Aaron would light the fire on the altar.
Then one day Nadab and Abihu thought, We don’t have to wait for Dad. We’ve been helping all this time. Why don’t we just go ahead and light the fire on the altar? So they did.
That’s when yesterday’s holy fire suddenly became strange new fire and judgment proceeded. The flame from the altar, the blaze they had started, roared forth and consumed them. They both died on the spot.14In the end, rebellion will bring death in one form or another to all those who choose to live by it.
Slaves to a New Master
In Scripture we are told to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come,”15 and soon there are these words: “Deliver us from the evil one.”16
What we are actually praying is this: “Lord, we acknowledge You are the real King and ultimate authority. But we are constantly attacked by the evil one, who is influencing us to rebel against Your authority. Deliver us from the danger of being deceived into walking away from submission to authority.”
Lucifer was given free will to choose, and he chose to disobey. Thus he became Satan, the evil one. Insubordination, rebellion of the heart—this is the method the devil uses to delay and sabotage godliness in the life of a believer.17This path of rebellion is a cruel one.
In Genesis we read about Noah, a man whom God sought out from an entire sinful generation. Near the end of his story, we see this godly man get drunk and lie down naked.18 One of his sons, Ham, saw him in this condition and gossiped about it. Therefore, the descendants of Ham came under a curse. He became a slave.
What was the problem? It was the disrespect Ham demonstrated toward his father, the authority over him. This was no small matter.
Those who show disrespect and refuse to submit to authority ultimately come under a curse and become slaves. They believe they are free, but in truth, they have been brought under bondage. In C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, young Edmund resented the authority of his older siblings. Once in the magical land of Narnia, however, there came a time when he thought he had the opportunity to be rid of their authority and become a king. But what looked like freedom turned out to be slavery under an evil master.19
Let’s look at Absalom.20 He was a handsome, likeable and brilliant young man. He was the son of King David, a superstar. Then rebellion got a grip on his heart, and he must have thought to himself, My father, what does he know? He is an old-timer, and I am smarter. He doesn’t know how to please the people like I do. I know better. So Absalom started talking to passersby and giving them his counsel. His actions were filled with pride and false motives. Even so, people believed in him. For quite a while nobody recognized his rebellion; it was private.
Let me ask you a question: With all his brilliance and social skills and so many people looking up to him, was Absalom independent? No. He soon fell under the influence of Ahithophel.
Ahithophel was the closest friend and advisor of King David. Scripture tells us Ahithophel’s counsel to David was regarded as God Himself speaking.21 David would seldom make a decision without the counsel of Ahithophel.
But something sad happened: David committed adultery with Bathsheba, the granddaughter of Ahithophel, and then had her husband killed.22 God forgave David and cleansed him.23 But Ahithophel chose not to forgive. His bitterness grew and became as deadly as the venom of a king cobra. He looked for an opportunity to kill David. Then what happened? Ahithophel collaborated with Absalom’s rebellion and gave him counsel as to how he could strike David dead. So Absalom became a slave to another’s bitterness. In the end, Ahithophel committed suicide, and Absalom was brutally killed.
Please remember that like Absalom, when we privately start spreading rumors, criticizing, attacking and being disloyal to our authorities, we are slowly becoming a slave.
No matter how clever you may be, even if you think you can make it on your own, please keep in mind that no one is free. We all are under authority. If you choose to walk away, you are still not free. The Enemy knows you will need to substitute that authority for another. This is a sobering truth, and hopefully we will all learn from it.
Forfeit God's best?
When we choose the way of rebellion, not only do we end up with a new and evil master, but we also forfeit God’s best. The Lord has wonderful plans for all our lives, but when we decide to follow the Enemy’s path of insubordination, we miss out on God’s best, even in ways we may never know.
Over the past nearly 30 years, I have observed a phenomenon common among those with great potential. Take a young person who is smart and talented. In the beginning, he or she may be given only minor leadership opportunities while waiting for maturity and character to catch up to his or her abilities.
So this person says to himself or herself, I know what I’m doing! I’ve read and studied. I can see my way! This young person sees a leader make a wrong decision and starts to give advice. Because the supervisor graciously receives the suggestion, in the subordinate’s eyes his or her importance grows. Self-promotion sets in, and negative comments about superiors begin. Pride and insubordination worsen, and disrespect for leadership surfaces.
Behind the scenes, the leadership team was actually thinking about promoting this person to greater responsibility. After they detected a rebellious attitude, however, they decide this person was not yet ready. Another is promoted, maybe not as smart or capable as the first person, but this individual is humble, broken and loyal. He or she is obedient and submissive.
Unfortunately, often the one with the most brains, instead of using the experience to learn humility, becomes even more arrogant. Until he or she chooses to submit and accept what God has designed, life will continue to unravel while this person thinks all the missed opportunities are someone else’s fault. In many cases such an individual may even be asked to leave or will leave on their own, going from one place to another, feeling the world is unjust.
How sad. God was planning a promotion. The leaders intended this. The Lord wanted to use this rising star in a greater degree, but this individual would not submit to God’s ways.
Stephen Covey, best-selling author, writes about a “circle of concern” and a “circle of influence.”24 All of us, whether or not we realize it, are focusing on one or the other. The circle of influence is what we can impact and change, and the circle of concern is what we may be troubled about but can’t change. If we spend most of our energy focusing on the circle of concern, we most likely end up complaining, murmuring, and even talking against our authorities.
Our circle of influence will then diminish because we are investing our energy on what we can’t change instead of what we can. Our opportunity to have a positive influence on what happens around us shrinks instead of grows.
If we focus on altering our response to our authorities rather than complaining about their weaknesses, we will not only find ourselves changed, but the attitude of our authority toward us most often changes as well.25 Likewise, once we submit to what God has for us instead of fighting against it, we will discover His best instead of forfeiting it.
Many years ago there was a man working with me whom I liked a great deal. He was capable and gave up a good job to serve the Lord.
He came to us from another ministry, and I remember asking, “How was your life there?” His response was one of immediate criticism against his former senior leader. I told him, “Please go back and make things right. Maybe what he did was wrong, but please forgive him and let it go. Would you do that? Otherwise it will ruin you.”
He responded, “I will.”
Some time went by, and we needed to assign a leader for the area in which he was working. I asked my leadership team about putting him in charge. They replied, “You know this brother is quite able, and we know you like him. But his tongue is very sharp. There is also a streak of rebellion in him toward authority.” I listened to what they had to say, and we decided instead to put another brother in that key position.
I really wanted to move that man ahead. I believe God also desired to give him a place of greater effectiveness. But in a sense our hands were tied because of the man’s choice not to submit to his leaders.
We all want God’s best for our lives. But how many times, without even knowing it was right around the corner, have we forfeited what was divinely planned for us? Is doing it our own way really worth it?
Not based on perfection
We often think that we only need to respect our authorities if they represent our image of what a reputable leader should be like or look like or if they are without glaring faults.
Remember the policeman at the Bombay intersection? He wasn’t necessarily a scintillating personality or the most educated individual, but he represented a higher authority. In the same way, those leaders placed over us—parents, husbands, pastors, employers or government leaders—have been appointed by Almighty God to represent His authority. It makes no difference whether they are Nobel Laureates or taxi drivers, good-looking or homely, brainy or simple folk, good-hearted or harsh—they are authorities set there by God for us.
King Cyrus was a Gentile, yet God called him “His anointed.”26 It didn’t matter whether or not he was a Jew. He was placed in his position by the living God as His appointed authority.
Those over us will not always do the right thing. That’s just a fact of life. As a leader, I know I don’t do the right thing all the time. In fact, I make a bundle of mistakes, and I am not proud of it either.
I heard the story of a man who believed he was called to be a prophet. His particular crusade was to expose Christian leaders he thought failed to hold to the right doctrines. He would write articles about them and talk about them. He was not an evil man. He believed he was righteous.
But suddenly he got sick and was paralyzed on one side. During the time of his illness, the Holy Spirit had a chance to speak to him. “If you repent and ask forgiveness from all My servants you have accused and abused, you will be healed,” he was told. So this man made phone calls, wrote letters and sought forgiveness from everyone. And God completely restored him.
I am sure all those leaders he accused had their faults. I presume some of the things he said were right on. But they were the Lord’s servants, His representatives.
Let’s look at the story of Barnabas in the Bible.27 He is such a nice man. Who doesn’t like Barnabas? When no one wanted anything to do with Saul, who came along? It was Barnabas.28
With his great reputation for being a giver, a comforter and a wonderful man of God, Barnabas takes Saul, this new believer, under his wing and probably says something like, “Nobody else believes you, but I’m here. I’ll be your friend and take care of you.” And he actually protects this new Christian.
In the book of Acts, we read about “Barnabas and Saul.”29 Then it changes to “Paul and Barnabas.”30 There was a switch in leadership. Barnabas was more experienced and Paul’s senior, but the day came when the Lord picked the radical newcomer Paul to be the leader.
Then an immature disciple called John Mark, the nephew of Barnabas,31 became part of Paul’s missionary team. But on their initial journey, John Mark quit. Maybe he got homesick and wanted to go home.
Before the next trip, however, it appears he came to his Uncle Barnabas and asked if he could go along again. I imagine the conversation went something like this: “Look, I really want to go with you. The Lord called me to serve Him, and I’m sorry about what I did the last time.”
“Are you positive you really want to go?” asks Barnabas.
“Yes, I will never leave again! Please, take me with you!”
“I don’t know. Let me talk to Paul. He’s the boss.”
But when Barnabas gets a chance to see Paul alone, he’s told, “No way! Absolutely not, and that’s final.”
“Paul, don’t you remember that I’m the one who gave you help? Nobody trusted you!”
“No way. He is not going to be on my team.”
We read that there was a strong argument. It might not have been those exact words, but according to the Greek text, it was certainly no casual conversation. The exchange was thunderous. These two men were going at each other. Finally, Paul and Barnabas actually parted ways.
I personally think Paul made a poor choice. He should have been more compassionate toward John Mark. But more important, Barnabas should have submitted to Paul’s authority.
Never again do we read about Barnabas. In contrast, God blessed Paul’s ministry and used him powerfully to write many of the Epistles we cherish. Don’t misunderstand: I am not saying that because Barnabas is no longer mentioned that he was backslidden or became useless in God’s work. But the Lord was obviously able to still bless Paul’s ministry after the split.
What happened to young John Mark? In 2 Timothy, Paul instructs Timothy to please bring John Mark, “for he is useful to me.”32 Mark is also the one who wrote the Gospel that bears his name. He never could have been the one to do that if he was still bitter against Paul. After the split, he must have taken the disappointment of being rejected and said to himself, Paul is the leader, and I will not resent his decision. I imagine Mark submitted with some pain. But he continued to learn and grow, and in time, God obviously lifted him up.
To whom we submit doesn’t have that much to do with who is right or wrong, but rather with whom God has appointed as authority.
Consider Noah again. Was it right for Noah to get drunk and lay there naked? No, Noah did wrong. Ham did not lie about his father. Yet his descendants were cursed. Noah’s sin revealed Ham’s rebellion.
How does this work? Noah’s wrongdoing became a test for Ham to see if he would respect the authority over him. Someone once said, “When others do wrong to me, they are in sin. But I am in the will of God.” Ham was given the opportunity to do the right thing. His brothers later did the right thing when they took a sheet and walked backward to cover their father. They were blessed.
It is the same way for us. The question is not whether those over us do right or wrong but whether we will use the opportunity to revile them—or honor them.
We Must Obey
For 400 years the children of Israel lived in Egypt. Impoverished slaves, mistreated and abused, they cried out to God. In response, the Lord called to Moses and said, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries.
So I have come down to rescue them” (Exodus 3:7-8, nlt).
God chose Moses as His delegated authority to deliver the 600,000-plus people of Israel from their terrible bondage. Notice that when God said, “I have come down to deliver My people,” He meant that He was going to work through Moses.
Freed now from their bondage, they were led by Moses to a “land that flowed with milk and honey.”33 When they came to the border of Canaan, 12 of their senior leaders were sent to spy out the land.
After exploring for 40 days, they returned. Except for Joshua and Caleb, each of the spies gave an evil report about the possibility of possessing this new territory. Their words caused the entire congregation to lose heart.34
As a result, “all the Israelites grumbled against Moses.”35 They even talked about stoning the delegated authority placed over them! Immediately God entered the scene to deal with their rebellion.
And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel. Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they” (Numbers 14:10-12).
Then Moses pleaded with God not to destroy them, and He forgave, but God’s judgment for rebelling could not be avoided.36
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you:
The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above’ ” (Numbers 14:26-29).
Therefore, they all died during the next 40 years while wandering in the wilderness, except for Joshua and Caleb. So the people became slaves to their own words. Before that, the 10 men who instigated the rebellion were struck down by God and died.37
God stands behind His delegated authority. He appoints them, and they represent Him. When we disobey, when we make fun of our leaders, we are actually responding directly to God. What a scary thought.
Please don’t misunderstand and assume that God is looking for opportunities to judge and hurt people. He’s not the author of sin and damnation, sickness, accidents and chaos. God never intended for the children of Israel to suffer and die in the wilderness. He is the One who led them to the land flowing with milk and honey. They were the ones who forfeited His best. It was a choice they made that in the end became the instrument of punishment. But it was not God’s plan.
Nevertheless, God doesn’t force us to obey. He just waits. If we choose disobedience, He lets us reap the consequences.
The rest of the passage about our delegated authority in Romans 13 reads,
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.
Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake (Romans 13:3-5).
We are living in difficult times. The independent spirit of Lucifer, the spirit of criticism and arrogance, is at work to undermine leadership. I warn you, God is the same God He was in the Old Testament when He stood with Moses and His servants. I pray that we will learn this and touch godliness instead of the judgment of God. Jesus learned obedience through suffering, and God exalted Him above all names, and He is the Lord of all. May we make that choice as well.
May we learn to live out the Lord’s prayer: Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.... For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Dear Lord, we come before You asking for forgiveness. We pray that none of us will be so disappointed with our failures that we don’t see Your love. Thank You so much for Your grace. Help us to obey when our authorities hold up that stop sign. Lord, thank You for the opportunity to study Your Word. Use it to transform us so that we live under Your blessing and experience Your best. We trust You, Lord, to do Your work in us. We can’t do it without Your help.
Amen