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I couldn’t help but think of the story from Matthew 8:5-13 as I absorbed what God was teaching us through the sermon that Pastor preached on Sunday.  This is the account of the centurion who came to Jesus asking him to heal his servant.  After Jesus said he would come and do so, the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me…”  

As Head of his Body, the Church, Jesus has given us His authority to do what he has commanded us to do.  We all, individually and corporately, have an ‘authority stewardship’.  As believers, covenanted in local church community, we are both in authority and under authority.  Will we handle this properly?  Will we live according to the truth of authority?  Will we submit to God in the inter-responsibility he has given us in the church, and will be submit to one another in our mutual accountability in growing up to become like Christ together?

For myself, the biggest barrier to this is a lack of humility.  It requires godly humility to be both in authority and under authority.  To make matters worse, I am often blind to or deceived about my lack of humility. 

  • Will you help me know where I am deceived?
  • Am I self-deceived?
  • Am I being deceived from something external?
  • What are my blind spots?

God’s Word, God’s Spirit and God’s People are sufficient to equip us to be a “spiritual person” (Gal. 6:1) who can rightly speak into the lives of one another.

  • Will you open yourself up to the involvement of others?
  • Will you entrust yourself to them?
  • Will you be the brother/sister to whom they can entrust themselves to?
  • Will you ultimately entrust yourself to Christ in doing each of the above?

One final thought I have asked myself (and you are welcome to ask it of yourself, too) is this:  Am I discerning enough to know when it is proper for me to “speak up” and when it is proper for me to “shut up”?