The Measure Of A Church - “Who Is Your Church’s Authority?”

The Measure Of A Church - Who Is Your Church’s Authority?

If we are going to take a serious look at our churches, we must start with this foundational question: What is my church’s ultimate authority? In other words, who is in charge of your church and who, or what, has the final say on things?

That may seem like an easy question but churches have struggled over those very words for centuries. Wars have been fought over how that question is answered. You see, it’s easy to say that God is your authority but it’s not so easy to determine who God is or what He wants.

Let me explain by asking another question: How do we know anything about God? Lots of people say that they know God but their actions and their words make it clear that they don’t know Him at all. So where do we get our information about God and His will?

There are so many answers to that question but it ultimately comes down to this: we can know nothing about God on our own.

Psalms 24:3

Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?

So, how can we know about God at all? Well, the answer to that question is where your church’s authority lies. If your primary source of truth is science, then science is your authority. If reason and intellect are your only means of knowing about God, then they are your authority.

Is your view of God dependent on your traditions and rituals? On your personal experiences and feelings? On a human who claims to speak for God or a public figure who claims to have a divine revelation? That is your authority.

All of those things will fail you. History is the story of all of these approaches to God failing to deliver. That’s because God is above them all. Science can’t discover Him, reason can’t explain Him, human intellect can’t discern Him, tradition can’t contain Him, and rituals can’t produce Him. All pursuits of God are meaningless without God’s revelation of Himself because that is the only way we can know anything at all about God. So, how do we find God? Well, that will be your authority.

Tomorrow: How to find God.