The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-01-27
Our Authority
Lesson for January 20, 1861

upon a time the great man" had
authority over others. The mod
ern man who wishes to be great
must be an authority on some
thing important. After all. these
two are not very different. II
a man comes to be an authority
on something of importance he
will be accepted by others in
terested in the same things he
is, as an authority over them,
as well as on the subject.
Christ, Our Authority
Jesus Christ is said by St.
Paul to be Head over all things
to the church." That is even
more true today than when Paul
wrote it. There are many
churches, or more exactly speak
ing, many denominations, many
types of Christian individuals
and groups. All of these claim
Christ for their head" though
they may not all express them
selves in just that language.
This is a phenomenon that calls
for investigation. How is it that
Christ has retained his authority
from the day he headed a small
group of fishermen and other vii
lage people around Galilee, to
this so fifferent day and time,
with more than 848, 900, 900 Chris
tians around the world all look
ing to Christ as the Number One
Authority for their lives?
Christian churches may differ
as to the exact way in which the
authority of Jesus Christ comes
down to US. Some would say it
does not come down at all. He
lives in each Christian by His
Spirit, and each Christian if he
listens well may hear the still
small voice of Christ's authority
in his own heart. Others find
his authority IN the Bible. others
in the officers and leaders of a
church, in its bishops and other
clergy. But it all goes back to
Christ. How is this?
Jesus followers have never
claimed that he is the worlds
leading authority on railroads,
or financial methods for politi-
cal campaigns, or flood-control,
or Chinese music. There was a
time when Jesus was considered
by many people to have super
human knowledge even perfect
knowledge about everything. But
the church never took this notion
seriously. What the church does
take seriously. and does claim,
is that our Lord was and is the
greatest authority over what is
more vital than railroads or
politics, more urgent than flood
control, more fundamental than
Chinese music. He is our au-
thority over life. because he is
an authority on it the authority
on it. BY life we mean in parti-
cular and in general all that is
concerned with and grows out Of
human relationships, indeed all
that is concerned with and
growing out of the relationship
we have to God.
Authority Over Life
Jesus himself, we may be GER
tain. had won his authority by
actual living. His graduate de-
gree in life was an earned de-
gree, not an honorary one.
1t was not rolled out from a
degree MILL" he had actually
been through the hard school that
Experience keeps. 1t may have
occurred to you to wonder, some
times, why the people took the
Sermon on the Mount, and other
high teachings Of Jesus. as
quietly as they did! Although his
teaching about life is very diff
ficult-more difficult to do than
to understand nobody ever
said he was talking nonsense.
Why didn't they? If his teach
ing was so FOOLS h as some
critics have thought it was, his
friends surely would have seen
to it that none of it would be ex-
posed to the ridicule of poster.
ity. But it was not that way.
The teaching was heard, cher
ished, passed on. And the origi-
nal reason for this was that the
first people who heard him talk
ing knew that he had hammered
all this out on the anvil Of his
own living. They knew that he
knew God and knew men, and
he spoke out of knowledge, not
by guess work.
So that the church accepts
him joyfully TO this day not as
one who had been taught to say
a piece and said it--this is not
what he meant by saying he
spoke only the words Of the
Father. Christ was more than
a recording tape. He was a
faithful Son who had learned in
his Fathers school.
Based on outlines copyright
II L., A