The Power and Need of Authority

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Matthew 28:18

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

NKJV

Scripture records a couple of instances where Jesus authority to teach and perform miracles was questioned, in essence they asked Jesus to present his badge or calling card.  Matthew 11:1-6 records one instance.  In this instance, we find John the Baptist in prison and while imprisoned, he hears of the things Jesus was doing.  He sends two of his disciples on a mission to find out if Jesus is indeed the Messiah.

John’s inquiry was genuine in that he only wanted to determine the truth.  That is why in this instance Jesus presented his references to John’s disciples and they returned to John with their findings.  John was assured by these findings and later confessed to his followers that he must decrease and Jesus must increase (John 3:25-30). 

In another instance however, Jesus authority was questioned by the Jewish religious leaders of His time (Matthew 21:23-27).  In this instance, the inquiry was not to determine whether Jesus was Messiah but instead an effort to entrap Jesus into saying his authority came from God and that He was the Son of God so they could accuse Jesus of blasphemy. 

Jesus’ authority was perfect, backed by the authority of God the Father.  Since godly authority is perfect, we cannot question it, which is why Jesus could say in Matthew 28:18 that all authority had been given to Him in heaven and on earth.  There was no need for Him or us to call upon any higher authority.

Earthly authority, however, is not perfect because imperfect government and laws back it, which are created by imperfect people.  This is precisely why the authors of the U.S. Constitution created a representative republic with power divided amongst three co-equal branches with each branch having checks and balances on the other two branches.  The belief of the Constitution’s authors is that this would prevent the creation of absolute power and authority being in one individual or members of the legislature or courts.  However, this vision of shared power and checks and balances is now threatened and with it the source of earthly authority backing it.  As a result, those in law enforcement and the military who dedicate their lives to protecting and serving the public are becoming ineffective and the civil society is now threatened.

Members of the military now go into battle ill equipped to win.  (1)  In fact, government authority, which should be backing them up now sends these brave men and women into battle with no intention of letting them complete their mission and instead pulls them off the battlefield before the mission of victory is complete.  This means that those now dying or suffering traumatic injuries on the battlefield do so in vain because the mission is left incomplete.  In fact, the last war the United States fought with the goal of victory was World War II.  (2)

Since World War II, we have fought in Korea, which still remains divided.  In fact, North Korea has a tyrannical leader, armed with nukes, who has no inhibitions holding him back from using his nukes on his South Korean neighbors.  (3) Vietnam fell after the loss of thousands of lives (4)  and now ISIS is taking back territory in Iraq that many of our brave soldiers died and lost limbs to liberate.  (5)  In contrast, our enemies in World War II are now our allies and pose no threat to our nation because we achieved total victory over their tyrannical regimes.  Due to our unwillingness to complete military campaigns, enemies of the United States now know that if they can hang on the U.S. military will pull out and they will be able to resume their tyrannical regimes under new leadership.

Law enforcement across the country now faces a similar loss of backing authority, as politicians are more interested in appeasing special interests than in protecting those they govern.  (6) (7)  These special interests are more interested in advancing their political agenda and lining their own pockets and thus are willing turn their backs on the fact that some of their special interest constituents are criminals.  Instead, local governments, which should insure law enforcement is equipped with the tools necessary to apprehend and arrest criminals question officers each time they have an encounter with a minority committing a crime, alleging the arresting officers must be racist.  Knowing this fact, criminals now believe they can commit crimes knowing some liberal judge or politician will insure they get off. 

Unfortunately, the belief they will get off for their crimes creates dangerous boldness in these individuals often resulting in their untimely deaths.  Granted law enforcement officers are also imperfect individuals and make mistakes but part of the blame for the untimely deaths of individuals emboldened not to respect authority lies with the erosion of this respect for law enforcement authority by politicians for political reasons and the appeasement of special interests. 

When most of us see a member of the military or a law enforcement officer in uniform, we have respect for their authority.  Even though these men and women are ordinary people like us, we respect them because of the governmental authority and rule of law backing them up.  However, as the governmental authority backing them up becomes politically corrupted and the rule of law they swear to enforce is ignored, their lives are endangered as enemies and criminals have no respect for the authority backing them up.

The source of Godly authority is a perfect God.  The source of earthly authority is imperfect government.  When imperfect government is tempered by the Constitution and rule of law, its imperfections can be held in check, insuring continued respect for authority and maintenance of the civil society.  However, if this authority erodes due to political expediency, respect for authority erodes and the civil society is threatened.

This election, we must elect leadership that will back up the brave men and women that protect and serve us in the military and law enforcement so that enemies and criminals will once again respect their authority.  Failure to do this will only result in further erosion of the civil society, something we are already witnessing in Iraq, Ferguson Missouri, and Baltimore Maryland. 

1. Bennett, Jonah. Obama’s Defense Budget: Nothing But Disappointment For Servicemembers. www.dailycaller.com. [Online] The Daily Caller, February 2, 2015. [Cited: June 7, 2015.] http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/02/obamas-defense-budget-nothing-but-disappointment-for-servicemembers/.

2. Samuelson, Robert J. Why we love World War II. www.washingtonpost.com. [Online] The Washington Post, May 13, 2015. [Cited: June 7, 2015.] http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-we-love-world-war-ii/2015/05/13/0fe235cc-f981-11e4-9ef4-1bb7ce3b3fb7_story.html.

3. Daily Mail Reporter. South Korea vows to 'strike back quickly' if Kim Jong Un attacks from North as the US sends F-22 stealth fighter jets to patrol skies. www.dailymail.co.uk. [Online] The Daily Mail, April 1, 2013. [Cited: June 7, 2015.] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2302228/South-Korea-vows-strike-quickly-Kim-Jong-Un-attacks-North-US-sends-F-22-stealth-fighter-jets-patrol-skies.html.

4. History, Alpha. The fall of South Vietnam. alphahistory.com. [Online] Alpha History. [Cited: December 9, 2014.] http://alphahistory.com/vietnam/fall-of-south-vietnam/.

5. Wictor, Thomas. Why ISIS is on the verge of taking Baghdad regardless of the Delta Force raid in Syria. osnetdaily.com. [Online] Osnet Daily. [Cited: June 7, 2015.] http://osnetdaily.com/2015/05/why-isis-is-on-the-verge-of-taking-baghdad-regardless-of-the-delta-force-raid-in-syria/.

6. Turbeville, Brandon. Baltimore Riots: A Product of the Soros Machine. www.activistpost.com. [Online] Activist Post. [Cited: June 7, 2015.] www.activistpost.com/2015/04/baltimore-riots-product-of-soros-machine.html?m=1.

7. Picket, Kerry. Ferguson Protests organized by Left-Wing Groups. www.breitbart.com. [Online] Breitbart News, October 13, 2014. [Cited: June 7, 2015.] www.breitbart.com/big-government/2014/10/13/ferguson-protest-organized-by-left-wing-groups/.