I have been reading the book, Spiritual Authority by Watchman Nee. Its main premise is that rebellion against the authority of God is the foremost sin committed and submitting to God’s authority in obedience reflects the love we have for God. As with every book I read, I always read it through the lens of my past. It has helped me understand the importance of obedience to God, and also to His servants–including my church elders and pastors (still waiting for a teaching pastor, but with excited anticipation) and all my brothers and sisters in Christ. I have a much better grasp of what it means to be in submission one to another. This submission is an extension of the love we are to have for each other.
From my background with authority as a child I was taught according to the LDS faith, there are two articles of Faith from the LDS church that relate to authority, Article V and Article XII. Article V speaking to the point that a man must be called of God by someone in authority and in Article XII speaking on the submitting to earthly powers. Once I was born-again (spiritually awakened) I cut those chains of authority and replaced it with a direct link to Jesus, but as an immature Christian, there was no other authority in my life I thought I needed to be subject to. But as I continue to grow and have my mind transformed by Jesus–through the power of the Holy Spirit–I have come to view authority in a fresh and new way. It differs from my background from Mormon culture and my early transition in being a Christian.
In Mormon culture, there is a chain of authority that is traced through their priesthood. As a holder or partner of a husband that is a holder, you are subject to the authority of your priesthood quorum leader (an elder president if you are an elder, or stake president if you are high priest, or the bishop if you are a holder of the aaronic priesthood), then up the chain of other priesthood leaders all the way to the President of the Church. This chain does not only travel up through the ranks, but spans through past presidents of the church all the way back to Joseph Smith, jr. So everyone in the church, according to their beliefs are subject to the authority of Joseph Smith, jr. Who made claim to have received his priesthood from the hands of Peter, James, and John (These first apostles having received their authority from Christ). This is a long chain of authority to get back to God. No wonder LDS members are weighed down or held back in their souls. The chains of authority bind them from experiencing a personal relationship with the LORD God. Their connection to God is dependent on the chain.
I personally experienced the affects of this broken chain. There is no blame to be laid at anyones feet, It is the system that is flawed. When my father was excommunicated from the church, my chain was broken. This disturbed me. It got me thinking that if my father or the link right above me broke the link, then what if someone else in the chain also broke the link. I would no longer have a connection to the authority of God. This system burdens everyone in the chain and is why it is so hard for people to leave their families and it holds them captive, because of their guilt in not wanting to be the weak link. No wonder depression runs so deep in Mormon culture.
As a Christian, there is another chain of authority. It is a direct connection to Jesus, through faith, a chain with only two links, you and Jesus. This compares to the chain in Mormon Culture. The Christian chain is completely dependent on Jesus to sustain and hold it, your part is to be obedient to the authority of Jesus, your obedience is the outward manifestation of your inward faith. The Mormon chain can be broken by any of the leaders between a member and God, both in the present or from the past. If any link is found to be broken then the chain is broken. Within the bonds of the Christian link of authority the mercy, grace, and love of God hold it together. It may be hard thing to understand, but once connected to God nothing can break that link.
Romans 8:31-39 (NKJV)
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As with many things in the Faith and Culture of Mormonism, they live and practice their religion in ways that are contrary to the written word of the Bible, an authority by God-infallible and innerent. The Prophet Isaiah spoke of this, when he declared the words of the LORD, “My ways are not your ways.” Mormon ways are not God’s ways.
Before moving onward from my first steps, I want to take a minute and say that the view of this scene I have been exploring and named ‘My Life’s Journey’ is magnificent; but that is not the view I want to discuss. I want to discuss my view–my world view. The way I channel and funnel all the “information” I receive. My world view is Biblical Christianity. All the information I receive is processed through my senses from a point of view that passes through the Bible.
Only one book has all the answers anyone could ever need. Not only are all the answers to life’s questions in there, but also the right questions to ask. The book I speak of is the Holy Bible. Approximately 775,000 words; 31,000 verses; 1,190 chapters; 66 books. It is complete and without error. So my first steps are revealed through God’s word. “Your word is a lamp unto my feet.” How else will I know where to place my feet unless the way is shown by the light coming from the lamp of God’s words. So really before I take any step, rather than ask myself what would Jesus do; I always try to ask, What does God say. The two are the same, because Jesus did nothing but what God said to do. Should my actions or steps be any different?