Authority

Well... I guess I'll just start...
Authority. What is authority, and why do we need it? And what does it do?

These are the questions which have been flitting around my stream of consciousness since Sunday... and I suppose have been flitting around my unconsciousness for some undefined period before Sunday...

Pastor Greg says that nothing changes without authority. I fully believe him. In my textbook on Management, they talk about the stages of moral development. It starts with a person only following the rules in order to avoid physical punishment... It progresses to only being obedient when it is in your immediate interest to do so... and so it goes.

There is no character development without the presence of authority. Authority creates the pressure, or contains the pressure, which causes change. (I say 'or contains', because it is not always the authority that creates the pressure; it could be outside circumstances which create pressure, but the presence of authority that prevents us from escaping the outside circumstances unchanged)

Every leader of God’s people must walk in authority AND grace. Grace without authority is useless. Authority without grace is cruel. Authority forces change; grace leads us to the cross which makes change possible.
I'm not sure If I'm done yet...