Authority: Mark 6:7
Authority means having the power to influence others. When it comes to human culture, I think authority may be one of my favorite dynamics. This is why so much of my life is oriented towards mentoring and discipling. As a teacher, I’m given authority over my students by the school. This is necessary to get the job done, but it isn’t always efficient or effective. As a mentor I am given authority by those I mentor. This is an efficient and effective way for authority to occur. When the one being influenced is also the one who gives it, authority is incredibly powerful.
In this passage, Jesus gives authority over the unclean spirits to His disciples. We’ve seen what Jesus can do with such authority. Whether a single spirit or a legion of spirits, Jesus’ authority has mastered them all. People all over the regions where Jesus taught have been amazed at His authority. When the disciples receive this power, it is no small gift. As tomorrow’s passage will indicate, it is all the disciples need for their journey.
Taking this verse alone, however, is a very dangerous thing. I was intentional about doing this very thing in this post to make this very point. While being given the authority of Jesus is all the disciples truly need, don’t forget the prior section of scripture. The prior passage is there to give us juxtaposition for this verse. Being given authority over something else is neither efficient nor effective. I can teach math to the best of my ability and still have little impact upon my students. I can live out the teachings of Jesus to the best of my ability and still have very little impact upon my students. The school has given me authority over everything in my classroom, but it is in no way the most efficient or the most effective authority.
In Nazareth, we saw how little Jesus did because the people did not give Him authority to make an impact. They gave Him no opening. Jesus could have called down fire in their midst. He could have eased all their physical pain. He could have taken someone’s lunch and fed the whole town. But what would have been the point? The people wouldn’t have changed because they hadn’t given Him authority to make an impact.
Authority is only efficient and effective when it is given by those whose lives are being impacted. People who seek to be changed are open and receptive. When people desire to be impacted, change can be dramatic and powerful.
It is the contrast of this verse and the prior passage where we see the full picture of authority. To make an impact on anything, we need both kinds of authority. We need the authority to do what we claim we can do; we also need the authority in the life of the person in whom we are trying to act.
Authority means having the power to influence others.
Personal Aside: Everyone who is reading this passage today has given me some authority in their life. Some of you are my students, who every day give me authority in your life above and beyond what the school gives. Some are former students, who have continued to give me authority in your life even after the school’s ability to give me authority has ended. Some of you are people who I’ve mentored spiritually for varying lengths of time and our relationship started because of the authority you gave to me. Some of you I’ve never met but are still giving me authority to speak into your life for a few moments each day. Whichever category you are in, I want to take this moment and acknowledge how deeply I value your choice to grant me authority. Anything through me that God has done in your spiritual walk with Him has started with you, and you (and God, naturally) deserve both the credit and my undying gratitude.
