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First, a disclaimer: I’m tired and had a miserable day, so please be patient.

In the first centuries of the Church believers were faced with a mounting rise in heresy. This was very early in history, in the 200s and 300s AD. To combat these heresies the Church needed a way to claim that their teaching was the correct position.

The argument they came up with was positional authority: “I was laid on hands by So and so, who was laid on hands by So and so, who was laid on hands by Peter himself... and therefore our teaching is right.” This gave the Church in the first centuries the claim that the mantle of the Apostles fell on them, that they had the sole authority of the Church, and the doctrines of God.

This line of reasoning did help keep back totally errant theologies from entering the mainstream of Christian thought in those first centuries. But in doing so, it started something far worse — the notion of *positional* authority as being dominant over *personal/spiritual* authority.

By the 400s AD, receding was the notion that someone who held a position in the Church needed a vital, spiritual daily walk with the Holy Spirit in order to have spiritual authority. Authority was something you had by occupying a position. If you were made a Priest or a Bishop, automatically you had spiritual authority because you had a new office. And this authority was, in their eyes, granted by God simply on the basis of the position. To have X position meant you had X authority given by God.

This automatic conveyance of authority, regardless of spiritual walk, was never a part of the teachings of Jesus, Paul or Peter. True authority is a thing of the *heart*. It is living with the Lord every day, talking with Him, sharing with Him, loving and being loved by Him, being forgiven and rejoicing in that forgiveness.

Fast forward to today. I am not anti-Catholic by a LONG shot. Catholics have a much better understanding of the awesomeness and holiness of God than most of my fellow Protestants. And there are Catholics, such as Mother Teresa was, who are absolute jewels doing fantastic ministry in some of the worst hell-holes on Earth. And Catholics have done a bang-up job protecting babies from abortion.

I will plead with you, however, to consider that righteousness isn’t something that can be earned or conferred. Only Jesus can make us righteous by His suffering and death; “it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.” (Romans). Salvation is a gift, it’s an “asking” thing, and it’s personal. And so is service in the Body. And so is position in the Body.

Spiritual authority cannot be gained or granted on the basis of the title in front of someone’s name. God is no respecter of men, so why would He set up His Church like that? He didn’t.

Now, before I inadvertantly start a Reformation in the middle of a nice, peaceful Catholic thread, let me add that Catholic and Protestant Freepers are united in our common causes here: pro-God, pro-life, pro-Constitution, pro-freedom. On those matters, we are one.

God bless you, and thank you for your patience.

Yours, PastorBooks