Proper Authority

Twice in two days I have heard someone make reference to the fact that we, as human beings, don’t always go to the right source when we need answers. Sometimes that’s just a question of not knowing who the proper authority is, but sometimes it’s just going to someone that you figure is going to give you the answer that you want to hear.

I am reminded of the story of Sean Marsee. If you aren’t familiar with his story, he was a high school track star who took up dipping snuff because the track coach told his runners that he didn’t want them smoking; smoking can effect lung functions, and this coach wanted his athletes to run their best. He apparently didn’t care if they wanted to chew tobacco or dip snuff, as long as they didn’t smoke. Sean’s mother was a registered nurse, and she told him she didn’t want him dipping snuff because, although it might not hurt his lungs, there were still possible detrimental health effects. Sean chose to trust his coach, rather than his mother. Certainly no one is accusing the coach of deliberately misleading Sean, and ultimately, Sean was responsible for his own decisions, but there was more to tobacco use than what the coach was aware of at the time.

If we, as Christians have a problem, we have a well-established authority to take our problems to. Some of us have a tendency to go to sources that we have learned to trust from past experience: our parents, a trusted friend, or maybe even a supervisor at work. Certainly if you have a problem within your family, then parents are good people to talk to, or if we have a problem with a co-worker, or with tasks that we are being assigned at work, a supervisor is a good person to talk to, but there’s another individual that you should be able to take any problem to, and is better capable of dealing with your problems than your parents, your friends, or your supervisor. Some of you are expecting me to tell you that you should take your problems to your pastor. That’s actually not a bad idea, but that wasn’t where I was going. David once said, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”
More recently, someone else said, “Before you go to bed, give your problems to God, because He’s going to be up all night anyway.”