WEARING THE BADGE OF AUTHORITY

THE DISCIPLES WERE REALLY EXCITED. Jesus had just told them that He was giving them authority to cast out demons. Wow, was this cool or what! They grabbed this and wore it like a tin star on their chests because they were now real deputies with authority over demons (Mark 3:15). Watch out, powers of hell!

Everything seemed to go well until one day a father brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus (Mark 9:17). The father explained that he had approached the deputies, who told him that they had authority—(See our badges?)—and would take care of this. They certainly tried, but nothing happened and the boy remained demonized. The father then said to Jesus, “If You can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Jesus looked at the man and quizzically replied, “If I can?” The man was questioning Jesus’ authority since His disciples didn’t seem to have as much as they thought they did. Jesus then spoke to the evil spirit and it came out of the boy (Mark 9:24-26).

Later when Jesus and the disciples were alone, they asked Him, “Why couldn’t we drive out the demon?” He responded, “This kind can come out only by prayer” (some translations say, “by prayer and fasting”).

For me, the disciples are an agony and ecstasy experience. I both love them and loathe them because they so often remind me of me. They loved the idea of being given authority, and who doesn’t like being able to put on the authority badge?

I don’t think there has ever been a people as well taught on the rights and authority of the believer as today. Jesus had taught the disciples by His words and His example how to live the life of authority. The Jewish people often expressed amazement at the authority Jesus carried in His teaching and ministry (Luke 4:31-36).

The disciples got some of the teaching but missed something very important; in fact, much of Jesus’ teaching would not come clear to them until after His death. One thing that did not penetrate at the time was the balance Jesus maintained between His public actions and His private prayer life.

When Jesus told the disciples that the reason the demon did not come out was because of the lack of prayer and fasting, I don’t believe He was talking about breaking off and having a special prayer and fasting session over that demon. I believe He was saying to them, “You have learned how to walk in the principles of authority but you have not developed your prayer life the way I have modeled it” (Mark 6:46, Luke 5:16).

To be complete, authority has to be coupled with a strong prayer life. It is not enough to know the principles of authority and faith—we must be intimate with the One who gives them to us. It is His authority we operate in and not ours!

In the late 1800’s in the American West, it was not unusual for towns to be visited by travelling entertainment shows. Entertainers would spend a few days or a week in a town and perform, for pay, in a theatre or under a tent. Many of the theatrical troupes had an orator travel with them. In the orator’s part of the show, he would give dramatic readings, quote poetry, etc.

One famous orator was so good at what he did that he travelled alone, a literal one-man road show. One night after he finished the scripted part of the show, he called for requests. A man shouted out from the back, “Do the 23rd Psalm.” This professional with a great voice immediately launched into a thundering presentation: “The Lord is my shepherd…” When he finished, the people leapt to their feet and shouted, whistled, clapped and yelled for more. The orator quieted the crowd and said, “Travelling with me right now is my pastor. He is retired but I want him to come and quote Psalm 23.”

The crowd watched as a frail, white-haired man in his 80’s slowly made his way to the stage. With a voice hardly above a whisper, the old gentleman began, “The Lord is my shepherd…” When he finished there was no shouting, no whistling, no clapping. Instead, a hush had fallen over the room. Some of the cowboys and some of the city folks had their heads bowed and a few were crying. They all were silent as the orator stepped back to center stage and said, “The difference between my presentation and my pastor’s is, I know the Psalm but my pastor knows the Shepherd.”

It is not enough to know that we have authority, we need to be on intimate terms with the One who gives it to us. The foundation of our authority is not in our understanding of who we are in Christ and what our rights are. These are important truths and not to be ignored, but the power of our authority rests not in what we know but in our relationship with Him. He is the one who validates our badge of authority.