Authoritative Sources

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I used to shake my head at a certain television commercial advertising a type of over-the-counter medication. In this commercial, an actor, turned spokesman, commented: “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.” Neither you nor I would put any stock in that claim of authority. We prefer taking advice from people who are actual authorities in their fields, not from people who are only pretending.

Authority matters. However, sometimes it appears that people who would be aghast at a news article that quoted anything but “authoritative sources” are willing to base their lives on shaky principles, principles based on anything but real authority.

The issue of authority was something that surfaced again and again during Jesus’ time on earth. Those who heard Jesus teach were surprised, because He taught “as one having authority.”

When Jesus healed a man who suffered from paralysis, the crowds “glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”

Days before His death on the Cross, Jewish leaders in Jerusalem asked Jesus:  “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?”

After His resurrection, Jesus told his disciples: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”¹

The apostle Paul told the Ephesian Christians that God:

. . . raised Him from the dead
and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,
and every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Ephesians 1:20b-21

The book of Habakkuk begins with Habakkuk lamenting the fact that God was about to use the Chaldean nation to punish the Israelites. God knows that the action He is taking is the best way to handle the Israelites’ unfaithfulness. God confirms that the Chaldeans are powerful and also godless. This is part of God’s description of them:

They are dreaded and feared;
Their justice and authority originate with themselves.
Habakkuk 1:7

“Authority originating with themselves” describes so much of our world. Ministers used to say that we should not do anything without a “Thus saith the Lord,” which is a King James language way to say that all of our actions should be based on what God tells us in His Word.

Basing a life on authorities which originate in people is foolish. As a homeschooling parent, you have the opportunity to teach your children what is true, based on the authority of God and His Son Jesus Christ.

In November of 1954, Martin Luther King Jr. gave the sermon, “Transformed Nonconformist,” at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

Dr. King’s texts were Philippians 3:20 and Romans 12:2.

For our citizenship is in heaven,
from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:20

And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
so that you may prove what the will of God is,
that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2

In that sermon, Dr. King said:

“[I]t is the nonconformists that have made history, not those who always look to see which way the majority is going before they make a decision, not those who are afraid to say no when everybody else is saying yes; but history has been made by those who could stand before the crowd and not bow.”²

As a homeschooling mama, you have the opportunity to rear that kind of person, a person who will “stand before the crowd and not bow.”

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