"We cannot trust authority that claims to speak for God but does not achieve spiritual ends: Does it heal, forgive, reconcile, mend, restore, renew, enliven, awaken, integrate and validate the deepest human intuitions? Does it renew marriage relationships, does it reconcile countries, does it fill people with real hope and tangible joy? Is it an authority that is capable of self-criticism and seeking Kingdom values beyond self-congratulation and self-preservation? If not, I see no reason why I should trust it or surrender my only life to it."(R.Rohr "Radical Grace" p.266)
Authority is something I have a love-hate relationship with. My guess is that most people have a similar problem. It seems to me that the sixties spawned an anti-authority mindset. As folks broke out of the norms from the previous decades and a "freedom" had come with it, you were expected to challenge authority.
Speaking only for myself and not my whole generation necessarily, I'm not anti-authority. I'm always seeking the relevance of any claims to authority. I don't generally get it it's face, but I also don't bow to it. To some extent I ignore it, which also isn't the best idea either.
I can respect authority when I sense that it really has my best interests at heart. Part of my angst may be that I long for an authority in human vesture that can truly be counted on. Maybe that's why I put most of my trust in authority only in God. And will watch and listen to what the human authority figures are doing and saying and then decide about them.
Perhaps authority can be reclaimed in a positive way. My sense is that it will happen when those institutions and people recall what they are supposed to be doing and don't mistake authority with power.
Blessings,
Ed
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