[A]nother generation grew up after them, who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.
We’re in to Judges, a book all about a people who forgets who they are, forgets whom they are, and the God who repeatedly sends good human leaders, or judges. Sometimes the people would return to their previous God ways, and then, predictably, they’d forget. Something bad would happen, and they’d repent, and God would again send a good leader or judge. Before this pattern of follow-forget-fall-new judge-follow-forget etc, we hear that a whole generation died, and the next generation did not know the Lord.
The accompanying reflection is from Joan Chittister, a modern-day Benedictine nun. She writes about authority, and what authority is at its best. She says that it’s not meant to control, restrict or restrain, whether it’s the authority of a parent, spouse, or national leader. Authority, at its best is meant to enable, convert and call into growth. If authority is used only to control, we create robots, or mindless lemmings, always needing to be led, controlled or restrained. This is perhaps what happened to the generation of Israelites that, when their parents died, did not know the Lord or what had happened before.
We all come into situations with authority, where we are called to follow or obey or carry out what some authority figure has asked. This is an easy thing to do when we feel that we are being enabled, converted, growing. And it’s exceedingly hard when we feel like we’re just being controlled, or restricted.
This morning, I’m thinking about the places where I have authority, either expressed or implicit. Who are all the people over whom I have any authority? Am I using that authority to help others grow, to remember, to be called forward?
I would hope that in my work, I am consistently doing this. I must admit that it has become easier to enable others in equal measure to my realization that I cannot do it all. I’m not sure that I held to the notion that I could do it all, but I now am so clear that I cannot, that it’s easy to use authority to share the treasure of leading, of finding and enabling others to step into their calling to lead and exercise authority over others.
At home, it’s more challenging for me. Certainly with my husband, things feel enabling, and all things good. I don’t feel constrained or constraining. I believe we bring out and encourage the best in each other. My authority challenge comes with my sick loved one. They definitely want more autonomy and agency over their life. And it is such a fine balance to exercise positive authority, without just constraining or restraining them. That is not what I intend or want. And yet my husband and I serve as guardians, where others have deemed us to in fact have an extra measure of authority over our loved one. Likely for the rest of our lives, we’ll be in this position.
So how do I exercise authority that enables, calls to growth and teaches, when it’s difficult to know what growth is possible, or what teaching can be absorbed? It is far too easy to slip into authority that becomes controlling, just for controlling’s sake. I decide that growth is impossible, or self-determination might allow for bad choices, so I limit growth, restrain self-determination. Ugh.
Perhaps it’s not my job to decide what the fruits of my well-intentioned authority would be. Or at least, perhaps I shouldn’t let my own judgement of their potential result in my exercising a controlling, lemming-producing authority. Perhaps I should just love, enable, call to growth, and let God manage the rest. Now there’s an idea.
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