About Authority

W. Carl Ketcherside

[Page 142]

     In recent encounters with brethren outside of their own factions, certain orthodox spokesmen have been pitching their tents upon ground which they have staked out and are pleased to call "the authority of Jesus." They now agree that there is room in the kingdom for diversity in understanding, opinion, and method of operation, so long as the authority of Jesus is respected as absolute.

     At first this sounds as if these brethren are nobly allowing a greater degree of latitude in approach to fellowship, but closer investigation shows that this is not the case. The fact is that they still insist that respect for the authority of Jesus is equivalent to acceptance of their dictum upon every controversial issue. For example, to disagree with them on the question of the millennium or instrumental music is to trample underfoot the Lordship of the Son of God. One must not only affirm the authenticity of the scriptures but the infallibility of their partisan deductions upon every matter.

     Such an attitude offers nothing constructive in dealing with the dilemma of division. It is precisely the spirit which prompted our schisms at the outset and has promoted them for a century. To accuse sincere brethren of denying the authority of Jesus simply because they have honestly reached different conclusions on matters of discussion within the family circle is unfair, unjust and unscriptural.

     There are many brethren who respect the authority of Jesus Christ who do not to the same degree respect the authority of a human editor. Brethren are becoming tired of the impositions of self-elected supreme court justices within the spiritual realm. They know the difference between the Lord of glory and the defenders of the party spirit, and they refuse to bow the knee to the latter under the guise that only in this way can they worship the former.

     Actually the greatest contribution that some editors could make the cause of Christ in our day is to cease playing God with their brethren. If such men want to enforce respect for the authority of Jesus, let them first read what the Lord has said about the sin of division, and the crime of "setting at naught a brother" for whom Jesus died. It is not becoming of them to insist upon respect for the authority of Jesus in areas where he has said nothing, while they coldly disregard what he has repeatedly said in another area of such importance.

     Our real problem lies in the fact that while every faction and sect among us overlooks a great many differences within their own ranks, they all insist upon unanimity of opinion in the one issue which they have exalted because it gives them their partisan status. Such inconsistency is beginning to work its own rebuke and some day brethren will throw off these authoritarian yokes!