Authority

So, if you have time, go read this editorial piece in Christianity Today:

The question that Tish Harrison Warren is asking is this: Who is in Charge of the Christian Blogosphere? Her premise, I think, is that women (especially women, for some reason) are blogging, and no one is granting them the authority to do so. No one is watching them. No one is pulling them back when the "get it wrong." No one is stopping them from leading people astray.

Hmmm.

Now, don't misunderstand my motivation in writing this post. Warren is not talking about me. She's talking about people like Rachel Held Evans and Jen Hatmaker - women bloggers who have very large followings and who are NOT writing in support of the Evangelical/Conservative doctrines. She's talking about them because they are influencing a large number of people.

But the question of the source of my authority is still there. What is my authority in writing this blog post? In writing my blog at all?

I think my authority comes from God. I have a brain; I have the motivation to share my faith. (It's not secret - we all do), and those are gifts from God. I feel a calling to write this blog, and I believe the calling is from God. Believe me, it would be easier to stop doing it than to do it. But I want to do it, and I see from it that I grow when I do it (just like any other discipline).

 

Do I get it right all of the time? If you're reading this, you know that I do not. I'm telling you what I think - I'm telling you the conclusions that I believe God has led me to. (It's not a secret - it's called Sandpiper's Thoughts). I believe you have a brain, and that God is working through you, too, and that between you and me, God will do what God does, and use what I write to speak God's message to you. 

It's not at all flawless. It's not at all perfect. But I don't need anyone else's authority to do it. I don't need another man (or woman, for that matter) to watch me, or to grant approval on what I am doing. 

And if I don't, then neither does anyone else.