11/4 Questions Concerning Authority

Questions Concerning Authority

Matthew 17:24
“And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?”

In the verse above, Peter was away from the Saviour when the enemies of Christ approached him and questioned him about whether or not Jesus paid his taxes. The interesting thing about how they approached Peter is that they did to Peter what Satan always does, and that is they questioned the character of Jesus. This is what Satan does all the time to God's people; he tries to put a question in our minds about the Saviour. Unfortunately, the enemies of Christ were successful in placing a question in the mind of Peter. Fortunately, Peter did the right thing in going straight to Jesus with his questions instead of talking to others about his questions.

We should learn a lot from this story on how to handle questions we have concerning authority. In our lives there will be people who always put a question in our mind concerning the authorities we follow. If we don't get those questions answered, Satan can use the question in our mind concerning authority to destroy our confidence in them. Thus causing us to eventually stop following them. Let me give you some thoughts on how to handle questions you have concerning authority.

First of all, don't make it a habit of listening to the negative about authority. You must remember in Romans 13 we are taught that authority is of God. When you begin to question authority, you begin to question God. You better be sure when you go about questioning authority that you have your facts straight before you continue to go down this dangerous road. You don't want to be guilty of acting like Satan who constantly questions authority.

Secondly, don't talk to others about the questions you have concerning authority. The reason I say this is because if your questions are wrong, and you talk to someone else about your questions, though you may get your questions answered, they may not. This will create doubt in their minds concerning authority that they may never get answered.

Thirdly, ask the authority directly about your question. You must not be afraid to go to authority and ask them questions. This is what Peter did in the verse above. Who better to answer your question than the authority with which you have the question. This is not only the wise way to get your questions answered; this is the scriptural way to get your questions answered. As a side not to authority, if someone comes to you with questions, then you better be sure you give them answers without trying to cover things up.

Last of all, when going to authority with questions; approach them with the right attitude. NEVER go to an authority demanding answers. Go to them realizing you don't know the answer. Demanding an answer from them only means you have already made up your mind. Approach them with the right attitude so as to not put them on edge concerning you. If you put them on edge it will cause them to put up their wall of defense. The right attitude will get you further than anything else will.

I want to caution you about keeping questions concerning authority bottled up. You must get those questions answered. If you don't, you will eventually find yourself becoming disloyal to authority. Let's be very careful about questioning authority. Yes, you need to get your questions answered, but do it with the right attitude and spirit realizing God ordained their position. Let's get our questions concerning authority answered in the right way with the right spirit.