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Authors: Myles Munroe
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purpose for me” (Psalm 138:8).
A Matter of Reputation
One of the reasons the Creator supports the authority He has given us is that His reputation is on the line. For example, in the commercial world, the products you buy are supported by the manufacturers because their names are on them, and they want to protect their reputations in the minds of consumers. A company wants its products to succeed and to sell well. Its name and its image are synonymous in the customers’ minds, and therefore, if a product is faulty, the company’s name can be tarnished—sometimes to the point of causing the business to fail.
When the Toyota company had technical problems with its popular energy-conserving car, the Prius, as well as other models, their previously excellent name in the automobile business was weakened. In addressing the situation and trying to regain consumers’ trust, one of the things they did was to run television advertisements saying that they were working hard to correct the problems. To further protect the brand name of Toyota, the company sent the president of the company, who is the grandson of the founder, to meet with the Congress of the United States to discuss the issues directly and to explain the steps the company was taking to resolve the problems and to manage quality control. All of this was done to protect the name of the company and to regain its authority in the marketplace.
When the international banking industry took a tailspin through, among other things, poor lending practices, causing banks to fail and prompting governments to offer grants and loans to help banks weather the crisis, some banks displayed signs on their buildings stating that they were “Bail-out Free.” They wanted their customers to know that they had not engaged in risky banking policies, were in sound financial shape, and had not needed to accept governmental funds. The signs were one attempt to protect their names in the minds of their customers.
Similarly, whenever there are issues with the quality of certain foods or with an outbreak of food poisoning, some grocery stores and restaurants post signs that indicate that their products were not affected by whatever was causing the problem. They want people to know they still have quality goods for sale, so that their own reputations won’t be affected by the problems of other companies.
These examples are a reflection of the fact that a responsible source or manufacturer of a product desires to guarantee the quality of the product so that it is safe and functions according to design.
The Creator backs up the authority He has given us as we operate according to the principles He has established for humanity. He tells us, “I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled” (Jeremiah 1:12), and “The Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake” (1 Samuel 12:22 kjv).
The Authority Dilemma
As it was established by the Creator, authority is inherently good. It allows us to fulfill our collective and individual purposes as human beings. Yet, historically, we have seen how authority has been abused by those who were supposed to be its custodians, as well as by those who usurped authority for their own purposes and selfish goals. Again, false authority has hurt some people so badly that they reject the very concept of authority.
In our contemporary world, because of our negative experiences with “authority figures,” we face the issue of needing to be friendly with authority to get along in life but never quite trusting it. We don’t want to accept any vestiges of absolute authority. Nevertheless, we find ourselves in a dilemma: as human beings, we were created to operate under legitimate authority and its principles, and our lives can’t function properly without them; yet, at the same time, we’re afraid of authority.
Recapturing the Original Purpose for Authority
In the face of this dilemma, how do we recover genuine authority in our lives? The
A Matter of Reputation
One of the reasons the Creator supports the authority He has given us is that His reputation is on the line. For example, in the commercial world, the products you buy are supported by the manufacturers because their names are on them, and they want to protect their reputations in the minds of consumers. A company wants its products to succeed and to sell well. Its name and its image are synonymous in the customers’ minds, and therefore, if a product is faulty, the company’s name can be tarnished—sometimes to the point of causing the business to fail.
When the Toyota company had technical problems with its popular energy-conserving car, the Prius, as well as other models, their previously excellent name in the automobile business was weakened. In addressing the situation and trying to regain consumers’ trust, one of the things they did was to run television advertisements saying that they were working hard to correct the problems. To further protect the brand name of Toyota, the company sent the president of the company, who is the grandson of the founder, to meet with the Congress of the United States to discuss the issues directly and to explain the steps the company was taking to resolve the problems and to manage quality control. All of this was done to protect the name of the company and to regain its authority in the marketplace.
When the international banking industry took a tailspin through, among other things, poor lending practices, causing banks to fail and prompting governments to offer grants and loans to help banks weather the crisis, some banks displayed signs on their buildings stating that they were “Bail-out Free.” They wanted their customers to know that they had not engaged in risky banking policies, were in sound financial shape, and had not needed to accept governmental funds. The signs were one attempt to protect their names in the minds of their customers.
Similarly, whenever there are issues with the quality of certain foods or with an outbreak of food poisoning, some grocery stores and restaurants post signs that indicate that their products were not affected by whatever was causing the problem. They want people to know they still have quality goods for sale, so that their own reputations won’t be affected by the problems of other companies.
These examples are a reflection of the fact that a responsible source or manufacturer of a product desires to guarantee the quality of the product so that it is safe and functions according to design.
The Creator backs up the authority He has given us as we operate according to the principles He has established for humanity. He tells us, “I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled” (Jeremiah 1:12), and “The Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake” (1 Samuel 12:22 kjv).
The Authority Dilemma
As it was established by the Creator, authority is inherently good. It allows us to fulfill our collective and individual purposes as human beings. Yet, historically, we have seen how authority has been abused by those who were supposed to be its custodians, as well as by those who usurped authority for their own purposes and selfish goals. Again, false authority has hurt some people so badly that they reject the very concept of authority.
In our contemporary world, because of our negative experiences with “authority figures,” we face the issue of needing to be friendly with authority to get along in life but never quite trusting it. We don’t want to accept any vestiges of absolute authority. Nevertheless, we find ourselves in a dilemma: as human beings, we were created to operate under legitimate authority and its principles, and our lives can’t function properly without them; yet, at the same time, we’re afraid of authority.
Recapturing the Original Purpose for Authority
In the face of this dilemma, how do we recover genuine authority in our lives? The
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