Obedience

Somebody was given the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and it wasn't me.

What kind of man you are (or are becoming) is determined by your answer to the following question:

Who has authority over you?

In my early days, I rejected the Pope as having any authority over me. I remember my thought process; looking at pictures of him (Pope Paul VI) and thinking to myself: "Who is he to know more about God than me? He seems arrogant. He seems out of touch..." Trouble was and truth was NO ONE had any authority over me. I was my own pope and it was my opinion that was arrogant. Yes I called myself Roman Catholic but I rejected the authority of the Pope and put myself in the ultimate position of making a final decision about faith and morals. Don't get me wrong - I still claimed to love and serve Jesus as my Lord and because I was so devoted to Jesus, I was willing to overlook his obvious mistake in giving the keys of the kingdom to Peter. 

For a brief time I pretended to like the opinion of those who claimed the Scripture really meant that anyone at all who calls Jesus 'the Son of God, the Messiah' was given the same keys. But can you imagine the insanity of things being bound and released on earth and in Heaven if everyone had those keys? So that stupidity fell apart quickly.

I was content to be the leader for a long time. Then I began to be honest with myself and admit to the lie I was living. I was not a fearless leader in the area of faith and morals. I was more arrogant than I imagined the pope to be. I was a fool.

Truth was and is: Jesus did things on purpose. He was born 'in the fullness of time' - on purpose.  He gave the keys of the kingdom to one person - on purpose.  He did not give the keys to the whole group of guys that day. Just as he does not give the keys to everyone who says, "Lord, Lord!" No mistake.

As much as some might hate this idea: Someone was given authority to lead and guide; to shepherd. Our culture despises this truth. Do you?

The Roman guard who asked for Jesus to heal his servant knew something about authority. So... who has authority over you? Your parish priest? Your Bishop? The Pope?

If you reject the authority of your parish priest I challenge you to get your heart right.

You might say: "But my parish priest openly mocks the authority of our Bishop (or Pope)!"

Jesus taught those who were under hypocritical leadership: "Do what they say but do not follow their example."

If your parish priest mocks the authority of his Bishop or our Pope - and I have witnessed such behavior - get one or more other men in your parish to join you and get on your knees to pray for him, fast for him, fight battles for him and when your own heart is right, befriend him. That's what comes to my mind. What do you priests say about this? What is a man to do when his pastor mocks the idea of authority - or preaches his opinion in place of the truth?

More to come - I'm certain.