The SIAFU Guidebook

48 The SIAFU Network Guidebook

Reporting for Duty: Why the Rediscovery of Pastoral Authority Really Matters to the City

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. ~ 1 Peter 5.1-4 Our God is the Sovereign God of the Universe, the God of Israel, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Most High God, the one true Creator and Lord over all. No other gods or lords exist; he is solitary, supreme, and self-sufficient. Though his Son, our Lord Jesus, has been exalted to God’s right hand (Phil. 2.5-11), his authority has not been recognized. At the heart of the city’s greatest problem is the denial and rejection of legitimate spiritual authority. Rebellion and fragmentation are intrinsic to the city; many thousands of neighbor- hoods are suffering because urbanites have no spiritual head, nor do they submit to God’s authority in his Church. If the local church is literally a platoon of the risen Christ, armed with the very powers of the Age to come for the sake of good, then there is no more important place in any city than a healthy, vital local church. And, if this be the case, the most important office in the world is that of undershepherd of the Church, the pastor, i.e., those leaders entrusted with the watch care and oversight of the affairs of God’s house. The Kingdom, first and foremost, is an exercise of the authority of the Lord Jesus, who himself in the Holy Spirit is subject to the authority of the Father.