Reflections on Authority in Orthodox Church

June 26, 2007 DOLAW Parish Life Conference

Archpriest Michael Laffoon

Your Grace, fellow presbyters, and deacons in Christ,

When Bishop Joseph asked me to prepare some remarks on the topic of

authority, he referred me to very useful article by Bishop Kallistos Ware
entitled, “How Christian is Our Understanding of Church Authority?” In his
opening words, he recalls our Lord’s words to his disciples regarding who
would be the greatest among them as recounted in all three of the Synoptic
Gospels.

"You know," says our Lord, "That those who are supposed to rule
over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercised
authority over them. But it shall not be so among you!"[Matthew
chapter 20] "Not so among you" - Jesus is altogether unambiguous.
The exercise of authority and power in the Church is to be utterly
different from that which prevails in secular society. As a Kingdom
not of this world - eucharistic, pentecostal, eschatological - the
Church is unique. She is never to be assimilated to models of power
and jurisdiction prevailing in the fallen world around us. "Not so
among you" - we are not to model the Church on the absolutist
system of the Roman Empire, or on the graded hierarchies of
medieval society, or on modern democracy with its party system and
its decision-making by majority vote.

In this same Gospel pericope, having told us what Church authority

is not, Jesus then goes on to indicate what it is. "It shall not be so
among you." "But whoever will be great among you, let him be your
minister. And whoever will be first among you, let him be your
servant." Then Christ goes to appeal through His own example.
"Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to
minister, and to give His life as a ransom for many." The point is
made yet more plainly in the Lukan account - I've been quoting
Matthew so far. But in the Lukan account Christ says: "I am among
you as the one who serves."

Before reflecting on who is given authority in the Church’s worldview, we

should ask what the source of such authority is. Our Lord, in the gospel of
Matthew (28:18-20) says, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to Me! Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the
Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all of the things that I have commanded you. See, I am with you
always until the close of the age, Amen"

Bishop Ware comments on this these verses:

“Now there are a number of things for us to notice in this crucial

passage.

First, it speaks very clearly of the source of authority. All power

comes from God. Exousia - power and authority - is imparted by the
Father to Jesus Christ, and by Christ to the Disciples. This should
always be the pattern of authority in the Church. Authority is not
assumed but received. It's not taken but given. From the Father
through the Son - that's always the pattern in Church life. The Father
is the well-spring; Christ is the intermediary.

We notice very clearly that power in the redeemed community of the

Church comes from above, not from below. In modern democratic
thinking, power comes from the people. But that is not the teaching
of the Gospel. Power comes from God through Christ.

But now, another thing in this passage from Matthew. "See," says
Christ, "I am with you always." Although He confers authority on
the apostles, Christ still continues to be present with them to the
"close of the age." So Christ shares His authority with the Church,
with the bishops and the people. He shares His authority but He does
not delegate it, because He is with us directly in person.”

In the fear of Christ, the bishops and presbyters share in His authority, but
He does not delegate it to them. A delegate represents another or others in
their absence. Christ, however, is not absent, but present through the Holy
Spirit.

As to whom authority is given in the Church we turn to St. Paul’s letters

There we find very definite teaching about authority.
Authority is assigned to bishops: “For a bishop …must hold firm to the sure
word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine
and also to confute those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:7-9)

Authority is given to presbyters: Let the elders [presbyters] who rule well be
considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching
and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17)

Authority is given to parents: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for
this is right. 2: "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first
commandment with a promise), 3: "that it may be well with you and that you
may live long on the earth." 4: Fathers, do not provoke your children to
anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
(Ephesians 6:1-4)

Authority is given to masters over slaves: “Bid slaves to be submissive to

their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to be
refractory, 10: nor to pilfer, but to show entire and true fidelity, so that in
everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.” (Titus 2: 9)

And last but not least husbands over wives, “As the church is subject to
Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands.”
(Ephesians 5:24)

The authority of the bishop with the presbyters, and over the presbyters is
clearly stated in the letters of the Hieromartyr Ignatius of Antioch, written at
the end of the 1st century.
From St. Ignatius’ Letter to the Magnesians: “As therefore the Lord
does nothing without the Father, for says He, “I can of mine own self
do nothing,” so do ye, neither presbyter, nor deacon, nor layman, do
anything without the bishop. Nor let anything appear commendable
to you which is destitute of his approval.”

St. Ignatius To the Ephesians, Chapter 2: “It is therefore befitting

that you should in every way glorify Jesus Christ, who hath glorified
you … that, being subject to the bishop and the presbytery, ye may
in all respects be sanctified.”

It is clear from these examples (and many others that can be cited) that
authority is part of the world view and ecclesiology of our Faith. What is
also clear is that our human notions of authority, which have their roots in
the fallen world, must be tempered, judged and transformed by the gospel.
Various types of authority are part and parcel of our Tradition, but authority
must be exercised as self-sacrificing service. The divine view of authority
exercised in any other way is made clear by our Lord:

Matthew 23.2: 1: “Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples,
"The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; 3: so practice and
observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they
preach, but do not practice. 4: They bind heavy burdens, hard to
bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not
move them with their finger. 5: They do all their deeds to be seen by
men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6:
and they love [desire] the place of honor at feasts and the best seats
in the synagogues, 7: and salutations in the market places, and being
called rabbi by men. 8: But you are not to be called rabbi, for you
have one teacher, and you are all brethren. 9: And call no man your
father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10:
Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. 11:
He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; 12: whoever
exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will
be exalted. 13: "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you
neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in.
15: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse
sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a
proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as
yourselves.”

Indeed, it is the duty of any one given authority in the Church to exercise it
responsibly and with agape-love, the love which lead Christ to lay down his
life for all men and for the sake of the world. Jesus did not rub into the faces
of the apostles the great sacrifice he was making for them. Instead he called
them his friends (Luke 15:15).. Thus in Luke’s account of our Lord’s
reaction to the question of who would be the greatest among the apostles, he
answers, “ "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and those
in authority over them are called benefactors. 26: But not so with you; rather
let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one
who serves.”
The canons of the church make it clear that it is the bishops who are charged
with right teaching and discipline within the church and that they are
mutually accountable in this regard. They exercise this authority through the
presbyters, who act in their stead, and the bishops and the presbyters
together are accountable to Christ for their exercise of His authority.

Having said all of this, I once again return to the models that are mentioned
by Bishop Kallistos which are of this fallen world and which are not our
models for Authority in the Church.
“We are not to model the Church on the absolutist system of the Roman
Empire, or on the graded hierarchies of medieval society, or on modern
democracy with its party system and its decision-making by majority vote.”

Though there are many in the Church who exercise their authority in
humility and love, it is too easy and too common for us to read our Tradition
in the light of this world and the prince of this world. Hierarchy is distorted:
Bishops are regarded as, and act as princes, emperors and/or medieval
Popes, not only being condescending with regard to their clergy and people
but even abusing them and playing them off against each other. They even
disregard their fellow hierarchs. “I am the bishop in my diocese and no one
else in the entire Church can question what I do.”

Priests are seen, and act as princes, far above the people they are called to
serve. The lay people regard the clergy as “professional Christians” who
more or less believe and practice the Faith for them, and by extension
instead of them.

On the other hand, Conciliarity becomes distorted also. Priests openly

rebelling and/or ignoring their bishop. Priests warring with one another, in
jealousy and strife. Seminary professors contradicting established teachings
of the Church, parishes believing and acting as if the parish priest is their
employee. Lay people wanting to vote on when services will start, what
language(s) will be used in worship, the length of the service, the length of
the sermon, etc.

All of this, of course, is madness and completely at odds with our Tradition.
There is only one solution, and that is for all us to repent, to pick up our
crosses and follow Christ with humility. When we do this, we invite the
Holy Spirit to fill all that is lacking in this and in all of our shortcomings. As
our own Patriarch Ignatius wrote in his brief book, “Resurrection and
Modern Man,” ‘Without Him [the Holy Spirit], God is far off, Christ is in
the past, the gospel is a dead letter, the Church is only an organization,
authority is domination, mission is propaganda, worship is a mere mouthing
of words…but with Him, and in indispensable symphony with Him, the
cosmos is raised up… man struggles against the “flesh,” Christ is raised, the
gospel becomes the power of life, the Church offers communion with the
Trinity, authority becomes a liberating service, mission become a Pentecost,
the liturgy is lived as both a memorial and an anticipation, and human action
is deified.’ [emphasis mine]

Of course, even though we have been baptized and chrismated, indeed, even
though we who are ordained have had the apostolic laying of hands upon our
unworthy heads, we still have both grace and sin at war within us. Thus, the
only way to correctly understand and exercise authority in the Church is to
accept the ascetic struggle to let the “old man” die and the New Man live in
us. With all of the tools give to us by our Mother, the Church: prayer,
fasting, liturgical formation, immersion in the scriptures, reading the fathers
and the saints, speaking the truth in love to those in authority over us and
those under our authority, we can begin do with God what is impossible with
man. We will be hurt. We will be bruised. But if we are ready to suffer and
to die, at least die to ourselves, then the victory already won by Christ will
be ours.

To close, I would again quote from St. Ignatius from his Letter to the
Magnesians, “Study, therefore, to be established in the doctrines of the Lord
and the apostles, that so all things, whatsoever ye do, may prosper both in
the flesh and spirit; in faith and love; in the Son, and in the Father, and in the
Spirit; in the beginning and in the end; with your most admirable bishop, and
the well-compacted spiritual crown of your presbytery, and the deacons who
are according to God. Be ye subject to the bishop, and to one another, as
Jesus Christ to the Father, according to the flesh, and the apostles to Christ,
and to the Father, and to the Spirit; that so there may be a union both fleshly
and spiritual.”