Authority: From the Larger Catechism

To the Men of the Church:

To struggle with issues of authority is so much the common struggle of life.  Husbands and wives struggle with each other, parents struggle with children, and adults struggle with managers and employees in the workplace, and sometimes with the civil government, and church officers struggle with the church members.

We know that the Scripture teaches us to respect all legitimate authority, and also that all legitimate authority also ought to behave respectably.  We know these principles, but often don’t know how to apply them.  This takes much wisdom, which is to be sought in God’s Word, as it applies itself in the midst of life’s experiences.

This little paper on Christian Ethics will attempt to address some concerns that I have heard expressed among us.  Now, there is nothing in this paper that you have not already read in God’s Word – nothing that you do not already know in principle.  But, there is much wisdom and advice for us on the subject of authority and its uses given in that portion of the Westminster Larger Catechism discussing the Fifth Commandment (“Honor your Father and Mother”, Question 123).  This remarkable elaboration of a full and inner meaning to the fifth commandment needs to be pondered by us men, because the tendency of our flesh is to rule our wives, children and subordinates, however unwittingly, with a spirit of self-centered neglect, or in some cases domination, and at the same time to look upon our superiors in a spirit of rebellion, however hidden.   The Catechism teaches us how to diagnose these sins.

What follows in the next section is Law.  By it we are instructed.  We learn the way to behave to live a good life.  By it we also see the untruth that lies within all human beings, and most-so within our own selves.   So, holding before our eyes the picture of Our Lord and Servant Jesus Christ, we call upon our Father in Heaven to make these commands live in our souls, not by human power, but by divine power, through the grace of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, with humble dependence upon God, and wishing and praying for the best for us all, I submit this paper to you. 

May God help us be men! 

An Excerpt from the Westminster Larger Catechism
“Honor Your Father and Your Mother …” (Exodus 20:12)

Perhaps it is not often thought that the Fifth Commandment has ramifications that affect more than family life.  But, if you recognize that the human family, under God, is the original authority among men created by God, then it’s easy to see that the authority structure God calls for within the human family must also illustrate a principle of authority that affects all of life.

The Catechism uses the terms “superiors,” “inferiors,” and “equals.”  This is the language of authority and status in 17^th century England, and the Christian West in general, at that time.  We shouldn’t take offense against this language, but we do need to understand it:  The terms “superior,” “inferior” and “equal” are relative terms.  For example, your manager at work has the right to give you direction concerning your work.  You have given him this right by taking employment from him.  At the same time your manager has given a similar right to his own manager.  Your manager is your “superior” as long as the employment relationship lasts.  At the same time, your manager is an “inferior” to his manager.  Now, life is littered with hierarchical relationships of many kinds (work, marriage, family, government).  The language of “superior,” “inferior,” and “equal” is used in the Catechism to speak in a simple manner to all such relationships in general terms, in order to teach the common principles that apply to all of them. 

The authors of the Westminster Larger Catechism therefore expand the Fifth Commandment, based on the analogy of family life, in a number of questions, most of which are reproduced here:

Q 124.  Who are meant by “Father” and “Mother” in the fifth commandment?

A.  By “Father” and “Mother” in the fifth Commandment, are meant not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts, and especially such as by God’s ordinance are over us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or common-wealth.

The term “common-wealth” refers to civil life:  work, education, government, etc.

Q 125.  Why are superiors styled “Father” and “Mother”?

A.  Superiors are styled Father and Mother, both to teach them in all duties towards their inferiors, like natural parents, to express love and tenderness to them, according to their several relations: and to work inferiors to a greater willingness and cheerfulness in performing their duties to their superiors, as to their parents.

For men, “superiors” are: fathers to their children, husbands to their wives, church officers to their church members, managers to their employees, government officials to their citizens, etc.

Likewise, for men, “inferiors” are: grown men to their fathers and mothers, church members to their church officers, employees to their managers, citizens to their government officials, etc.

The Fifth Commandment teaches men, in their positions of leadership, to express an appropriate family-like love and tenderness to all subordinates in their own families, in the church, in business, in education or in government.  This is a love and tenderness which is wisely tempered appropriately to the situation, according to the nature and type of the relationship.

Likewise, where men are subordinates, we are exhorted to a greater willingness and cheerfulness to perform the duties our superiors request, with a kind of “parental” respect, which is again wisely adjusted to the situation.

The vision given here is that God-ordained hierarchical authority partakes of a family-like relationship of respect and love between superiors and inferiors, which is adjusted appropriately to the nature of the various situations in which we find ourselves.

The rest of the questions more explicitly illustrate the meaning of this.

Q 127.  What is the honor that inferiors owe to their superiors?

A.  The honor which inferiors owe to their superiors is all due reverence in heart, word and behavior; prayer and thanksgiving for them; imitation of their virtues and graces; willing obedience to their lawful commands and counsels; due submission to their corrections; fidelity to, defense and maintenance of their persons and authority, according to their several ranks, and the nature of their places; bearing with their infirmities and covering them in love; that so they may be an honor to them and to their government.

The primary duty enjoined upon us in this answer is that we must support and protect those above us in authority, that is, our parents, our work supervisors, our church officers, or our civil government, so that their authoritative position and government is more honored.  Their authority has been established by God, and to disrespect this is to disrespect the government of God.

One should notice the nuances in the answer:  We should obey our superiors’ lawful commands and counsels.  We should pray for them, and give thanks for them (even when they do wrong!).  We should imitate their virtues and graces.  We should defend their status, and bear with their infirmities in love, in order that we may honor them and their position.

There’s a lot said here about attitude, but nothing about slavery.  Nevertheless, the authors of the Catechism see Scripture teaching that authority is an honorable and worthy necessity within the body of the family, church and common-wealth, and that maintenance of honorable authority is most necessary for the well-being of all these institutions.

Q 128.  What are the sins of inferiors against their superiors?

A.  The sins of inferiors against their superiors, are, all neglect of the duties required toward them; envying at, contempt of, and rebellion against their persons and places in their lawful counsels, commands, and corrections; cursing, mocking, and all such refractory and scandalous carriage, as proves a shame and dishonor to them and their government.

Here again, in the conclusion of the answer, we see again the importance that the authors of the Catechism attach to the Scriptural mandate to respect authority.  The rebelliousness of inferiors may bring shame upon the inferiors, but the real concern is that it brings shame upon those in the position of authority, and by attacking authority subverts the well-being of the institutions of family, church and nation.

We Americans tend to think that freedom and equality govern everything, but the freedom and equality that we enjoy are very definitely sustained by authority, operating in its proper and most appropriate spheres. 

Q 129.  What is required of superiors toward their inferiors?

A.  It is required of superiors, according to that power they receive from God, and that relation wherein they stand, to love, pray for, and bless their inferiors; to instruct, counsel and admonish them; countenancing, commending and rewarding such as do well; discountenancing, reproving and chastising such as do ill; protecting and providing for them all things necessary for soul and body; and by grave, wise, holy, and exemplary carriage, to procure glory to God, honor to themselves, and so to preserve that authority which God hath put upon them.

This paragraph describes how we ought to treat our wives, children, church members, employees and fellow citizens when operating from a position of authority.  We are to be conscious of the power we have received from God to bless our wives, children, fellow church members, employees and fellow citizens – the power we have to love, pray for, instruct, counsel, admonish, commend and reward those who do good.  (Likely we won’t forget to somehow reprove those whom we think disobey or do evil.)  That is, we must make sure that we exercise the benevolent functions toward all our subordinates, while protecting and providing for them in all things necessary for soul and body, and illustrating grave, wise, holy and exemplary behavior before them, as an example. 

All this procures glory to God and honor to ourselves as leaders, and so preserves the authority that God has given us.  In other words, our authority can be diminished or finally lost by bad or negligent behavior, in the family, at work, in the church, and in the government!  It is not an authority that inheres in us, willy-nilly, whether we behave or not, because it is possible to lose the office which has given us the authority.

Q 130.  What are the sins of superiors?

A.  The sins of superiors are, beside the neglect of the duties required of them, an inordinate seeking of themselves, their own glory, ease, profit, or pleasure; commanding things unlawful, or not in the power of inferiors to perform; counseling, encouraging or favoring them in that which is evil; dissuading, discouraging or discountenancing them in that which is good; correcting them unduly; careless exposing or leaving them to wrong, temptation and danger; provoking them to wrath; or any way dishonoring themselves, or lessening their authority, by an unjust, indiscreet, rigorous or remiss behavior.

Important sins to ponder in this answer are:  neglect, self-centeredness, commanding our subordinates to do unlawful things, things against their consciences, or things they cannot do, not rewarding them for doing good, correcting them unduly, not protecting them from temptation to do wrong, or from danger, provoking them to wrath! 

The exercise of improper authority dishonors the one mis-using it, and lessens his authority.

Q 131.  What are the duties of equals?

A.  The duties of equals are to regard the dignity and worth of each other, in giving honor to go one before another, and to rejoice in each others gifts and advancement, as in their own.

Q 132.  What are the sins of equals?

A.  The sins of equals are, beside the neglect of the duties required, the undervaluing of the worth, envying the gifts, grieving at the advancement or prosperity one of another, and usurping preeminence one over another.

Q 133.  What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment, the more to envorce it?

A.  The reason annexed to the fifth commandment, in these words, That your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you, is an express promise of long life and prosperity, as far as it shall serve for God’s glory and their own good, to all such as keep this commandment.

The bold face typeface giving the reason for obedience, as shown in this answer, is in the original transcript of the Catechism.  This promise is given in two places in the Bible, in the Old Testament and in the New.

Application

The way to wisely apply the rules for men is not to place the most emphasis on enforcing upon our subordinates the rules that apply to them.  We must first apply our own rules to ourselves.  We must remove the beams in our own eyes before attempting to remove the specks in the eyes of our subordinates.

Also, the “great commandment” applies here.  Our Lord said, “Love one another, as I have loved you.”  He washes our feet.  According to his Word, the one to be the greatest among us must be the greatest servant.  He was, and is, Lord and Servant to his church.  We must follow his lead, in order to be both “lord and servant” to our wives, children, fellow church members, employees, and fellow citizens.