Authority = Humility + Confidence

We’re still taking our cues from Jesus (plus details about the first Beautiful Discipleship Commitment!)

This is part of a series on the book Influence by Robert Cialdini in which we’re considering how the gospel turns levers of influence upside down. Read part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 to get caught up.

Across the internet today you’ll find influencers and wanna-be-influencers offering advice. AMAs¹ abound, your cousin shares her skincare routine (and urges you to try the multi-level marketing product she swears by), and podcast clips of theologians and “thought leaders” multiply. We scatter advice like confetti on functional strangers into whose lives we cannot possibly have meaningful insight.

But the internet today is also rife with “cancel culture”, where one wrong answer, even ripped violently from its context, can spell the end of one’s influence. So, we also hedge constantly, countering and caveating so that our followers know they are free to take our advice or leave it, redesign it, remix it, or reinterpret it.

We never say what we mean, so that we won’t have to own the meaning of what we’ve said.

Our advice is myriad but meaningless. It is everywhere but full of emptiness.

Robert Cialdini includes authority as the fourth lever of influence in his book.² The influence of authority can come both from someone who is in authority (e.g., a boss, police officer, etc.) or someone who is an authority (e.g., a subject matter expert). Authority is leveraged both genuinely and nefariously to encourage—or even demand—compliance from others.

Authority is often marked by three symbols.

• Titles

• Clothing

• Trappings (think fancy cars, certifications, etc.)

Any of these symbols can be falsely claimed and abused by someone in pursuit of personal gain. But in our digital age it happens so regularly that we are often unaware of it. Influencers claim to be teachers and experts. They can easily manipulate their camera angles and clothing to connote authority. And once someone has the trappings of podcast appearances and tens of thousands of followers we rarely question their credibility. Their expertise has become part of their brand and social proof has solidified it.

The problem is we all want the influence without responsibility. We want authority without accountability. So, we water down our pride with yet more pride. We assuage our insecurities with an attitude that says, “I can’t possibly be wrong, but just in case someone might try to tell me I am, I’ll leave room for exceptions in all my advice.”

In the Gospels we are given a very different example of authority.

Jesus, though He had no shortcomings, no sin, does not use His authority to demand blind obedience, but instead invites us to follow Him. Jesus, in His incarnation, lays aside the trappings of His authority in the purest form of humility humanity has ever seen. At times, He even relinquishes the titles of his authority.

The chief priests and scribes ask, “Are you the Son of God?” and Jesus refuses to explicitly claim that authority. “You say that I am”, He responds.

Even as the Lamb of God goes silently to slaughter, confidence seeps from every pore. He can lay aside his power, but He cannot cease to be who He is.

Later, his brother writes to Jesus’s disciples, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways.” (James 3:1-2a)

Christian teachers should not look like influencers of the world who put their authority on display while dodging any real accountability. Authority is meant to exert influence. God has designed it that way. But the temptation is strong to either use our authority to exert undue influence, or to abandon it when it no longer makes us look desirable. Authority will be rightly used only when it is accompanied and balanced by two things: humility to acknowledge our sins and shortcomings, and confidence in the only One who can rightly claim all authority.

Beautiful Discipleship Commitment Fall 2024

The U.S. General Election is in 48 days. I have been tempted to check out of political news completely, my blood pressure rising whenever I hear certain words and names. Your temptation may be the opposite, to immerse yourself in every news headline, poll, and possibility.

But I believe our challenge is the same: trust.

Do we really believe that God is sovereign, that “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings”? (Dan. 2:21)

I confess that my trust is weak, and that I do not always live as though I believe those words. So, in the spirit of Beautiful Discipleship, let’s commit to strengthen our trust together.

From October 1-14 let’s commit to:

• Praying for our government leaders (current and potential) daily.

• Doing so before we consume any political news for the day.

Sign up at the link below to join us and we’ll send out a prompt (a prayer, quote, or Scripture) each morning of the Commitment.

Let’s Pray Together!

We would also love to have you contribute one of those prompts if you plan to join us. There’s an optional space on the sign up form to include your own written out prayer, a link to a hymn or worship song, a brief quote, or a passage of Scripture. Let’s encourage each other.

Sign Up Here

In pursuit of Beauty,

1. Short for “ask me anything”, a popular Q&A format on Instagram especially.

2. This essay contains affiliate links, which just means that if you choose to make a purchase after visiting one of these links, I get a few pennies.