humility and authority-reply to gedicks

[Steffen N. Johnson]

Fred Gedicks writes that humility befits those of us who cannot claim to be
the Son of God, as Jesus could.

Certainly Jesus is in a class by himself (although we can debate whether he
made the way for other sons and daugthers of God), but you make it sound as
if humility and speaking with authority are necessarily incompatible.  To be
sure, there is no place for pride or haughtiness in our speech, but i would
submit that both Jesus and the Apostles spoke with *both* humility and
authority.  See Acts 4:13 ("Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and
John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they
marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.")

Outward appearances are a poor measure of humility, and inordinate focus on
them, rather than the heart, may cause one to confuse true humility with its
counterfeit.  See Matthew 12:34 ("Out of the abundance of the heart, the
mouth speaks.")

A better measure is whether one is speaking truth in love, and whether one's
life and speech reflect the character of God generally.