A Question of Authority

Saturday night, stuck in the checkout line at the local Rite-Aid, I became involved in a little scene.

The checker was ringing up the purchases of a man about 40 years old who had a small child with him. On the other side of the checker, near the front door, stood an older man, perhaps 75 or 80, who was trying to get her attention. “Ma’am,” he kept saying, “Is it all right if I take this out to the car to show my wife?” He was holding up some item from the store. The checker was giving her attention to the man and child in front of her.

Finally, the customer at the checkout snapped at the older gentleman, “No! It is not all right to take that outside!” The old man was flustered and said, “She’s in the car. I just want to see if this is what she wants. I’ll be right back.”

“No, sir!” said the younger man. “You’re not allowed to take things outside you haven’t paid for!”

The old man said, “Well, what if I leave my umbrella? I’ll be right back.”

“No!” the young man said. “Leave your drivers license.”

While this was going on, those of us in the checkout line were silently watching this scenario and fascinated at the attitude of the customer who was bullying the old guy.

The old man said to him, “Are you a manager of this store or something?”

The younger fellow said, “No, I’m not. But I know how these things are done!”

I’d taken about all of this I could. From the back of the checkout line, I called out to the old man, “Sir! You may ignore the customer. Do what you have to do!”

The younger man stared at me contemptuously, took his child by the hand, and left.

As he exited the door, the manager came over and took care of the older gentleman. The woman in front of me turned and said, “Who in blue blazes did that fellow think he was, talking to that old man that way?” I laughed and agreed that he was definitely a buttinsky.

When I got home and told me wife this little tale, she–filling the role of a wife so neatly–said, “And who did you think you were, rebuking him like that?”

My Scripture reading that very morning from the first chapters of Mark’s Gospel had been on this same subject: authority. That little word deals with who we think we are, who we really are, and what gives us the right to do what we do.

Consider these instances from the first days of Jesus’ ministry….


Mark 1:22 “He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” (We’re told the scribes drew their authority from the expert sources they cited. Jesus, on the other hand, would say, “You have heard it said…but I say unto you.”)

Mark 1:27 “They debated among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him!'”

Mark 2:5 (Jesus is in the crowded house, four men have lowered their paralyzed friend through the roof into the room.) “And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.'”

The scribes sitting there had a big problem with that. They thought to themselves, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

It was all about Jesus’ authority. My notes from a year or more in the margin of this passage read like this: “He has authority…to forgive sins (vs. 10)…to command disease (vs. 11)…to call disciples (vs. 14).”

In all four gospels, after Jesus cleansed the Temple, the religious authorities were incensed at what they saw as sheer presumption. Who did He think He was? In each gospel, a discussion about Jesus’ authority follows. They asked it plainly in Mark 11:28, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do these things?”

The answer to that question is found in what Jesus said each time He cleansed the temple. He said, “My house shall be a house of prayer….”

What is Jesus’ authority? It’s His house.

Bible students can think of a hundred Scriptural connections to this subject, everything from the Old Testament reference to Shiloh in Genesis 49:10 (“Shiloh” meaning “he whose right it is”) to the centurion who said to Jesus, “I too am a man under authority” (Matthew 8:9), to the promise that some day every eye shall behold Jesus on His throne at which time every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord (Romans 14:11 and other places).

Jesus is Lord.

That’s why He commands. It’s why we obey. He is not usurping the place of another, not butting into another’s business. He forgives sin because he is the Lord.

Settle the issue of the Lordship of Jesus or nothing else will make sense to you about the Scriptures or the Christian life.

15 thoughts on “A Question of Authority

  1. I can’t help but wonder where the manager or another employee was at the time to help this gentleman. I have worked customer service plenty, and that is not the way to treat a customer, especially if you want them to return, and spend more money.

    I do not blame you for “standing up” for the elderly gentleman, I would have also. This story makes me think of the verse where Jesus says, “In everything, thererfore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, Matthew 7:12. Another name for this is the Golden Rule, and if people would live by this, the world would be a much nicer place.

  2. Ginger, I wondered about the same thing you did: where were the other employees/a manager? Unfortunately, the words “customer service” do not mean anymore what they used to. Customer service nowadays means they grunt at you if you dare appear as if you need assistance.

    But this doesn’t let us off the hook! We still must maintain our Christian attitude and witness. So I try the old, “kill ’em with kindness.” At least that way I leave feeling good instead of frustrated!

    Thanks again, Joe, for reminding me that my mundane, everyday life experiences do matter.

  3. I’m not sure why an old guy should be allowed to carry unpurchased items out of the store or to cut in front of the line. Surely a younger man would be arrested for trying such a stunt.

  4. One must bow to Christ’s lordship before he will ever know His Saviorship.

    Under holy spirit conviction, the awakened sinner,has his will broken, and bows to His Lordship.

  5. One must bow to Christ’s lordship before he will ever know His Saviorship.

    Under holy spirit conviction, the awakened sinner,has his will broken, and bows to His Lordship.

  6. Several points came to mind reading this one Joe. (1) With absolutely no malice toward your wife: Who are you to correct the obnoxious interloper? You are a man. You did what men do. You handled a bad situation. You solved a problem. As a Christ-following man, you sucked up your courage and said what needed saying.

    (2) Marty is right, a younger man might have been arrested for shop-lifting. That’s because a younger man would not have had the sense to check with his wife to make sure he was buying the right thing. Checking with one’s wife seems to come with age. Moreover, why should an elderly man not get a pass?

    (3) Customer service is rare in New Orleans Metro, but not everywhere. I have traveled to a dozen American cities in the past year and found customer service alive and well everywhere except the Crescent City. Perhaps it’s our Hurricane Hangover, or perhaps we’re setting trend the rest of country has yet to adopt. The bottom line, however, is that our recovery depends on outside dollars visiting our city, and the lack of customer service is not helping those dollars visit.

    (4) I am so glad that Jesus has “all authority in heaven and on earth.” It makes my life so much easier. I only wish I could remember it more clearly when I decide to (sinfully) try to usurp his authority to get my way. In the case of the Rite-Aid Rascal, Joe did what any of us should have done. I do not see tat as a question of authority but of defending a man who was being bullied. I pity the small child who may be stuck with a dictator.

  7. What, old people don’t shoplift? Please.

    Tell me why he should get a pass that a 40 year old should not.

  8. This old man did not shoplift, he ask permission. A person shoplifting never ask permission weather old or young. Thanks Joe for sticking up for right.

  9. No, he didn’t shoplift. He didn’t get permission. If he had walked out of the store without paying he could easily have driven away — which would have been shoplifting regardless of whether or not he had “permission”.

    I guess I’ll have to be an old guy before I understand why his age is any excuse for rude behavior.

  10. When that “old man” was younger, the world was a far different place, and store owners and their employees were more understanding, and went out of their way for customers. The thing I wonder about is why the wife was in the car, maybe she was disabled, and could not accompany her husband into the store to shop together. What harm is it to be more understanding of others, especially if you can make a difference in their life by giving them a little of your time and assistance? NOTHING.

  11. Good for you Joe. I do this myself and my wife tells me I am going to get shot some day. If I do then it will be in the defense of someone being abused by a bully.

    We baptized 3 today in the rain.

  12. Marty,

    The old man wasn’t rude. He at least asked. The young man was rude for jumping in where he had no authority – what was the checker doing? He/she could have called on a manager to help the old man. There are phone speakers at most check outs.

    And Jack, you have obviously not been to Greenville, MS lately. There is no customer service. No polite helloes, and the stores are so short-handed – I walked in one here and went all the way across the store and Never saw one clerk. So – the checker could have cut the whole thing short by calling on a manager – but she may have been too inexperienced to know that.

    Boy, Joe, you stirred up a nest of hornets here. Thanks for your kindness though.

    Lara

  13. Yes, being an older guy does help, for with age comes wisdom. If you had read the article correctly you would have understood that the manager came over and took care of the older gentlemen. Its all about understanding what you read. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

  14. Next time you’re being checked out at the supermarket Lara, and I yell at the cashier from across the room to distract his attention away from you, I’m sure you’ll consider it very rude indeed.

  15. Can you stand one more comment! This is just a sad commentary of our society. Marty, while I appreciate your assessment of the obvious, you are sadly correct in a way. What if he had not only been young but of another nationality-hispanic, black, or middle eastern. Then what would the response had been. However-he wasn’t. So there breaks down your comparison. He was elderly. Unless you work with or have any elderly parents or grandparents closely in your life, it’s easy to berate this man. It seems that there is a little truth in everyone’s comments. Let me add one more scenario. What if someone else would have gone to look for the manager, the person with the real authority. This imaginary peacemaker could have gone up to the elderly man and asked him if he needed any help. That would have alleviated the stressed dad at the checkout and the young inexperienced clerk at the counter. But maybe we are too busy to help each other because we are “too busy” to help each other. Blessed are the peacemakers-help us to be like Christ.

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