Episode Transcript  

One

The Need for Leadership

Let me begin this meditation with a little story. In a little city where I used to live, about twenty years ago, there was this little grocery store that opened up near downtown. Nothing so unusual about that, right? Except that this grocery story was being run by self-professed anarchists. That’s right. The local group of anarchists opened a small business. They thought they’d try their hands at capitalism 101.

The local college newspaper was really excited about this. How great! Locally sourced food! Community-focused! And best of all: no bosses! Because they’re anarchists, and anarchists don’t believe in bosses! But even the newspaper reporter was a little frustrated that he hadn’t been able to reach anyone who could sort of represent the business. But, of course, who is going to represent a business when literally no one is in charge of the business? Anyway, it didn’t really matter, because the anarchist grocery store didn’t last more than a couple of weeks anyway. That’s probably how long it took for them to max out their parents’ credit cards.

What’s the point? The point is that every community, if it’s going to last, needs leadership. A headless body might run around aimlessly for a while, like a chicken with its head cut off, but then it’ll just fall down dead. That’s true in every community, and it’s true in the community that is the Church.

Two

The Kingdom of God

Throughout the Old Testament, God had established leadership for His people. Patriarchs, prophets, judges, priests, kings, these were all roles that God confirmed so that His people would not degenerate into anarchy and chaos. In the New Testament, Jesus does the same thing. After all, He came to form a people, a community, a Church. And He knows that every community needs leadership, real, concrete, visible leadership. Leadership that can give a correct answer to a good question. Leadership that can set the next goal. Leadership that can organize and delegate.

Christ wanted a real community, not just a hypothetical, abstract, pretend community. And He knew no real community can survive without real leadership. So He gave us leaders. He gave us shepherds. He gave us Peter and the Apostles, He gave us a Pope and Bishops. 

Three

Authority given to His Apostles

Jesus is the King of the Kingdom that is the Church. But a King can deputize certain men to represent Him officially, and to exercise His Power in His Name. And that’s exactly what Jesus did when He chose His twelve apostles. And it says that He gave them authority, “gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity” (Mt 10:1). 

And He made it plain that they would be His representatives, and that those who accepted them would be accepting Him, “He who receives you receives me” (Mt 10:40). Finally, He makes this astounding pledge to His apostles, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt. 18:18)

Jesus is telling His apostles, and telling us, that there is a divine validation of their authority, that they’re decisions will be endorsed as legitimate, by Heaven itself. That doesn’t mean every decision by one of the apostles, or by their successors, will be the perfect decision. But it does mean that Heaven has decreed that the apostles and their successors will make the decisions that will govern Christ’s Church.

Four

The Petrine Office: The Supreme Authority

In every community or company, there has to be someone who will take the final responsibility. There has to be a court of last appeal, there has to be the final tie-breaker, there has to be the ultimate decision-maker. Countries don’t have multiple presidents. Sports teams don’t have multiple head coaches. Companies don’t have multiple chairmen of the board. Kingdoms don’t have multiple kings. And the Church of Christ doesn’t have multiple popes. 

Peter alone was given the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Peter alone was named the rock of the Church. Peter alone, out of the apostles, was told to strengthen his brethren. Peter alone was told to feed Christ’s flock. Peter alone was told of the servant who was put in charge of all the other servants.  

For an organization to work, for a company to succeed, for a community to thrive, there must be authority and there must be a final authority, where the final decision can be made. Where people can stop wondering what they should do, and can say, “Okay, you’re the boss. Let’s get to it.” Jesus knew that a final authority is needed for every community. And He gave His community, the Church, that final authority in the person of Peter and His successors, the popes. 

Five

Authority and Success

We are tempted to be opposed to authority because we see that the people in charge often don’t make the best decisions. We don’t like the way the driver drives the bus. So then we attack the very idea of authority altogether, which either means you want nobody to drive the bus, or everybody to try to drive the bus at the same time.

And guess what? Either way, if you have everybody with their hands on the wheel or nobody with their hands on the wheel, that bus is going to crash. Like that little anarchist grocery store folded almost instantly. But we can’t have our Church crashing. We can’t have our Church folding. We need our Church to be maximally successful, because our Church is the most important community there is. It’s the community that’s responsible for the conversion and salvation of the human race. We need it to be as effective as possible, which is why we have an authority for every level of our Church’s community: at the family level, at the parish level, at the diocesan level, and at the universal level. 

Sure, the authorities at all those levels are sometimes incompetent. But it’s because of this structure that we are the most successful, the largest, the oldest, and the most beautiful community on the planet. It’s almost like Jesus knew what He was doing when He established it.

Suggested Resolutions:

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you. 

• This week, pay attention to how you speak about your authority figures inside and outside of the Church. Remember that authority is not the problem, and we need our leaders in order to function properly.

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