Authority or Power?

I have been thinking lately about “power” and “authority” as I reflect on how I and others lead. Often we use the two words interchangeably, as if they mean the same thing. But I don’t think they do. For me, one difference is that power is something we take or assume and authority is something that is given to us. A leader who takes control of issues, situations, people where he/she really doesn’t belong is taking power not authority. This is true regardless of the motive or intentions behind their actions. Even if someone with the responsibility to do so gives me the “right” to lead, I still haven’t been given authority. Gandhi once said, “The world will not know peace until the power of love is stronger than the love of power.”

Power comes from a system of hierarchy. But authority comes out of relationship. As a leader or pastor I can exert power over you or over a situation, but only God and only you can grant me the authority necessary to work with you and through you to affect change, to help bring healing and redemption. And just because you have granted me authority in one area of your life, doesn’t mean that I have authority in other areas too. God gives me the authority to speak with a pastor’s voice, but you must give me the authority to speak as your pastor.

The authority that is needed to bring healing at the deepest levels is not something that is given quickly for most of us. Instead, it is a more gradual process of coming to know and understand a person, to see glimpses of their essence – that their walk and talk align – and experiencing that they see who I am and want what’s best for me not some false/assumed image of me… and only then do I release more of my life, my deeper self to them. Then I become willing to reveal other parts of myself and to respond to their guiding.

How do you see the difference between “power” and “authority”?