Authority Under Authority
RLA-W03 — Authority Under Authority
RLA-W03 — Authority Under Authority
Relational Leadership & Authority
Definitive Student Workbook Assembly
Corresponding Website Teaching: RLA-T03 — Authority Under Authority Formation Movement: Authority Under Authority Governing Scripture: Matthew 8:9 Canonical Sequence: RELATIONSHIP → ALIGNMENT → SUBMISSION → ACCOUNTABILITY → AUTHORITY Assessment Lens: Alignment • Character • Relationship • Multiplication
Unit Purpose
Kingdom authority is never independent authority.
The Roman centurion understood this when he told Jesus:
“I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.”
He recognized that his authority over others functioned because he himself stood within an ordered system of accountability.
This unit examines the principle that before a person can safely exercise authority, they must understand how to live under authority.
Authority is not personal possession.
It is stewardship.
It must remain accountable to Christ, Scripture, righteous order, and the responsibilities connected to the assignment.
The governing principle is:
Authority must remain under authority.
1. Learning Objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
Explain why Kingdom authority is delegated rather than personally owned.
Describe the centurion's understanding of being both under authority and exercising authority.
Distinguish submission from inferiority.
Explain why accountability strengthens rather than diminishes healthy authority.
Identify the boundaries of legitimate authority.
Recognize the dangers of authority operating without accountability.
Distinguish healthy submission from blind obedience.
Evaluate your own response to correction and oversight.
Identify practical structures of accountability in your life.
Develop a commitment to exercise authority as stewardship rather than control.
2. Governing Scripture Study
Matthew 8:5–10
Read Matthew 8:5–10 carefully.
Pay particular attention to verse 9.
The centurion said:
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.
Observation
What two dimensions of authority did the centurion understand?
Why do you think his understanding caused Jesus to marvel?
What does his statement suggest about the relationship between obedience and command?
3. Core Formation Principle
Under Before Over
Healthy authority requires both:
being under authority
and
carrying responsibility over what has been entrusted.
A person who refuses accountability is poorly prepared to require accountability from others.
A leader who cannot receive correction may struggle to correct others fairly.
A person who wants authority without submission may eventually confuse authority with personal control.
The principle is:
Before authority is exercised safely, it must remain accountable.
4. Authority Is Entrusted, Not Owned
Consider the difference between these two statements:
Ownership
This authority belongs to me.
Stewardship
This authority has been entrusted to me for a purpose.
Ownership tends to ask:
What am I allowed to do?
Stewardship asks:
What am I responsible to do?
Reflection
Which statement more closely reflects how you think about leadership responsibility?
What changes when authority is understood as stewardship?
5. The Formation Sequence
The governing sequence for this unit is:
RELATIONSHIP → ALIGNMENT → SUBMISSION → ACCOUNTABILITY → AUTHORITY
Relationship
Relationship establishes the environment in which trust and formation can occur.
Reflection
Who currently has relational access to your life?
Alignment
Alignment brings motives, values, and purpose into agreement.
Reflection
What shared purpose currently governs one of your leadership relationships?
Submission
Submission places responsibility within righteous order.
Reflection
Where are you presently being asked to receive legitimate direction?
Accountability
Accountability allows decisions, motives, and behavior to remain open to examination.
Reflection
Who can challenge you meaningfully?
Authority
Authority can then be carried as responsible stewardship rather than self-directed power.
Reflection
What authority or influence has presently been entrusted to you?
6. Key Vocabulary
Authority
The right and responsibility to act within an entrusted sphere for a legitimate purpose.
Submission
Willing cooperation within righteous order without loss of identity, conscience, or responsibility.
Accountability
Remaining answerable for one's decisions, conduct, motives, and stewardship.
Stewardship
Managing something entrusted rather than treating it as personal possession.
Delegated Authority
Authority received from a source greater than oneself and exercised within defined limits.
Boundary
The legitimate limit of a person's authority, responsibility, access, or jurisdiction.
7. Submission Is Not Inferiority
Submission concerns order.
It does not determine human worth.
Jesus submitted to the Father without losing dignity, identity, or authority.
Likewise, functioning under legitimate authority does not mean a person is less valuable.
Healthy submission preserves:
identity,
conscience,
discernment,
responsibility,
and dignity.
Reflection
What negative ideas have you associated with the word submission?
Which of those ideas reflect unhealthy control rather than biblical submission?
8. Accountability Strengthens Authority
Complete the following statements.
Unaccountable authority tends to say:
Accountable authority tends to say:
Consider this principle:
Greater responsibility should produce greater accountability, not less.
Why is this important?
How can increased influence make accountability even more necessary?
9. Your Accountability Structure
Identify the people or relationships in your life that provide meaningful accountability.
Spiritual accountability
Leadership accountability
Relational accountability
Practical or professional accountability
Now ask:
Do these relationships actually have permission to challenge you?
Or do they exist only formally?
What would make your accountability more meaningful?
10. Receiving Correction
Think about your normal response to correction.
Which reaction is most common?
defensiveness,
embarrassment,
anger,
withdrawal,
immediate explanation,
reflection,
gratitude,
resistance,
curiosity.
Write the one or two that describe you most accurately.
What does that response reveal?
What would a more mature response look like?
11. Obedience Before Command
Those who eventually give direction should learn how to receive it.
Consider the following:
Before correcting others, can I receive correction?
Before requiring accountability, am I accountable?
Before asking others to keep commitments, do I keep mine?
Before expecting submission, do I understand how to submit rightly?
Reflection
Which of these areas most needs growth?
12. Authority Has Boundaries
Healthy authority is always limited.
A leader may have responsibility in one area without having authority over every area of another person's life.
Complete the following.
One area where I legitimately carry authority is:
One area where I do not have authority is:
One relationship where boundaries need to become clearer is:
Why are boundaries important?
13. Case Study — The Unaccountable Leader
Pastor James leads a growing ministry.
Because the ministry is successful, few people question him.
Over time, he begins making major financial and personnel decisions without consulting the board.
When challenged, he responds:
God gave me the vision. I cannot allow committees to interfere with what God told me to do.
Discussion Questions
What is the primary authority problem?
Does vision eliminate accountability?
What danger can success create?
What structure should be restored?
How might James respond if he truly understood authority as stewardship?
14. Case Study — Submission or Control?
Nina serves under a ministry leader who tells team members that questioning his decisions demonstrates rebellion.
He expects them to consult him about personal matters unrelated to ministry responsibility.
When Nina expresses concern, she is told:
If you were truly submitted, you would trust my authority.
Discussion Questions
Is this healthy submission?
What boundaries are being crossed?
How is the language of authority being misused?
What rights and responsibilities does Nina still possess?
What would healthy leadership look like instead?
15. Case Study — Resistance to Correction
Marcus has significant leadership ability.
He serves faithfully until someone corrects him.
When corrected, he becomes distant, stops communicating, and begins questioning the authority of those who challenged him.
Discussion Questions
What does Marcus' reaction reveal?
Is gifting enough to qualify him for greater authority?
What formation does he need?
How could a mentor address this relationally?
What would progress look like?
16. Principle vs. Mechanism
The Principle
Kingdom authority remains under authority.
Authority should be accountable, delegated, bounded, and exercised as stewardship.
Possible Mechanisms
This principle may be expressed through:
elders,
boards,
pastoral teams,
supervisors,
mentors,
councils,
reporting relationships,
written policies,
accountability meetings,
peer relationships.
No single mechanism guarantees healthy authority.
Application
What mechanism currently provides accountability in your environment?
Is it functioning well?
Why or why not?
What could strengthen it?
17. Leadership Safeguard — Submission Is Not Blind Obedience
Human authority is never absolute.
Ultimate allegiance belongs to God.
Submission does not require participation in:
sin,
dishonesty,
abuse,
violence,
manipulation,
financial misconduct,
deception,
or the concealment of wrongdoing.
The apostles declared:
“We ought to obey God rather than men.”
Reflection
Why is this safeguard essential?
Can questioning a leader ever be an act of faithfulness rather than rebellion?
Explain.
18. Submission and Discernment
Healthy maturity requires both humility and discernment.
Complete the contrasts.
Submission without discernment can become:
Discernment without humility can become:
Healthy maturity seeks:
Give one example of how you can respectfully question something while remaining honorable.
19. Formation Exercise — Authority Audit
Choose one area where you currently exercise authority.
Area of responsibility:
Source
Who or what entrusted this responsibility?
Purpose
Why does this authority exist?
Boundary
Where does this authority stop?
Accountability
Who can evaluate how you use it?
Stewardship
What would faithful use of this authority look like?
Risk
How might this authority become unhealthy if accountability disappeared?
20. Formation Exercise — Receiving Authority
Choose one area where you are under legitimate authority.
Person or structure:
What responsibility does that authority legitimately carry?
What responsibility remains yours?
Where do you need greater clarity?
Are there any unhealthy expectations that need to be addressed?
21. Personal Application
Complete each sentence.
One area where I need greater accountability is:
One person I need to give permission to challenge me is:
One area where I resist legitimate authority is:
One area where I may have exceeded my own authority is:
One boundary I need to establish more clearly is:
22. Seven-Day Formation Practice
For seven days, practice Authority Under Authority.
Day 1 — Accountability
Identify one trusted person who can speak honestly into your leadership.
Who?
Day 2 — Correction
Ask:
“What is one leadership habit I may not see clearly?”
Write what you hear.
Day 3 — Boundaries
Identify one responsibility that belongs to you and one that does not.
Mine:
Not mine:
Day 4 — Submission
Practice receiving one legitimate instruction without defensiveness.
What did you learn?
Day 5 — Stewardship
Before making a leadership decision, ask:
Am I acting like an owner or a steward?
Reflection
Day 6 — Accountability Check
Review one decision with someone you trust.
What did they see that you missed?
Day 7 — Review
What did this week reveal about your relationship with authority?
23. Journal Reflection
How do I respond when someone has legitimate authority over an area of my life?
What would become dangerous if my current influence increased without greater accountability?
Where have I confused authority with ownership?
24. Formation Checkpoint
Rate yourself from 1 to 5.
1 = Needs significant formation 3 = Developing 5 = Demonstrated consistently
Alignment
I understand that my authority must remain aligned with Christ and the purpose entrusted.
Rating: ______
Character
I can receive correction without immediately becoming defensive.
Rating: ______
Relationship
I maintain accountable relationships where truth can be spoken honestly.
Rating: ______
Multiplication
I model accountable authority for those I am developing.
Rating: ______
Which score requires the most attention?
What action will you take?
25. Review Questions
What did the centurion understand about authority?
Why is delegated authority different from ownership?
What does under before over mean?
Why is submission not the same as inferiority?
Why should greater authority require greater accountability?
What is one example of a legitimate authority boundary?
Why is blind obedience dangerous?
What is the relationship between discernment and submission?
Name one mechanism that can provide accountability.
How does stewardship change the way authority is exercised?
26. Unit Assessment
Alignment
Do you understand the source, purpose, and boundaries of the authority you presently carry?
Character
What does your response to correction reveal about your maturity?
Relationship
Who can speak truth into your leadership without fear of retaliation or withdrawal?
Multiplication
How can you model accountable authority for someone you are developing?
27. Personal Commitment
Write one specific commitment based on this unit.
I will:
What behavior will demonstrate progress?
Who will help hold you accountable?
28. Formation Declaration
I recognize that Kingdom authority is entrusted, not owned. I will learn to function faithfully under authority before seeking greater responsibility. I will remain accountable to Christ, Scripture, righteous order, and healthy relationships. I will not use submission to justify control, nor will I use independence to escape accountability. I will exercise authority as stewardship, within proper boundaries, for the good of people and the purposes of God.
29. Prayer
Father, teach me to carry authority as stewardship. Form humility within me so that I can receive correction, remain accountable, and recognize the limits of my responsibility. Deliver me from both rebellion and unhealthy control. Give me discernment to recognize legitimate authority and courage to resist what contradicts Your truth. Help me become a leader who can be trusted because I am willing to remain under righteous authority while faithfully carrying what You have entrusted to me. In Jesus' name, amen.
Moving Forward — RLA-W04
Relationship has established the environment.
Alignment has established shared purpose.
Authority under authority has established accountability and order.
But structure alone cannot make authority safe.
The inner life of the leader must also be able to carry the weight of influence.
RLA-W04 — Character Before Influence
The next unit examines integrity, humility, self-control, truthfulness, teachability, and the principle that influence should not expand faster than character is being formed.