Authority in vocation

So many discussions of vocations that speak of authority degenerate into arguments about “who has to obey whom.” They forget what Jesus Himself teaches about authority, that it must not be a matter of “lording over” someone, which is how non-believers treat authority, as just another form of power. Rather, authority–in the church, the state, the workplace, and the family–is to be used in service to the one you have authority over. So says

Matthew 20:25-27:

And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servan and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”