Under Authority
The quiet responsibility we cannot delegate
Beloved Friend,
It is another week, and I have been reflecting on the many things we outsource without a second thought.
Laundry can be sent out.
Meals can be ordered.
Errands can be delegated.
Cleaning can be outsourced.
Groceries can be delivered.
Convenience has become part of modern living, and in many ways, it frees us to focus on what matters.
Still, I am reminded that there are certain things that cannot be outsourced.
Inner work is one of them. Growth is personal. Healing is personal. Formation is personal. No one can repent on our behalf. No one can surrender for us. No one can build our character while we remain passive observers.
Our spirituality belongs in that category.
Knowing God cannot be delegated and intimacy with Him cannot be transferred. Scripture says to draw near to God and He will draw near to you. That invitation is personal. It is not addressed to our pastors, mentors, or spiritual leaders on our behalf.
There is beauty in guidance. God gives shepherds to the body. Counsel is wise. Instruction is valuable. Scripture tells us that in the multitude of counselors there is safety. Still, guidance was never designed to replace connection.
I have seen moments where disappointment grows when someone placed deep spiritual dependence on a person rather than on God. When that person falters, struggles, or missteps, the response is not grief or prayer. It becomes resentment. Faith collapses alongside the individual they leaned on.
At times, this happens because spirituality was outsourced.
Decisions were handed over.
Discernment was delegated.
Prayer was replaced with consultation.
Seeking God personally became secondary to receiving direction externally.
That weight was never meant for human shoulders to carry.
Spiritual leadership should guide us toward God, not stand in His place. Even Paul commended believers who searched the Scriptures themselves to confirm what they were taught. Personal grounding was celebrated, not bypassed.
Relationship with God requires participation.
Listening requires stillness and discernment requires engagement.
This is not work that can be done by proxy.
There are things in life that cannot be transferred, no matter how convenient outsourcing becomes. Intimacy in marriage cannot be delegated and trust cannot be borrowed.
Connection still demands presence.
This week should remind you:
To seek God for ourselves.
To pray personally.
To wrestle with Scripture firsthand.
To confirm in our own hearts what we receive from others.
It is my hope that, we appreciate those who guide us but never replace God with them and I pray our roots grow deep enough that our faith stands, regardless of who stands beside us.
With thoughts of kindness,
ABBA’s Shofar