Living Faith – Exercising Your Office Within the Church (power & authority)

Part of having a living faith is to be an active member of the Church. The Church – the Body of Christ – participates in Jesus’ mission as priest, prophet and king. It is the steward that takes care of the Kingdom while the King is away. While the ultimate authority in the Church was given to Peter and the Apostles – and therefore to the Pope and the bishops – every Christian shares in the role as steward. We all have an office to fill.

What Is an Office

In their excellent “Called & Gifted” workshop, Sherry Weddell and Fr. Michael Sweeney discuss what it means to hold an office in the Church. Father Sweeney teaches that an office is

A specific Role – An office calls you to do specific things within a specific jurisdiction. We’ll talk more about this later.

Bestowed upon us – An office is not ours by right or by nature. It is always bestowed on us by another power. Within the Church, God bestows the office through the Church.

That makes us “official” vicars – The word “office” comes from the same root as “official.” Anyone with an office in the Church is an official spokesperson of the Church. This doesn’t mean that each of us has the authority to interpret or change Church teachings on our own initiative. It means that we have the power and the duty to communicate to others what we know that the Church really teaches. More specifically, anyone who holds an office within the Church acts and speaks in the name of God. We call the pope the “Vicar of Christ” because he holds the highest office in the Church. But anyone who holds an office is a vicar of Christ. When we act and speak within our office, we act and speak in the name of Jesus – as his vicar.

How Is the Office Exercised?

Especially within Christ’s Church, an office is always directed toward others for the sake of others. In other words, it is a position of servant leadership. To exercise an office for personal gain is to abuse the position. To exercise our office faithfully, we must

1. Be true to Christ and his Church – not adapting or warping the message to fit our own desires or perceptions.

2. Act in service of others – for their own authentic good.

How is Your Office Part of a Living Faith?

Words like “office” and “vicar” sound too much like stuffy human administration to make us think of adventure. So let’s look at it from a slightly different angle. When you were baptized and confirmed, you were given the power and the authority to act as Jesus acted. Think of the apostles after Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47) – empowered by the Holy Spirit. They healed. They cast out demons. They taught. They evangelized. They governed the Church. In short, they lived the adventure of carrying on the work of Christ. That’s what you and I are called to do. But we are not all called to do the same things. We are each uniquely equipped by the Spirit to carry out our part of this office. How you are equipped and how you are called is exactly what you have to discern if you are going to embrace the adventure of your faith.

Your Challenge

Your office depends on your vocation and state of life. Priests exercise a share in the office of the bishop. Religious exercise a special office according to their order’s relationship with the Pope. The laity exercise an office to speak on behalf of Jesus within the secular world. Do an examination of conscience. How active have you been in exercising your office? How bold are you in living faith?

Your Next Action Step

The course “The Adventure of Faith” from the Keys to Spiritual Growth series offers you practical strategies for clarifying and living more intensely your office, your vocation, and your mission. You can get started really easily with the free “Keys to Spiritual Growth” course. This course will introduce you to all five of the most important areas of spirituality that we need to nurture if we want to deepen our relationship with God. Click here to register for this free course, then consider enrolling in the full course “The Adventure of Faith.” Discover the adventure of an active, living faith!