Do you want to be an Expert or an Authority?

 We live in a world where there is an expert on any subject you can bring up. If you are reading this post you probably are an expert in your area of ministry. If you lead and work in a non-profit you probably are an expert in your organization at some aspect of the ministry. Some of us embrace that expert title and some of us can never imagine being called an expert at anything. Most of us are experts at something because we spend our lives doing some kind of work. This morning at the Story Conference Dan Wenzel (you can follow him on twitter / @davidvwenzel) said to be an expert all you need to do is move through three steps….
1. Know a TON OF INFORMATION!
2. Have authority when you speak about a subject
3. Present a contrarian viewpoint

Being an expert doesn’t sound so amazing anymore. Looks like anyone can be an expert. In our world that thrives on quick sound bytes that defend our belief system, many people just strive to be an expert. Maybe God wants more for us in ministry. Dan Wenzell made this statement today...

We need to move from being an expert to an authority.

An authority is so different from an expert. The only path to being an authority is through experience. It is a beautiful combination of knowledge, ability, and life lived, experience gained! Moving from being an EXPERT to becoming an AUTHORITY when it comes to serving Christ means we choose to be led by the Holy Spirit, we choose to obey. You become an authority in spiritual terms, with Christ through obedience…through experience…through hard times…through adventure. God doesn’t need more experts he wants to develop authorities that will declare his goodness! If you are an expert in ministry BUT you don’t have authority given by Jesus Christ then you are only playing your own game. Nothing wrong with experts but maybe God has a better plan for those of us who are called to lead.