Craig

Cheryl@105,
You said
“Mark’s point seems to be that the warning to not be “lording it over” others proves that taking authority over others was an expectation for church leaders.”
Can it be “having authority” rather than “taking authority”?
You then said
“If this was the case, one would expect that Jesus would have told the disciples how to take authority without lording it over others.”
Could it be that he tells them how to exercise authority by saying that it needs to be in totally the opposite way to what the world does- through “humble, sacrificial, loving service”- and not “lording it over”.
He is either saying “there is no authority” or He is saying “there is authority, but it is exercised through servanthood.” Do authority and servanthood need to be opposites in the kingdom of God? They are in the world, but God’s Kingdom is not of this world.