The Secret to Wielding the Highest Authority

Spiritual Advantage with Sam Stone

A friend told me that there are three levels of authority. Generalist Authority, Specialist Authority, and Celebrity Authority. Using doctors as examples, a Generalist doctor has an average authority and charges what average doctors charge.

A Specialist could charge you much more because they have more authority, and people trust them more for their specialty.

A Celebrity doctor, however, commands a higher authority because they are popular and much sought after. Whatever they say, people tend to believe. For example, Dr. Phil is one of the celebrity doctors. Even though he is pretty big, everybody listens to him when he gives advice on weight loss. That’s the power of Celebrity Authority!

What type of authority do you have in your field? Your authority gives you leverage on the message you want to deliver. Everyone is born with a unique message to deliver, whether you are a parent or president. But not everyone has the same level of authority to make the most influence.

As a follower of Christ, you have a message to deliver, and I am sure you desire the highest possible authority. I have discovered how to attain maximum authority even if you are not a celebrity, specialist, or generalist.

Even if you are a nobody, you can still harness the highest authority to deliver your message. Let me begin with another provocative parable of Zhuangzi, my favorite philosopher of the 4th century BCE.

Zhuangzi was strolling in the woods near a chestnut orchard and suddenly saw a bird flying above him. Despite a seven-foot wingspan and a pair of big eyes, the bird seems unable to fly high and see well. It didn’t notice the man below.

Out of curiosity, Zhuangzi took out his slingshot to hunt the bird down. Then he discovered the bird was focusing on catching a mantis on a tree branch. Then he noticed the mantis was sneaking toward a singing cicada for lunch.

All of a sudden, Zhuangzi had a glimpse of awakening that upset him. He put away his slingshot and left the place quickly. Then he heard the gardener of the orchard yelling at him for trespassing. He ran home feeling miserable for several days.

His student asked, “Master, you looked unhappy for several days. What happened?” The sage told him about his experience in the orchard, describing a cicada focusing on showing off its singing voice, unaware that a mantis was about to eat it.

The mentis, on the other hand, was so fixated on its food that it failed to notice the bird behind him. Again, the bird was so fixated on its prey, unaware that a man was hunting it down. Then he felt a chill in his spine, feeling someone must be after him.

As he left, he heard the gardener yelling at him for trespassing. He realized when he was in someone’s orchard, he must follow the owner’s rules. (End of the story.)

What is Zhuangzi trying to teach here? In the context of this story, he wants us to realize that a higher authority is watching us from behind. As creatures, we fixate on the object before us and neglect the subject behind us. He had a profound realization that it kept him in deep thought for several days and transformed the way he live his life.

Zhuangzi was an esteemed sage and a celebrity authority of his time. Even the king came asking him to be the prime minister of the kingdom. Yet, his celebrity authority is nowhere near the authority of the gardener of the orchard he trespassed into.

Like an anion, this story could trigger multiple layers of enlightenment. The orchard is a metaphor for the world we live in. It belongs to the Creator of the universe, who is watching over us. All authority belongs to Him and his servants.