Thinking of Egypt and Facebook and Authority

Earlier this afternoon (Tuesday), BBC News reported that "Egyptian protesters are holding huge rallies in Cairo and other cities as they step up their efforts to force President Hosni Mubarak from power." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12331520  I hope you've heard the reports and seen some of the images.  These events are potentially earthshaking for Egypt and the Middle East.  Let's keep the people in these regions in our prayers.

One of the remarkable things about what's happening in Egypt today is that much of the impetus for these events has come from young people who are connecting with one another on Facebook and other social media sites.  Instead of moving from the 'top down,' as these things usually do, this uprising is swirling up from the grass roots, much as it did in Tunisia.  Once again, we're seeing how the internet makes an entirely different kind of connecting possible.  

In her recent book Reframing Hope, author Carol Howard Merritt describes some of the ways that web-based technologies are transforming the ways we think about authority and community.  Carol is a pastor in the Washington D.C. area who utilizes web-based tools like blogging (check out her blog, http://tribalchurch.org), Facebook and Twitter to connect with others who are praying and working for the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  She suggests that the grass-roots connecting that the internet makes possible (such as we are seeing today in Egypt) gives expression to a different kind of authority than that which is traditionally associated with churches.  Traditionally, authority in churches traveled from the top down.  In some churches this meant that the pastor told people what to do, and then they were supposed to do it.  In this new paradigm, authority is empowering and generative.  Whenever people connect around a powerful story or a great idea, energy and action is generated.

I can't help but think that this 'grass-roots' notion of authority lines up beautifully, in many ways, with the narrative of Jesus.  Because Christians have been confessing Jesus as 'Christ' and 'Lord' for some 2,000 years, it's easy to forget that Jesus was a lay-minister, an itinerant preacher who went about Galilee proclaiming to peasants that the reign of God was near.  Some who heard him said that he spoke 'with authority'--but they were quick to note that it was not like the authority of the religious leaders.  His authority did not come from the top of the religious hierarchy down to the masses, but rather generated and empowered a movement of men, women and children who in turn prayed and worked for God's will to be done on earth as in heaven. 

The authority I'm attempting to describe is one that authors us (think of the connection between 'authority' and 'authoring').  It is the authority of the vine that gives life to the branches.  It generates possibility and creativity.  It empowers people to become more authentic (note, again, the connections between authority/authentic). 

As you can see, I'm doing a good deal of thinking about authority these days. I'm trying to imagine what it might look like when this kind of authority takes root in faith communities.  I'd love to hear your thoughts about that.