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by Charlie Wolcott

Two years ago, when my church celebrated the anniversary of our founding, we brought in a guest speaker to preach a word of encouragement and to launch us into a new phase. That evening, he spoke to the volunteers of the church on how to serve, how to have the right mindset, and how to lead. Yet I heard of comments being made after the fact wondering why the speaker did not speak about how to pray, how to study the Bible, how to trust God, and things like that. The response I heard to that stuck in my mind: those things should be givens. Why should he have gone over the basics with the leaders of the church that should already be putting those things into practice?

This is the issue the author of Hebrews is facing as he wrote this book. He rebukes the church because they kept wanting to stay at the basics and he wanted to go over the even deeper riches that can be found in Christ. But he could not because they were not mature enough to handle the meat of the faith, still having to drink milk. What was he saying? The church was still spiritual babies after numerous years and were not showing signs of growth. This is a big reason why Hebrews has so many warnings against falling away mixed in with the key theological statements of the first ten chapters.

Today’s topic of authority, the laying on of hands, is rarely addressed often due to fear of associating with particular charismatic movement leaders that we have a right to be skeptical over. I honestly cannot think of a sermon I have heard or a book I have read that specifically deals with the laying on of hands appropriately. So, in a way, I am still learning the basics of this teaching. This is the teaching regarding giving authority, giving a blessing, and passing on of power to another.

There is something about a physical touch that imbues power. When the woman with bleeding desperately sought Jesus, she believed she just needed to touch the hem of His garment for healing. Jesus felt power flow out of Him that was unique from the touching of everyone else around Him. I have experienced something like that too. Back in 2007, I was witnessing to a co-worker and ended up stirring up a demonic entity that had been lying dormant in his life. At one point, he stood upright, pointed his finger at me, and a demon spoke through him. Being a fencer, my instinct kicked in and I “parried” his hand, pushing it aside, and he shook and dropped in an instant. In the long run I could not drive the demon out, and part of that was this co-worker never gave me the authority to drive it out. That whole story takes an hour to tell in its own right. But as I put this post together, that instance came to mind because one touch showcased power.

The laying on of hands is usually used for two purposes: for healing of the sick and more so for the establishing of authority and the sending out for a purpose. I’m going to emphasize on the latter issue. It is a serious issue to lay hands on someone for the purpose of establishing authority and one that should never be taken lightly. Eric Ludy has a great sermon about leadership titled “Five Smooth Stones” where he uses David’s preparation for facing Goliath as a template for sending out prepared leaders, not novices. Paul warns of the danger of laying on of hands on someone too hastily. If that young leader sins (very different issue than paying your dues and going through those struggles), then the leaders who appointed him and gave him said authority partakes in that sin and will be responsible for helping to clean up the mess. Every time God established His spokesperson, while He used broken and frail people, He took the time training them before releasing them. The average training period was 40 years. God took leadership positions seriously.

There is another danger to the laying on of hands: no one should readily seek it. Leadership should humble us, yet many seek the power without understanding the responsibilities that go with it. Leadership is a lonely position. Those whom God called frequently didn’t want it in part because they knew what it meant. It often meant being hated and despised while having to speak the unpopular message.

There is a third danger to the laying on of hands: when it comes from the wrong people. When someone gets “baptized into the Mormon church,” it comes with the laying of hands by the elders. This is supposedly to receive the Holy Spirit, however, it most certainly is not a spirit from God. It is rather a spirit of deception. In Paul’s time, Ananias the High Priest sought to destroy Paul and over forty men took a vow to not eat until they had killed him. The spirit of evil that rested upon Ananias leapt upon these men, but needless to say, they never succeeded. Be very careful about whom you receive a “blessing” from.

Now I am not going to knock the laying on of hands, because obviously this is a foundational doctrine according to Hebrews. However, because of the many abuses, many pastors have shied away from speaking on it. There are “faith healers” who love to lay their hands on people and pray for them that they may be healed, but they have done nothing to seek God’s opinion on the matter on what He wants to do. However, we must train a younger generation to take on the Kingdom’s work and to equip them for the task. Such equipping involves giving them the authority to do what they need to do, however, they must be trained and prove to be ready to handle such authority lest pride overtakes them and they fall.

There is so much more to say about this, but I don’t have the space nor the knowledge to give it proper justice. This is a basic teaching that still ties into all the others and is necessary to be able to dig deeper and go beyond just laying down a foundation of faith that has no structure and no practiced Christian life on top of it. We need our leaders to lay hands on us and commission us to take God’s work into this world. But we also need to be patient and wait for God to be the one to send us. He will equip us and He will send us when He determines when we are ready.

Next week, I’ll look at the last two doctrines: the resurrection of the dead and the judgment since they go together.

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