Neal Pollard

One of the fond memories I have from my first local work was attending a gospel meeting in a tiny block building in York, Alabama, conducted by the late gospel preacher and teacher, W. Gaddys Roy.  He was talking about authority that evening, and a member of a nearby non-institutional congregation took umbrage with some of brother Roy’s lesson.  Particularly, the brother did not like the idea that eating in a church building was a matter of opinion.  He thought it was a matter of faith, and his question for brother Roy was, “Where’s your authority to eat in the building?”  Brother Roy said, “Where’s your authority for the building?” The brother pressed his point, but ignored brother Roy’s question.

Sometimes, we hear people asking “where is your authority?” for something when they have misunderstood that the Bible authorizes generically as well as specifically.  In fact, a…