Authority or Rebellion

The themes of authority or rebellion keep coming to me. Several weeks ago I was led to go through all the words of Jesus (often printed in red letters) in the gospels and elsewhere to compile all of His commands. I found it instructive to discover just how authoritative Jesus was. Whether with individuals or groups, he was constantly giving commands or warnings. Some months prior I was similarly led to work through the letters to Timothy and Titus. I found at least a dozen examples in those short epistles of Paul telling Timothy or Titus to tell other people what to do. Jesus came preaching the kingdom . (e.g.  Mark 1:15) A kingdom implies a king and a king is someone whom you obey. Repeatedly in John 14, Jesus says, "If you love Me, obey My commands." (verses 15, 21,23) And this is the just the tip of the iceberg of references to authority in the NT.
    Now people say, and I have done this also- "I do what Jesus, or the Holy Spirit," tells me to do. Well and good, but the usual corollary is that the person is not accountable to any human authority. After many years in the faith, the last thirteen in the house church movement, I have come to the conclusion that if we are not accountable to any human, we are kidding ourselves that we are submitting to Christ.
     Unfortunately the house church movement, and the American Church as a whole seems resolutely opposed to this idea that any human can tell us what to do. Our flesh rebels against this idea as mine has done for years. But I find now that I want the covering- someone in my life who knows me, cares about my spiritual welfare, and to whom I am going to yield because I see the fruit in their life as they follow Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1) I desire to bear better and lasting fruit. Anarchy- doing my own thing- is not going to produce the fruit that God wants.