My message this morning is, “When those above you are idiots.” We all live under authority. Parents, bosses, government, church leadership - there is no such thing as a society without any measure of authority. Authority is one of the restraining factors in this world that keep us from drifting into chaos. We all live under authority, and that means we all have experienced both the blessing and curse of authority. Authority is a blessing when it leads to prosperity and safety. But there will be times when you will face the unfortunate reality that the ones to whom you are required to submit make decisions that are foolish, arrogant, harmful or downright wrong in your eyes.

And this, “in your eyes” is important. Because whether or not the people above you are actually idiots, there are days when you think that they are because they are not listening to you. You never think the people above you are idiots when they listen to you - only when they are not listening to you do they magically transform into idiots.

Your perspective on power and wisdom changes when you are the one in power. Remember being a kid and thinking that your parents knew everything? Then you become a parent and you’re like - ok, when is all of this knowledge supposed to kick in? Or you’re the boss and you realize that you actually have no idea what you are doing?

This perspective is what makes Ecclesiastes 8 very interesting, because Solomon is writes a chapter basically around the theme - what to do when your boss is an idiot … and Solomon’s the boss! He is the king! and this is not a democracy - he has absolute power. However, he also knows he doesn’t have absolute wisdom, or absolute righteousness. Yet neither did his advisors. And neither do you. So power without wisdom - somebody is going to get hurt, and somebody does. Look at the key verse in the section: Ecc 8:9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.

Chapter 8 must be read with Chapter 7 in mind.Its been a couple of weeks, but the second half of chapter seven argued that none of us are absolutely righteous or absolutely wise. This means your boss is not. Your king is not. Your Prime Minister is not. Your parents are not. And it also means that you are not. Yet we live in these hierarchical relationships of authorities in which sinful and foolish people work for sinful and foolish people. This itself s part of the hebel of life. So what do we do when those above us our idiots?