One of my favourite questions is:

“Who gives you the authority?”

I’ve finally found a better answer.

Whoever needed to be given authority in the first place.

Don’t you have your own?

And secondly, if you possess your own authority, are you not capable of using your discernment to grant mine or deny mine?

If not, then what exactly are we discussing?

Because the question often reveals more about the person asking it than the person receiving it.

Many people assume authority is something that only exists when handed down by a recognised institution, title, badge, office, committee, publication, organisation, or hierarchy.

But every day people exercise authority.

Authority to think.

Authority to question.

Authority to agree.

Authority to disagree.

Authority to listen.

Authority to ignore.

Authority to stay.

Authority to leave.

Authority to grant legitimacy.

Authority to withhold legitimacy.

The irony is that the same person asking “Who gave you the authority?” is simultaneously exercising their own authority to decide whether they believe you.

They are already doing the thing they claim requires permission.

So perhaps the better question isn’t:

“Who gave you the authority?”

Perhaps the better question is:

“Do I have enough discernment to evaluate what is being presented without outsourcing my thinking to someone else?”

If the answer is yes, then grant it or deny it.

If the answer is no, then authority was never the issue.

Discernment was.