Charasmatic Authority

Society saves a more special, exclusive place in its collective heart for this one. This type of authority is usually saved for people who Oprah refers to as “The One.” Not many people get to be looked upon as an intrinsic motivation for other people, like those with charismatic authority do. These kinds of people end up being role models and live lives larger to their followers than they would when filling a role other than their charismatic one. Joseph Smith, for example, is a standout, historically, because his followers saw in him something that no one else really cared about: his diving calling. They don’t say that he was simply a good man or a loving person. There were lots of those in the 1800s. Those who grant Smith charismatic authority do so as a byproduct of his calling as a prophet chosen by God.
I see charismatic authority as perhaps the most important and sought-after type of authority. We resent the cops for their legal-rational authority. We are defiant to our parents, with their traditional authority. But charismatic authority must be freely given, and only by those who will become subject to such authority. Trust and charismatic authority go hand-in-hand. There is not one without the other. Home teaching is a clear example of this. I don’t expect the people whom I home teach to automatically feel comfortable talking about their problems with me, just because I’m assigned to be their home teacher. I don’t expect them to come to my companion and me to request a blessing just because we come once a month to visit for 15 minutes. I expect to be required to earn their trust in order for our relationship to merit a request, like a blessing; or even a ride to the airport or changing a tire.
The power from charismatic authority comes in the relationship between the person in authority and the person granting authority. It is not granted by the bureaucracy; it is not intrinsic within us from birth or instilled by society. It is so powerful that we often forget completely about the actual position that a charismatic person has. We think of Martin Luther King Jr. as a civil rights activist more than a pastor. We think of Mother Theresa as a great humanitarian rather than a nun. We think of Barack Obama as the Messiah rather than the President (just kidding). I think of my brothers as a friend rather than my brothers. These examples show that charismatic authority will over-shadow the other two types of authority.