Mark 11 -- who's in charge, here?

A nerd joke goes like this:

There are 10 kinds of people in the world:
Those who understand binary,
And those who don't.

Max Weber wrote about the three kinds of leaders who guide societies. There are those who derive their authority from tradition -- the village elders, the local priest. There are also bureaucratic leaders -- those whose position is defined by some kind of organizational handbook, and org chart. Finally, there are the charismatic leaders, who are admired, envied, and hated because they influence folks without even breaking a sweat. People simply want to be around them.

Weber, good German that he was, preached the virtues of bureaucratic systems, bureaucratic leaders. A well-organized society is like a well-regulated machine, running smoothly, humming along efficiently, achieving the purposes its designers intend. Every component knows its place and function. If one part breaks, it can be quickly replaced with another identical part.

No one denies that the Nazi death camps were models of efficiency.

John Taylor Gatto, twice New York's Teacher of the Year (once for the Big Apple, once for the entire state), knows how factory systems for processing human beings work. How human beings are converted into docile components for The Machine. His book The Underground History of American Education spells out the open conspiracy, and the conspirators. Many of the folks responsible for creating the system were the wild cards, the jokers, the unpredictable geniuses who created vast wealth for their nations, and for themselves -- Rockefeller. Ford. Edison. Carnegie. And wanted to rig the system to make sure that folks like themselves never happened again.

Jesus just rolled into town "like he owned the place." The status quo is losing credibility, and he claims to be its undertaker, as well as the midwife for the new order. So, just who does he think he is?

Mar 11:27,28 Yine Yeruşalim'e geldiler. İsa tapınakta gezinirken başkâhinler, din bilginleri ve ileri gelenler O'nun yanına gelip, "Bunları hangi yetkiyle yapıyorsun, bunları yapma yetkisini sana kim verdi?" diye sordular.
Mar 11:29 İsa da onlara, "Size bir soru soracağım" dedi. "Bana yanıt verin, ben de size bunları hangi yetkiyle yaptığımı söylerim.
Mar 11:30 Yahya'nın vaftiz etme yetkisi Tanrı'dan mıydı, insanlardan mı? Yanıt verin bana."
Mar 11:31 Bunu aralarında şöyle tartışmaya başladılar: "'Tanrı'dan' dersek, 'Öyleyse ona niçin inanmadınız?' diyecek.
Mar 11:32 Yok eğer 'İnsanlardan' dersek..." Halkın tepkisinden korkuyorlardı. Çünkü herkes Yahya'yı gerçekten peygamber sayıyordu.
Mar 11:33 İsa'ya, "Bilmiyoruz" diye yanıt verdiler. İsa da onlara, "Ben de size bunları hangi yetkiyle yaptığımı söylemeyeceğim" dedi.

One loose cannon points to another. Charisma is unpredictable, and does not ask permission to pursue its vision.