1Pe 5:5 NLT
…you younger men must accept the authority of the elders.
The NLT rightly recognizes the authority (singular) of the church as being resident amongst the elders (plural). Paul the apostle himself, one who declares himself to have been granted authority by God…
Ga 1:1 I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.
…recognizes and submits himself to the authority of the elders team in the local church and seeks their agreement and backing of his ministry.
Ga 2:2 I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. 3 And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.
Paul who says…
Tit 1:5 I left you on the island of Crete so you could complete our work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you.
...followed the practice himself of appointing elders, (plural) in individual churches.
Ac 14:23 Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
This is the example he set as a pattern, not as mere description, but as prescription.
Php 3:17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.
1Co 11:1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.
Paul would not and does not praise, democracy in the church, or congregationalism as it is known, nor does he leave it up for grabs. God does not desire the confusion and leadership vacuum that congregationalism causes. He does command…
Heb 13:17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
Introducing a system of Church government into a church constitution that removes authority from the elders and places it in the hands of voting church members ensures that the church will lack God’s benefit and blessing in this regard.
For a teaching elder to fail to point this out, is for him to build the church with wood, hay, and straw, rather than the precious word of God. It is to build the life of the church on sinking sand rather than solid rock.
1Co 3:11 for no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. 12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.
Mt 7:26 But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.
The polarization that occurs in a people group where the authority structure is in question and where the use of authority is required to make decisions and maintain purity, destroys unity and faith rather than building them up as the design of God intends.
Ephesians 4:11 now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
If you are considered “the” pastor (singular) of a local church, this is a call to repentance and an encouragement to do the hard work of leading your church to change its constitution. This is a call to biblically empower the team of elders with equal authority and mutual godly, accountability and lead your congregation toward the benefit that God’s truth is destined to ignite in his church.
Jas 4:17 Anyone then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
John 5:14 ...stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.
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3 comments:
I agree. Following God's plan is the only way we will see fruit.
The way the blog is written it seems almost like the congregation is not allowed to come forward with questions, concerns, or observations. How do you maintain exclusive control by the leaders yet still make people feel valued. Without some sort of input, how does one have buy-in and become engaged in the local church?
Does Exodus 18 fulfill both the exclusive control of the leaders as well as expanding responsibility to include a greater pool of individuals to minister the needs of the people?
Exodus 18: 17-23
17 Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. 21 But select capable
men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate
dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied."
Acts 6:1-4 is about appointing deacons (servants) to deal with disputes and practical matters: 1In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
Acts 15
5 But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”….
Peter stood and addressed them as follows… God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit… It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God28………..It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Peter and the other leaders set a biblical example of taking into consideration the members of the congregation and their special needs so as not to “burden” them with a yoke beyond which they could bear.
These four requirements were ones that the Jews were especially concerned with so “This compromise helped the church grow unhindered by the cultural differences of Jews and Gentiles.” Application Study bible notes. Why would you need "democracy" in a church if the members needs were given this much consideration. Peter went so far as sending messengers with the letter to encourage these distressed believers in person.Do you think that a small group of leaders can successfully meet the needs of a growing church on their own?
"The polarization that occurs in a people group where the authority structure is in question and where the use of authority is required to make decisions and maintain purity, destroys unity and faith rather than building them up as the design of God intends."
I don't understand this statement. Are you saying that authority can maintain purity?
I thought that loving Christ and not wanting to hurt Him was the only way that purity to could be maintained?
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