A few weeks ago I was listening to two ministers, both from different mainline denominations, speak about their Church experiences. In both cases the ministers were speaking about failed leadership. In both cases they came into (one appointed and one hired) a particular church, both Churches were, according to them, struggling due to low numbers. In both cases these ministers had come into these Churches with a specific vision. They, like most of us, have heard the strategies like implementing artistic programs, making the Church more seeker friendly, changing marketing strategies, etc (in the meetings in question were discussing those very strategies). So they went into these, supposedly struggling, churches with a plan, that they would implement and they assumed the plan would be welcomed and obeyed. However, it didn't work out that way. Their plans failed. This was not the concern. The concern was that they and others in the room listening, assumed the problem was with the Church, both in a lack of submission to their leaders and their lack of desire to “do anything”. The way these leaders spoke about these congregations was difficult to hear. The jist was that “they failed because they didn't do what their pastors told them to do”. The real problem was not the members of the Church, the real problem was a lack of understanding about how the body of Christ works.
Leaders in the Church are subject to the demons of grandeur and authoritarianism. Which is, I believe is why Paul is given a thorn in his flesh. In 2 Corinthians 12:7 Paul says that his thorn was given to him to keep him from being conceited as he was given great revelations. It would have been easy for Paul to accept credit that was not due to him. After all, Paul was an apostle, a messenger. Paul, while bringing a great message was no more than a mail man carrying a letter with good news. Which is why in 1 Corinthians 1 he pleads with the Church not to follow men like him, but to follow Christ, not to say “I am of Paul or I am of Appolos” but that we are all of Christ.
It's no wonder, however, that leaders in the Church are prone to self-importance. We are called “leaders”. There are thousands of books directed at pastors, worship leaders, youth leaders, etc that talk about how to be effective “leaders”. We've even changed the vocabulary replacing Biblical titles like elders, deacons, overseers, preachers, evangelists, etc with CEO's, head pastor, head of staff, director of..., supreme unquestionable great high awesome worship leader (OK I made up that last one but you know where I am going).
We go to seminary or Bible college and we learn all these awesome strategies. Then we go into ministry and assume that we are then the only ones who has been given strategies. That somehow our training makes us the only visionary, the only one who can talk to God, the only one who can read the Bible and we shut out the voices of everyone else while elevating ourselves to the position of head. I even heard one Christian leader lately question the mental stability of the Christians around him because they had a different political opinion than himself.
By the way, Colosians 1:18 is pretty clear on the title of “head” anything as Christ is the only head of the Church, we are not a mutated two headed body, we have one head. We also have a clear statement on other titles as well. In recent years leaders in the Church have taken it upon themselves to create titles like “Spiritual father” or “Teacher” (Which is the translation of Rabbi). Jesus' own words in Matthew 23:9-10 are very specific on this subject. Don't call anyone father or teacher. Not to mention titles like “discipler” (as we are only disciples of Christ not of men [1 Corinthians 1]) or Shepherd (as Christ is the only “good shepherd”).
Yes, there certainly are titles in new testament Church. Bishop, elder, overseer, deacon, apostle, prophet, priest, and shepherd are all titles used in the early Church. The last two Priest and Shepherd are secondary titles as all disciples of Jesus are part of the “Royal Priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9), and Shepherd is actually used as a verb to describe what the eldership are to do (1 Peter 5). These however, do not imply a hierarchy, or any sort of prescribed alignment. In fact, the Bible is very, very clear on this in 1 Corinthians 12. In this it is clear that we are one body with Christ as the head. Again, in case we missed that, there is one head of the Church, one head pastor, one head of staff, one chief executive officer, one head of the Church and he is not me or you, he is Jesus. We all are ordered under him as one body working together. What are we working for? Not to climb the ladder of Church and denominational authority, not in order to get our great ideas heard and obeyed, not to shatter social ceilings, or even to walk in our parents footsteps, but rather we are gifted and called for the common good. Verses 22-25 remind us that we, as all members of the body, should care for an honour one another equally. I suppose this would mean if we have a pastors appreciation month we should also have a janitors appreciation month or a Sunday School teachers appreciation month, or a month to appreciate mom's whose husbands have to be on stage during Church while they try to wrangle their children alone month.
The question is, however, in light of what we have learned in the past few decades about efficiency and strategic models we have learned that the old way of doing Church is simply inefficient. The old model of decisions being made collectively through elected elders (who are men of Godly Character and experience) and deacons, to discern practical and spiritual implications of every decision is simply inefficient. Look at all the jokes about forming a committee to change a light bulb are out there. And the old way of doing denominations where you had an annual meeting where we all talked and, yes, even argued about the direction of the denomination, but where everyone had a say was, again, inefficient. In fact, what we have found in the Church was that a plurality of leadership can weigh down visionary movement (A great quote I've heard often quoted at conferences).
The Church should be a well oiled and efficient organisation, right? Well no! The Church is not an organisation at all, rather it is a living organism, therefore the models of efficient organisational practices do not apply. Again, as much as we seek to define the Church in terms of an organisation we actually have a definition from the Bible. Actually, two definitions. One, as mentioned before, is that we are a living body and like any living body we are in relationship, we are growing up as our creator sees fit and we have one head; Jesus Christ. We are also the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5), together submissive to his vision. Equally dependent on him. Yet, many Churches have done away completely with eldership and deacons, opting to serve a singular visionary leader. Some Churches have opted for leadership teams and CEO's or Head's of staff, making the only leaders in the Church the paid employees. While this may be efficient it is also disobedient and unBiblical. I suppose, going beyond this (while unBiblical should be the thing that convicts us most) it is also a prime environment for corruption, sin, and authoritarianism.
See if you enter into a leadership position with the assumption that you have the ideas and that everyone should obey your great ideas, you become the very kind of “leaders” Jesus warned about in Matthew 20:25. You are acting like a “Lord” or a boss, this is not what you are called to do. At no point in the Bible do we hear that Pastors (elders) are to be sole vision casters for the Church to be obeyed and served, in fact, the vision has been laid out for you already, and it came from none of us. The vision is clear. Matthew 28 “make disciples” How? By “baptising them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything [Jesus] commanded”. No matter how many books you've read or how much training you have, you cannot build on this vision. You are a teacher, preacher, counsellor, your position is within the body with Christ as your head, and with your brothers and sisters as your accountability. You teach the Gospel that others might learn and know how God is leading them.
Here's what we need to remember.
I wrestled with this writing. I write it in hopes that maybe someone may read it and search out the scriptures on the subject. I write it because I've spoken to countless believers who have been unable to live out the call that God has placed on their lives because of overbearing Church leaders and Church structures. At the same time, I am no authority, myself. So Suppose the purpose of this is the get people to honestly think about the structures we have set in our Churches and organisations and ask this is for the building up of the Church and is this the way God has ordained for us.
A few weeks ago I was listening to two ministers, both from different mainline denominations, speak about their Church experiences. In both cases the ministers were speaking about failed leadership. In both cases they came into (one appointed and one hired) a particular church, both Churches were, according to them, struggling due to low numbers. In both cases these ministers had come into these Churches with a specific vision. They, like most of us, have heard the strategies like implementing artistic programs, making the Church more seeker friendly, changing marketing strategies, etc (in the meetings in question were discussing those very strategies). So they went into these, supposedly struggling, churches with a plan, that they would implement and they assumed the plan would be welcomed and obeyed. However, it didn't work out that way. Their plans failed. This was not the concern. The concern was that they and others in the room listening, assumed the problem was with the Church, both in a lack of submission to their leaders and their lack of desire to “do anything”. The way these leaders spoke about these congregations was difficult to hear. The jist was that “they failed because they didn't do what their pastors told them to do”. The real problem was not the members of the Church, the real problem was a lack of understanding about how the body of Christ works.
Leaders in the Church are subject to the demons of grandeur and authoritarianism. Which is, I believe is why Paul is given a thorn in his flesh. In 2 Corinthians 12:7 Paul says that his thorn was given to him to keep him from being conceited as he was given great revelations. It would have been easy for Paul to accept credit that was not due to him. After all, Paul was an apostle, a messenger. Paul, while bringing a great message was no more than a mail man carrying a letter with good news. Which is why in 1 Corinthians 1 he pleads with the Church not to follow men like him, but to follow Christ, not to say “I am of Paul or I am of Appolos” but that we are all of Christ.
It's no wonder, however, that leaders in the Church are prone to self-importance. We are called “leaders”. There are thousands of books directed at pastors, worship leaders, youth leaders, etc that talk about how to be effective “leaders”. We've even changed the vocabulary replacing Biblical titles like elders, deacons, overseers, preachers, evangelists, etc with CEO's, head pastor, head of staff, director of..., supreme unquestionable great high awesome worship leader (OK I made up that last one but you know where I am going).
We go to seminary or Bible college and we learn all these awesome strategies. Then we go into ministry and assume that we are then the only ones who has been given strategies. That somehow our training makes us the only visionary, the only one who can talk to God, the only one who can read the Bible and we shut out the voices of everyone else while elevating ourselves to the position of head. I even heard one Christian leader lately question the mental stability of the Christians around him because they had a different political opinion than himself.
By the way, Colosians 1:18 is pretty clear on the title of “head” anything as Christ is the only head of the Church, we are not a mutated two headed body, we have one head. We also have a clear statement on other titles as well. In recent years leaders in the Church have taken it upon themselves to create titles like “Spiritual father” or “Teacher” (Which is the translation of Rabbi). Jesus' own words in Matthew 23:9-10 are very specific on this subject. Don't call anyone father or teacher. Not to mention titles like “discipler” (as we are only disciples of Christ not of men [1 Corinthians 1]) or Shepherd (as Christ is the only “good shepherd”).
Yes, there certainly are titles in new testament Church. Bishop, elder, overseer, deacon, apostle, prophet, priest, and shepherd are all titles used in the early Church. The last two Priest and Shepherd are secondary titles as all disciples of Jesus are part of the “Royal Priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9), and Shepherd is actually used as a verb to describe what the eldership are to do (1 Peter 5). These however, do not imply a hierarchy, or any sort of prescribed alignment. In fact, the Bible is very, very clear on this in 1 Corinthians 12. In this it is clear that we are one body with Christ as the head. Again, in case we missed that, there is one head of the Church, one head pastor, one head of staff, one chief executive officer, one head of the Church and he is not me or you, he is Jesus. We all are ordered under him as one body working together. What are we working for? Not to climb the ladder of Church and denominational authority, not in order to get our great ideas heard and obeyed, not to shatter social ceilings, or even to walk in our parents footsteps, but rather we are gifted and called for the common good. Verses 22-25 remind us that we, as all members of the body, should care for an honour one another equally. I suppose this would mean if we have a pastors appreciation month we should also have a janitors appreciation month or a Sunday School teachers appreciation month, or a month to appreciate mom's whose husbands have to be on stage during Church while they try to wrangle their children alone month.
The question is, however, in light of what we have learned in the past few decades about efficiency and strategic models we have learned that the old way of doing Church is simply inefficient. The old model of decisions being made collectively through elected elders (who are men of Godly Character and experience) and deacons, to discern practical and spiritual implications of every decision is simply inefficient. Look at all the jokes about forming a committee to change a light bulb are out there. And the old way of doing denominations where you had an annual meeting where we all talked and, yes, even argued about the direction of the denomination, but where everyone had a say was, again, inefficient. In fact, what we have found in the Church was that a plurality of leadership can weigh down visionary movement (A great quote I've heard often quoted at conferences).
The Church should be a well oiled and efficient organisation, right? Well no! The Church is not an organisation at all, rather it is a living organism, therefore the models of efficient organisational practices do not apply. Again, as much as we seek to define the Church in terms of an organisation we actually have a definition from the Bible. Actually, two definitions. One, as mentioned before, is that we are a living body and like any living body we are in relationship, we are growing up as our creator sees fit and we have one head; Jesus Christ. We are also the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5), together submissive to his vision. Equally dependent on him. Yet, many Churches have done away completely with eldership and deacons, opting to serve a singular visionary leader. Some Churches have opted for leadership teams and CEO's or Head's of staff, making the only leaders in the Church the paid employees. While this may be efficient it is also disobedient and unBiblical. I suppose, going beyond this (while unBiblical should be the thing that convicts us most) it is also a prime environment for corruption, sin, and authoritarianism.
See if you enter into a leadership position with the assumption that you have the ideas and that everyone should obey your great ideas, you become the very kind of “leaders” Jesus warned about in Matthew 20:25. You are acting like a “Lord” or a boss, this is not what you are called to do. At no point in the Bible do we hear that Pastors (elders) are to be sole vision casters for the Church to be obeyed and served, in fact, the vision has been laid out for you already, and it came from none of us. The vision is clear. Matthew 28 “make disciples” How? By “baptising them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything [Jesus] commanded”. No matter how many books you've read or how much training you have, you cannot build on this vision. You are a teacher, preacher, counsellor, your position is within the body with Christ as your head, and with your brothers and sisters as your accountability. You teach the Gospel that others might learn and know how God is leading them.
Here's what we need to remember.
- There is one Church and Christ is the head. There is no “your Church”, “my Church”, or “his Church”, but there is one Church. Therefore, you do not need to market yourself or your Church above other pastors or Churches. You do not need to come up with new strategies to get people to come from “his Church” to “your Church”. Nor to you need to keep the reigns tight so that people from “your Church” don't start going to “their Church”. There in one Church and you are not in charge of it.
- There is one one Holy Spirit who give gifts for one purpose (1 Corinthians 12). That purpose is the same for everyone. There are not separate Spiritual anointings. We read that there are seperate gifts but one Spirit. There is no mention in the Bible of a worship anointing, a financial anointing, etc. Rather we are all a “royal priesthood” anointed by the Holy Spirit for one purpose. That purpose is “for the common good”. We must emphasise the word “common” as the only part of the body that is uncommon is the giver of the uncommon grace (Psalm 145); Jesus Christ. The rest of us are simply recipients of that grace.
- We are saved by grace through faith. Obedience to your leadership, submission to the ministry of “your Church”, and regular attendance or volunteering in “your” specific Church are not requirements for salvation, nor are they fruit of the Spirit. If you find yourself pressuring people by saying their salvation is dependent on how much they volunteer for your causes or that their salvation may be hindered by leaving the local Church for another one you are adding to the Gospel of Christ which according to Revelation 22 will not be good for you in the end!
- You will decrease and he will increase. If in a hundred years the people in the Church you serve are still worshipping God and glorifying him, but have forgotten who you were, you have done your service well. As John the Baptist says “He must increase and I must decrease” so it is our attitude, that our desire should not be to climb denominational leadership ladders or build a legacy for our name, but that one day we would fade into the crowd of worshippers in heaven, while those we preached the Gospel to forget us and remember Jesus.
- You will most likely not have a comical British television series written about you and your antics while working as perish priest or pastor (you name your favourite, there are many). Jesus did not say that being his disciple or serving him would be easy or, for that matter, fun or funny. Nor did he say that we would become the centre of attention or the lead cast member in some divine reality show.
- The Church is not divided. We often act as if our biggest fear is “our” congregation hearing and being led by another Pastor, or a worse fear, that they may choose another Church over ours. It is appropriate to speak honestly and warn against unBiblical teachings. It's also the role of the elders to decide who speaks behind the pulpit and it is reasonable for them to discern Biblically if a person is fit to preach. However, the real Church is not divided. By putting up walls, if your only aim is to make sure people come back to hear you then next Sunday, you are attempting to divide the Church for your own gain. You become the divisive person from Titus 3:8. When you refuse to participate with other parts of the body simply because your afraid of loosing members your sewing seeds of division and assuming that you are the only one who can preach to the congregation at “your” Church.
- Notice the quotations. “your” Church and “your congregation” do not belong to you. They belong to God, you work with them and for him. You are accountable to them and him. You all belong to him.
- There is no such thing as “Apostolic Alignment”. The grace of God does not flow through you to your congregation. You are not the only one who can read and interpret the Bible for the congregation. The blessings of God to the other members of the body is not dependent on you or their submission to you. We are all a royal priesthood . A priest in the OT was someone who acted as a intermediary between God and man. The reason we needed priests was because our sin separated us from God. Jesus paid the price for our sins and became the great high Priest (Hebrews 4). We are his bride and family, as such we are now a royal priesthood. Which means all believers have a direct relationship with him. By putting your self in that position you become an anti-Christ. Furthermore, if God had intended believers to be aligned with apostles and prophets he would have told us specifically.
- If you receive a vision for a “new way of doing Church” or if you receive a vision that is different from what the Bible already says do not tell the congregation. Do not expect people to follow you. Rather pray that God would remove the lying spirit. Because God has told us, already, everything that has happened and all that will happen and God does not change his mind (Numbers 23:19). Allow any vision you do receive to be tested by the elders and those around you (Deuteronomy 13:1).
- You are not separate from or above others. In Matthew 23:5 Jesus warned about the Scribes and Pharisees that they did everything for others to see. Now its easy to want to be seen so that you can adequately represent the Church. But we have to remember point 4. Jesus should be the one people see when they think of the Church, not us. We often separate ourselves because of our assumed role as “face of the Church”. In fact, we often do exactly what the scribes and Pharisees did in Matthew 23. We wear certain clothes and enjoy certain privileges that assume we are a protected people as Ministers and pastors. We say that only we can preach and only we can say the word “I baptise you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”. Then we make Matthew 28 a call only for a select few, a better class of believers of which we are a member.
I wrestled with this writing. I write it in hopes that maybe someone may read it and search out the scriptures on the subject. I write it because I've spoken to countless believers who have been unable to live out the call that God has placed on their lives because of overbearing Church leaders and Church structures. At the same time, I am no authority, myself. So Suppose the purpose of this is the get people to honestly think about the structures we have set in our Churches and organisations and ask this is for the building up of the Church and is this the way God has ordained for us.