A few days ago in a public Q & A session with the leaders in our church, someone asked, “Who runs things here? Who makes the decisions?” That’s a great question & one that should always be asked of every church. Yes, question authority.
I answered that, of course, Jesus is the Head, Overseer (“bishop”), & Chief Shepherd (“pastor”) of His Church with all authority, but He has appointed elders to be the overseers & “undershepherds” of each local church (Matt. 28:18, Eph. 5:23, 1 Pet. 2:25, 5:1-4). Elders are the same as pastors & overseers (Acts 20:17, 28). I’m one of the elders as well as the “Lead Minister” (for lack of a better way to describe the main teacher who directs & oversees other leaders on staff). But I am not THE Pastor with complete control. This questioner responded with a bit of surprise, “So, you’re under the elders’ authority?” Yes, I am.
A parent recently told me that her child asked if I owned the church. While humorous, it’s actually somewhat indicative of some people’s thinking. It’s not my church–it’s Christ’s! When I started our congregation 33 years ago, we had no elders. Church planters, by necessity, have to function much in the same way that Titus must have in Crete. The Apostle Paul left him there to establish order & appoint elders (plural) in the new churches (Titus 1:5). But Titus is not called THE elder or bishop of the island.
So while I functioned practically as the sole elder, I didn’t use the title of “elder” or assert myself as “the pastor.” The goal was to have a plurality of elders. It took a while, but we finally had enough qualified candidates that I was able to ask the congregation to affirm them as our first elders. This is both biblical & wise, protecting against one person having too much control…because as the saying goes, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Church leaders don’t seek recognition, status, titles, or privileges (Matt. 20:25-28, 23:5-12).
Some churches are more top-down in their governance model, while others operate more democratically. For some, whoever is at the top of the hierarchy is in charge; in others, leadership is decentralized & distributed. In some, authority resides outside the local congregation, while others are independent. Some are led by a single leader while others utilize a governing board with advisory committees. Entire denominations are divided by & even named after those polities (Presbyterian, Episcopal, Congregational, etc.).
The New Testament doesn’t give detailed instructions about governance, allowing for some freedom in terms of organization. But congregations appear to have been self-governing (autonomous), with no mention of authority outside or above the local elders, other than the original Apostles who had special authority that died with them (Acts 14:23, Phil. 1:1, 1 Tim. 5:17, Titus 1:5). Catholic & Orthodox branches of Christianity claim the theory of “apostolic succession” transferred their authority down through the ages to current-day leaders, but there’s no biblical teaching or precedent for that.
Other kinds of leaders may be present, such as deacons (which means “servants”). But they don’t seem to have oversight or authority over the church. The prototype for deacons was godly people who were given responsibility to meet needs (Acts 6:1-6). The “staff” of a church could include “ministers” (which is the same Greek word as “deacon”) & various directors who function in a similar way to deacons but give more time so that compensation is provided (1 Cor. 9:7-14, Gal. 6:6). Those who especially spend great deals of time in teaching & preaching are to be financially supported (1 Tim. 5:17-18, Phil. 4:15-18). Such leaders serve as the prototype for today’s full-time ministers.
The Church is not a democracy. The pattern for majority rule isn’t found in the first Church. On the other hand, the church isn’t a benevolent dictatorship. Neither is the Church a business. Even though churches have trustees, treasurers, budgets, & properties, they shouldn’t be run by a board of directors. The Church is unique–more of an organism than an organization–because it’s the living body of Christ (Col. 1:18). But it does HAVE organization–structure isn’t for control but for order & mission (Matt. 28:19-20, 1 Cor. 14:40).
Though all are spiritually gifted to serve & build up the body, some have leadership gifts & roles to equip everyone else (Rom. 12:4-8, 1 Cor. 12, Eph. 4:11-13, 2 Tim. 4:2). The emphasis isn’t on a detailed job description, but on character. They lead primarily by example, qualified by their Christlikeness & ability to teach Scripture (1 Tim. 3, Titus 1, 1 Thess. 5:12-13, 1 Cor. 11:1). Their authority isn’t personal or positional. They can offer wisdom, counsel & correction, but their only authority comes through God’s Word (Heb. 13:7, 17). Anything else is domineering control & abuse of authority. They cannot lead by claiming, “Because I said so,” but only by pointing to the Bible & affirming, “Because God says so.” Even the Apostles’ authority was due only to God’s revelation through them. Christians do well when imitating the noble Bereans who checked the Scriptures to confirm the truthfulness of Paul’s teaching (Acts 17:11).
The truth is, a church can have the most biblical organization, but without good leaders, it won’t work. Conversely, a church can have a poor structure, yet it can still work with godly leaders.