Congregationalism Is Used by Satan...Like He Uses Everything Else
By Did you catch James MacDonald's critique of congregationalism yesterday morning? It’s not clear to me if he was referring to hyper-congregationalism or congregationalism in general, but since most of us at 9Marks hail from a congregational tradition, we thought it provided us with a good opportunity to think about congregationalism in general. It may surprise him and others that, in some circles in the SBC, 9Marks is seen (and critiqued!) as being advocates for having a plurality of elders and even giving those elders leaderhip in the congregation.
MacDonald offers five critiques of congregationalism, which I think we can see quite readly are indeed Satanic abuses of congregationalism:
1) Congregational Meetings Can Be Forums for Division: Satan will often employ many God-given gifts and institutions--from biblical marriage to civil government to biblical congregationalism--for diabolical ends. You name it, and he'll use it to undermine leadership, to divide friends, even to present a poor witness for the gospel. With congregationalism, for instance, Satan will use things like unregenerate church members, decades of failing to practice church discipline, and man-fearing pastors in order to make a congregation ornery.
I think of John Dagg who wrote, "We concede that the independent form of church government is not adapted to ungodly pastors, and unconverted church-members" (Manual of Church Order, 278). Of course, that's true of any church order. Still, you can feel it more quickly in a congregational members’ meeting.
Solutions: pastors need to do a better job teaching the gospel, conversion, and what it means to be a repenting Christian; churches need to be more careful about receiving and dismissing members; churches need to practice church discipline.
2) Voting Can Be Deeply Unbiblical: Congregationalists sometimes equate congregationalism with democracy, but that’s not the right way to understand congregationalism. Church members are not given a vote for "representing their will" or "giving the leaders a mandate." Jesus is king. His Word rules. The only purpose of the congregation's vote, if they have one, is to make sure things are working according to his will. If the leaders start teaching another gospel, the congregation should get rid of them, like Paul tells the Galatians (Gal. 1:3-10). If the leaders fail to take care of a man in heinous sin, the congregation should step up and hand the man over to Satan, like he tells the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5). Pastors should teach their flocks that Jesus gives them the final authority to guard his gospel, not to "express yourself."
Solutions: pastors should do a better job in teaching what congregationalism entails. They should explain to the sheep that Jesus has authorized them with the keys of the kingdom, not for getting into arguments over the color of the carpet, but for binding and loosing on earth (Matt. 16:13-20; 18:15-20). That’s a big responsibility. Have our churches been taught to approach that responsibility with fear and reverence?
3) Eldership Is Sometimes Unpopular. We congregationalists have sometimes done a bad job historically of pitting the congregation’s ultimate rule against day-to-day elder leadership. Hebrews 13 tells church members to "obey" their leaders and to make their work a joy--because it profits us to do so! You want profit? I do. So we should learn to obey your leaders. The only time a congregation should act to veto the elder’s leadership is when—like a child whose parent asks him to sin—we observe the elders departing from Scripture or abusing it.
Solutions: appoint and install a plurality of elders. Teach the church about the goodness of authority. Pastors should always be teaching congregations what a pastor and elder’s job description is. Hold up the elder’s office as something which should be esteemed and sought by all godly men.
4) Congregationalism Can Crush Pastors: James observes that pastors move every 2-3 years and that a pastor typically leaves a church because of 8 people. Though I expect that the frequency of pastoral moves more often than not is the responsibility of the pastors themselves, still, we have all heard stories about carnal and unregenerate congregations who have spurned the Lord’s servants. And we've heard these stories in churches of every kind of polity. I would not want to be numbered among those “8 people” on that Last Day.
Solutions: Again, take care of your membership rolls. Make sure everyone entering the church understands the gospel. Practice informal and formal church discipline. Teach that conversion entails repentance and faith.
5) Priesthood Not Eldership of All Believers: It's easy for immature Christians to become unteachable. They claim to have a "personal relationship" with Christ, and so they stop listening to those who are older and wiser in the faith, like a church's elders. It's like they think they're their own elders. I frequently tell younger men in the faith, "One of the most important qualities of a godly man is that he's teachable." I tell single women, “The most important qualities in a potential husband is that he loves the gospel and he’s teachable.” In fact, our church won't make a man an elder unless he's demonstrated a track record of being teachable.
Solutions: Cultivate a culture of discipleship, where people learn to apply the Sunday sermon to themselves and one another throughout the week…where inviting rebuke and criticism is normal…where giving encouragement is normal…where accountability is expected…where members learn to have transparent conversations with one another. Also, preach expositionally. This is one way to demonstrate what an elder’s own submission looks like, as he submits himself to the text every week.
In one sense, congregationalism is reality, as I’ve often heard Mark Dever say. People are going to vote with their feet no matter which polity they belong to.
Yet more importantly, it’s our conviction that congregationalism in the context of elder leadership just makes the most sense of two streams of biblical teaching. On the one hand, you see a stream of passages in which Jesus and the apostles seem to entrust final say to the entire gathered congregation (Matt. 18:15-20; Acts 6:2-6; 1 Cor. 5; 2 Cor. 2:6; Gal. 1:3-10). Every single Christian, every single church member, is going to give an account to God for the role he or she played in preserving the gospel from one generation to the next. He will give an account for whether or not he tolerated false teachers, for whether or not he abided unrepentant sin within the body. Woe to the congregation that does not act to protect and proclaim the gospel!
On the other hand, you see a stream of passages which call Christians to submit to their leaders (Heb. 13:7,17; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2-3). Every single Christian, every single church member, in the ordinary course of the Christian life, is called to practice submitting to King Jesus by submitting to the earthly authorities he has placed over us, from parents, to presidents, to pastors. It's how we grow, flourish, and prosper.
It’s tempting to pick one of these streams rather than the other. But we need to strike the balance by figuring out how to put both together. If we don’t, the ship can veer toward unwieldy hyper-congregationalism, or it can veer toward an abusive elder rule. King Jesus, in his wisdom, appears to have opted for something in the middle. Along these lines, an elder-led, congregational-rule model seems to work best and best satisfy the biblical mandate.
Thank you, James, for provoking we who are congregationalists to think more carefully about how Satan would trip up a biblical system. He’s always trying to abuse and misuse God’s good gifts. So we must labor together to fight the good fight of faith.
To read more about how congregationalism and elder leadership fit together, as well as a defense of each, see Mark Dever's Display of God's Glory--PDF here.
Jonathan Leeman's Posts
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Could we not just as easily say "Along these lines, an elder-rule, congregational-responsibility model seems to work best and best satisfy the biblical mandate."
The solutions presume upon the real situations that pastors are finding themselves. The presumptions are that a pastor, even within the first three or four years, will inherit any biblically-based respect for the position of elder from the congregation and will be able to teach them; that congregations want to learn; that the mission, vision and core values of the church allow for such a transition; and, that teaching a congregation that has absorbed teaching all of its life and has done little to no living out of that teaching will suddenly be moved by more teaching. Two posts I have read (one on the statistics and now this one) propose solutions to symptoms. Perhaps the system is flawed, where congregationalism gone awry (golden calf, 40 year wilderness, etc., modern SBC/evangelical ecclesiology), pastor abuse, and the culture rolling their eyes at the thought that a church could be anything but annoying to them show us a deeper problem than just teaching about how to be less like sinners within the four walls of the church.
Jonathan, may I respectfully disagree with you?
It isn't that "we need to strike the balance by figuring out how to put both together."
We really just need to submit to Scripture.
And Gal. 1:3-10 says nothing about church governance - check out Tom Schriener's new commentary on Galatians at Gal. 1:10. Seriously.
I've written a book if you are interested to read more. The Titus Mandate, at Amazon. It's written to help churches transition out of congregationalism into eldership - i.e., full charge eldership.
Thanks.
Jonathan, may I respectfully disagree with you?
It isn't that "we need to strike the balance by figuring out how to put both together."
We really just need to submit to Scripture.
And Gal. 1:3-10 says nothing about church governance - check out Tom Schriener's new commentary on Gal. 1:10 for a fellow congregationalist’s wise observation on it. The issue is “who has authority.” For you, it is the congregation. But if so, why are they always commanded to submit to their leaders?
I've written a book if you are interested to read more: The Titus Mandate, at Amazon, based on Titus 1:5. It's written to help churches transition out of congregationalism into eldership.
Thanks.
Thank you Johnathan,you have taken a negative written blog and responded in such a Godly manner.
Many other things can be said about James's blog but it will not edify.
Debbie, I think that you are right. I know you and I have talked about the sursripe that people register when someone suggests that a sense of the presence of God and the ability to respond to God might somehow be central to doing church. Many reasons for that big M materialism that stresses the importance of the senses and finds it difficult to acknowledge the presence of the Holy; seminary educations that fail to cultivate a desire for God; and institutional structures that can drive the energy of a church in so many other directions. What do you think might say to people who enters the church's door this IS about an encounter with God?
Johathan,
First, thanks for an irenic and substantive response.
Second, appealing to what Pastors should do is a bit off point. If in fact they had been doing what they should do, the dysfunction would not be present.
Third, I believe the issue is in the structure. As long as people believe that 'voting' is their 'right', they will respond with rancor and rebellion when you tell them that it is not. Also, remember we are dealing with congregations filled with people who claim to be regenerate but apply Titus 1:16 and you will quickly discover they are not.
First to Sam J, James' blog was not negative. Has has experienced multiple bad congregational decisions, I too have been a part of 2 very bad church "voting" experiences. But beyond experience not one of the passages listed for congregational rule ever states that they voted on anything or even give authority to the congregation he lists the following: Matt. 18:15-20; Acts 6:2-6; 1 Cor. 5; 2 Cor. 2:6; Gal. 1:3-10. These passages primarily refer to how the body should behave toward that person. To say that the congregation has authority is reading into the scripture what it does not say! Yet we see direct commands in scripture that Elders are in charge of the congregation in Titus 1, Heb 13:17, I Peter 5. There is no evidence given in scripture that congregation rules over the leaders, yet we have an abundance where the leaders rule over the congregation. Let's stick to what scripture says.
9Marks is seen (and critiqued!) as being advocates for having a plurality of elders and even giving those elders leaderhip in the congregation
Correct spelling error to "leadership"
Seriously Ted?
I also personally believe that the "priesthood of the believer" is commonly taken by Christians to mean much more than what it originally meant. The term was coined by Martin Luther, and he originally meant that Christians have "access" to the ears of God through prayer. As I've heard it misinterpreted by passionate hyper-congregationalists, they believe that they have access to "information" that God may choose to reveal to them and maybe not to a leader in the church. This is a gross misinterpretation of the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer.
I can't put my stamp of approval on everything written in the following document. After all, I've only given it an initial, scan of a reading; but Timothy Wengert seems to point out some interesting points on this subject in his paper here:
http://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=ils_papers
As I was doing some study on the subject of the priesthood of the believer a year or so ago, I ran across this paper online.
I also personally believe that the "priesthood of the believer" is commonly taken by Christians to mean much more than what it originally meant. The term was coined by Martin Luther, and he originally meant that Christians have "access" to the ears of God through prayer. As I've heard it misinterpreted by passionate hyper-congregationalists, they believe that they have access to "information" that God may choose to reveal to them and maybe not to a leader in the church. This is a gross misinterpretation of the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer.
I can't put my stamp of approval on everything written in the following document. After all, I've only given it an initial, scan of a reading; but Timothy Wengert seems to point out some interesting points on this subject in his paper here:
http://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=ils_papers
As I was doing some study on the subject of the priesthood of the believer a year or so ago, I ran across this paper online.
I agree with MacDonald's blog and have used similar wording when I teach on this subject. I believe his response to this post to be an accurate representation of Scripture and Its meaning too. The one passage that to me is the proverbial nail in the coffin to congregational voting (not congregational involvement, which is Biblical) is found in Eph. 4:3 which commands us to be "diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." It is impossible to follow this instruction in the Word, while calling for the congregation to divide themselves between those who are for and against. Voting by its very act becomes divisive rather than unifying. God NEVER gives us instruction that is impossible to carry out.
Jonathan, thank you for a timely and gracious response to this discussion.
Hi, Jonathan:
After reading everything posted by James MacDonald, and the comments by others following, I had some words in my mind: grace, humility, ego, and pride. None of these words was discussed in that blog, but they occurred to me either because they were missing or because they were far too evident.
Then I read your comments and felt a sense of grace, leadership, intelligence, humility and servanthood. These are the characteristics of a Godly leader whose example I would want to follow. Thank you.
Blessings to you and all the Leeman family who have been my friends for decades,
Diane
I attend a Fundamentalist church with a congregational church government. Congregational church government is very common in my area.
Anyone who is a critic of it can you answer this question.
Why is your interpretation of the scriptures right and why is ours wrong? From my view and study of the scriptures this is one of many grey areas where God has given is liberty. Bible translations is another grey and heavily debated area.
You had a bad experience in a congregational church? Then dont broad brush all churches based upon your negative experience.
John
McDonald's comments were prompted by the a church that twice refused to merge with his, because insufficient members were in favor. So it's hardly a detached opinion.
As I get on in life, I've seen plenty of examples in the church where unaccountable leadership has resulted in all sorts of questionable, even abusive, practices. The recent events at Sovereign Grace Ministries have been a high-profile example of this, but there have been plenty more. And so I am convinced that congregational government is essential to provide the right level of checks and balances.
There are different ways of implementing congregationalism. I don't see having electing an eldership with leadership responsibility is incompatible with this, provided that ultimately the congregation has the power to remove elders. But when the leadership of a church is not accountable to those they serve, and elders can appoint their successors, there is nothing to prevent them going off the rails.
And, just to make it clear, yes, congregationalism can go wrong and be "used by Satan". But so can every other form of church government.
At the risk of sounding pedantic, I suppose you could take the very words of Jesus and make them sound Satanic if you don't have the right heart. So, the title Congregationalism is used by Satan could be more than just a little disingenuous. I've seen too many Elder-Rule churches... ALL of them ended in church splits within a year! really sad.
The underlying assumption is that these articles associate the pastoral system as the standard of the church. Both James and the members of 9marks believe that there is a distinct separation of clergy and laity. Herein lays the problem. Nowhere in the New Testament do we read that Senior Pastors had headship over the body. In fact, the role of the pastor (shepherd) involved many people within the body. We must put all emphasis on the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ. His church is those who by faith have confessed that He is Lord and Savior. This was evident in Peter’s proclamation. (Matthew 16:15-19) Anyone who comes to salivation in Christ has entered the priesthood. The early church, Holy Spirit led apostles placed a plurality of elders in local bodies as men who would lead by the example of their lives. They did not lord over the priesthood; they were living examples to the flock. Each was gifted accordingly and out of these local churches, future elders would rise to take the place of those who have gone to the Lord.
The western world confuses the church as some kind of building or idea where we allow unbelievers to enter through doors in order they can fellowship with us. The early church was a living body of Holy Spirit filled believers that gathered to give of themselves to those in need. They did not have bibles to guide them, all they had was their hope in the resurrected Christ. It was not until the 3rd century when the bible became canonized. The remarkable thing about this was it came at a time in history when the men of that day began to rule over the “laity” because government hierarchy, education and intellectual knowledge trumped the power of the Holy Spirit. False teachings were abounded and those who could peddle the word of God for greed, money and power began to service in force.
Today we have the word of God for instruction, correction, teaching and training for righteousness. We still have the Holy Spirit who interprets scripture. However, we have kept this idea that hierarchy, education, and intellectual knowledge trumps the Holy Spirit. We believe that no leader can function within the church without receiving formal education. We believe that there needs to be certain structures in place that govern the body of believers. My dear brothers and sisters, the congregations today mirror the Pharisees of the early church. The legalism of man-made doctrine quenches the power of the Holy Spirit. There is a false assumption that the Reformation brought us back to the early church. All the Reformation did was create a protestant form of Catholicism. The language on salvation changed, but the hierarchy and lording over the body did not because Senior Pastors and Reverends of Protestantism replaced Priests and Bishops of Catholicism.
1.)
The body of believers must be responsible for those other brothers and sisters within the body. The solution of the pastor watching over the flock is correct. However, there needs to be a plurality of pastors and not just one man. The Holy Spirit will most certainly bestow discernment upon a local body. The underlying problem in the institutionalized church is that the passive laity relies on the clergy in many areas. Then if the clergy neglects or overlooks certain problems, those laity gifted with discernment become vocal and point out the problem. This causes problems because if the clergy is not gifted with discernment, they become defensive and the layperson is labeled as divisive. A Senior Pastor instructed by an institution to lead the body may never receive certain gifts of the Holy Spirit, therefore, he will lack in this area for the sake of those he pastors.
2.), 3)
One thing we must note is that these points pertain to the institutionalized church. There is this assumption that all churches need a Senior Pastor, a plurality of elders, a building for worship, and a system in place to care for the building. Since there is a building, there are certain days that the body gathers to worship. Since there is a specific day to worship, there needs to be a set schedule of worship. This says nothing of maintaining a building that is used corporately for a few days out of the week. Then there is the idea of paying staff to run the “church”. The government of this modern day church represents a corporation. The CEO being the Senior Pastor, delegates the workload to other members on the staff. This may include secretaries, associate pastors, praise leaders, youth pastors, and grounds keepers. There is this sense of separation with the common churchgoer.
This laity provides the income for the building maintenance, church staff salaries and supplies. If the laity cannot provide for these areas, the leadership needs to step up to make this happen. Unfortunately, many church leaders cave into devices of the devil and use unbiblical and unholy means to survive. The one example is the tithe. The preacher begins to fall away from preaching the Gospel and starts to twist scripture in order to save his profession. Then there are those preachers who neglect the gospel and preach what the laity wants to hear.
You may ask what this all has to do with voting among the congregation. Given the fact that there is clear deviation from God’s word in the area of church polity, the problems facing a clergy/laity system will be disastrous. The leadership will use verses like Hebrews 13:17 all the while neglecting verses like Matthew 23:11. You cannot be a leader without being humble. Humility is severely lacking in the institutionalized church because everyone feels entitled. It is a stain of our culture and it has flowed into the churches across the western world. We have fallen into idolatry because we worship the institution and not the Lord Jesus Christ.
Elders must be older men. That is the premise behind the passages from 1 Tim and Titus. Everyone should look up to an older man because of the years of wisdom. Add the requirements of 1 Tim and Titus and you should have a living example of a man who not only is capable of raising a godly family, he should be someone we all could go to for sound biblical advice. Today we believe that seminaries and bible colleges make elders and pastors. Where is the power of the Holy Spirit in all this? We have slipped to believe that education supersedes the power of the Holy Spirit in many ways.
4)
The reason that pastors are crushed is because they are in a vocation that is unbiblical. How can one man be head over the church? The passive laity looks to him for everything. If he does not live up to their standards, he is doomed for failure. Instead of seriously looking to do away with this one-pastor system, we have written thousands and thousands of books on how we can make it work. Herein lays another dark corner. Those who “succeeded” (mega-churches come to mind) in the pastorate have a library of books to prove their worth. Certainly, there are godly, humble men in the pastorate. These men preach the Gospel and have not strayed away from the truth and grace of Christ, however, for every Gospel preaching pastor there is much more that disgrace the Lord Jesus Christ with false teaching.
5)
There is this overriding notion that the Sunday sermon is the cure all for the problems of the church. The sermon comes from one voice. The problem with this is the exclusive voice may be teaching false doctrine. Who will stand up and silence the voice? The false idea of the sermon being the “moment of truth” in a church service is severely overrated. Passive people become passive listeners because if they lack a regenerated heart the message will go in one ear and out the other. Discipleship starts with regenerated believers. The institutionalized church is set up to receive unbelievers within its midst. The only real choice for any preacher is to preach the Gospel. The only real choice is for the body of Christ is to invite someone to “church” who already received the Gospel. How can we gather for worship in spirit and truth when half the audience may be unregenerate?
Preach the Gospel expositionally, or do not preach at all. Submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ is what the church needs to do on a daily basis. The Gospel should be foremost in every believers mind because it is the power to save. Any gathering of believers is a time for joyous celebration because of what Christ did on our behalf. We have packaged “church” into this regimented system of rules and regulations that do more harm to the body than good.
In conclusion, the one-pastor system needs to be discarded. Every Senior Pastor should humbly step down into the body and seek to bring unity among the believers. We need to but all focus on the author and perfector of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to go to His word and unequivocally and humbly surrender to His authority. The Holy Spirit is ready for the change. Right now, there are godly men in every local congregation ready to unashamedly direct the body into unity. It will take a humble professional pastor willing to admit that the system they bought into has dome more harm to the church then any other device known to man. This goes against everything taught in seminary. This goes against the grain of culture and society. We have all been duped into believing that the way we do “church” is the only way to do “church”. Dear brothers and sisters, we are the church.
We have worshipped buildings, men and ideas instead of worshipping the Lord and Savior. To be the church we need to do away with “doing” church. We are the temples of the Lord and those who desperately need a Savior need to hear from our mouths that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life. This church will be persecuted. This church will face trials of many kinds. This church will not conform to the idea of the world. However, this church will speak truth and grace to a world in desperate need of both.
Thank God for James and 9Marks because these issues shed light to a significant problem of our day. The call for a Reformation starts with humble God –fearing men willing to stand in the face of persecution. We need to shine the light on the One who paid it all for us and the only way that happens if the church becomes the light and salt of this dark and evil world. I pray that the Holy Spirit directs the voices of the Evangelical world with wisdom to know that the way we do church is not what the Lord Jesus Christ intended. All power, glory, praise and honor be to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
The underlying assumption is that these articles associate the pastoral system as the standard of the church. Both James and the members of 9marks believe that there is a distinct separation of clergy and laity. Herein lays the problem. Nowhere in the New Testament do we read that Senior Pastors had headship over the body. In fact, the role of the pastor (shepherd) involved many people within the body. We must put all emphasis on the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ. His church is those who by faith have confessed that He is Lord and Savior. This was evident in Peter’s proclamation. (Matthew 16:15-19) Anyone who comes to salivation in Christ has entered the priesthood. The early church, Holy Spirit led apostles placed a plurality of elders in local bodies as men who would lead by the example of their lives. They did not lord over the priesthood; they were living examples to the flock. Each was gifted accordingly and out of these local churches, future elders would rise to take the place of those who have gone to the Lord.
The western world confuses the church as some kind of building or idea where we allow unbelievers to enter through doors in order they can fellowship with us. The early church was a living body of Holy Spirit filled believers that gathered to give of themselves to those in need. They did not have bibles to guide them, all they had was their hope in the resurrected Christ. It was not until the 3rd century when the bible became canonized. The remarkable thing about this was it came at a time in history when the men of that day began to rule over the “laity” because government hierarchy, education and intellectual knowledge trumped the power of the Holy Spirit. False teachings were abounded and those who could peddle the word of God for greed, money and power began to service in force.
Today we have the word of God for instruction, correction, teaching and training for righteousness. We still have the Holy Spirit who interprets scripture. However, we have kept this idea that hierarchy, education, and intellectual knowledge trumps the Holy Spirit. We believe that no leader can function within the church without receiving formal education. We believe that there needs to be certain structures in place that govern the body of believers. My dear brothers and sisters, the congregations today mirror the Pharisees of the early church. The legalism of man-made doctrine quenches the power of the Holy Spirit. There is a false assumption that the Reformation brought us back to the early church. All the Reformation did was create a protestant form of Catholicism. The language on salvation changed, but the hierarchy and lording over the body did not because Senior Pastors and Reverends of Protestantism replaced Priests and Bishops of Catholicism.
1.)
The body of believers must be responsible for those other brothers and sisters within the body. The solution of the pastor watching over the flock is correct. However, there needs to be a plurality of pastors and not just one man. The Holy Spirit will most certainly bestow discernment upon a local body. The underlying problem in the institutionalized church is that the passive laity relies on the clergy in many areas. Then if the clergy neglects or overlooks certain problems, those laity gifted with discernment become vocal and point out the problem. This causes problems because if the clergy is not gifted with discernment, they become defensive and the layperson is labeled as divisive. A Senior Pastor instructed by an institution to lead the body may never receive certain gifts of the Holy Spirit, therefore, he will lack in this area for the sake of those he pastors.
2.), 3)
One thing we must note is that these points pertain to the institutionalized church. There is this assumption that all churches need a Senior Pastor, a plurality of elders, a building for worship, and a system in place to care for the building. Since there is a building, there are certain days that the body gathers to worship. Since there is a specific day to worship, there needs to be a set schedule of worship. This says nothing of maintaining a building that is used corporately for a few days out of the week. Then there is the idea of paying staff to run the “church”. The government of this modern day church represents a corporation. The CEO being the Senior Pastor, delegates the workload to other members on the staff. This may include secretaries, associate pastors, praise leaders, youth pastors, and grounds keepers. There is this sense of separation with the common churchgoer.
This laity provides the income for the building maintenance, church staff salaries and supplies. If the laity cannot provide for these areas, the leadership needs to step up to make this happen. Unfortunately, many church leaders cave into devices of the devil and use unbiblical and unholy means to survive. The one example is the tithe. The preacher begins to fall away from preaching the Gospel and starts to twist scripture in order to save his profession. Then there are those preachers who neglect the gospel and preach what the laity wants to hear.
You may ask what this all has to do with voting among the congregation. Given the fact that there is clear deviation from God’s word in the area of church polity, the problems facing a clergy/laity system will be disastrous. The leadership will use verses like Hebrews 13:17 all the while neglecting verses like Matthew 23:11. You cannot be a leader without being humble. Humility is severely lacking in the institutionalized church because everyone feels entitled. It is a stain of our culture and it has flowed into the churches across the western world. We have fallen into idolatry because we worship the institution and not the Lord Jesus Christ.
Elders must be older men. That is the premise behind the passages from 1 Tim and Titus. Everyone should look up to an older man because of the years of wisdom. Add the requirements of 1 Tim and Titus and you should have a living example of a man who not only is capable of raising a godly family, he should be someone we all could go to for sound biblical advice. Today we believe that seminaries and bible colleges make elders and pastors. Where is the power of the Holy Spirit in all this? We have slipped to believe that education supersedes the power of the Holy Spirit in many ways.
4)
The reason that pastors are crushed is because they are in a vocation that is unbiblical. How can one man be head over the church? The passive laity looks to him for everything. If he does not live up to their standards, he is doomed for failure. Instead of seriously looking to do away with this one-pastor system, we have written thousands and thousands of books on how we can make it work. Herein lays another dark corner. Those who “succeeded” (mega-churches come to mind) in the pastorate have a library of books to prove their worth. Certainly, there are godly, humble men in the pastorate. These men preach the Gospel and have not strayed away from the truth and grace of Christ, however, for every Gospel preaching pastor there is much more that disgrace the Lord Jesus Christ with false teaching.
5)
There is this overriding notion that the Sunday sermon is the cure all for the problems of the church. The sermon comes from one voice. The problem with this is the exclusive voice may be teaching false doctrine. Who will stand up and silence the voice? The false idea of the sermon being the “moment of truth” in a church service is severely overrated. Passive people become passive listeners because if they lack a regenerated heart the message will go in one ear and out the other. Discipleship starts with regenerated believers. The institutionalized church is set up to receive unbelievers within its midst. The only real choice for any preacher is to preach the Gospel. The only real choice is for the body of Christ is to invite someone to “church” who already received the Gospel. How can we gather for worship in spirit and truth when half the audience may be unregenerate?
Preach the Gospel expositionally, or do not preach at all. Submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ is what the church needs to do on a daily basis. The Gospel should be foremost in every believers mind because it is the power to save. Any gathering of believers is a time for joyous celebration because of what Christ did on our behalf. We have packaged “church” into this regimented system of rules and regulations that do more harm to the body than good.
In conclusion, the one-pastor system needs to be discarded. Every Senior Pastor should humbly step down into the body and seek to bring unity among the believers. We need to but all focus on the author and perfector of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to go to His word and unequivocally and humbly surrender to His authority. The Holy Spirit is ready for the change. Right now, there are godly men in every local congregation ready to unashamedly direct the body into unity. It will take a humble professional pastor willing to admit that the system they bought into has done more harm to the church then any other device known to man. This goes against everything taught in seminary. This goes against the grain of culture and society. We have all been duped into believing that the way we do “church” is the only way to do “church”. Dear brothers and sisters, we are the church.
We have worshiped buildings, men and ideas instead of worshiping the Lord and Savior. To be the church we need to do away with “doing” church. We are the temples of the Lord and those who desperately need a Savior need to hear from our mouths that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life. This church will be persecuted. This church will face trials of many kinds. This church will not conform to the idea of the world. However, this church will speak truth and grace to a world in desperate need of both.
Thank God for James and 9Marks because these issues shed light to a significant problem of our day. The call for a Reformation starts with humble God –fearing men willing to stand in the face of persecution. We need to shine the light on the One who paid it all for us and the only way that happens if the church becomes the light and salt of this dark and evil world. I pray that the Holy Spirit directs the voices of the Evangelical world with wisdom to know that the way we do church is not what the Lord Jesus Christ intended. All power, glory, praise and honor be to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Hey Folks
Have you ever wondered why Jesus never tried to change to form of government of his day? It is one of the things pagans criticize. He didn't because he knew it wouldn't help. Evil people will corrupt any system good people can make any system work.
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