Who rules the local church? 
Pastor, deacons, people, board, elders or who?

by Missionary David R Cox

Part 1

Introduction

Many churches often come into conflict over who rules the local church. This is a question that must be corporatively (all parties involved) settled through the authority of the Scripture. First of all, let's examine some of the common arguments set forth without really judging them. 

The pastor says that he should rule the church because he has a calling from God and the people put him into that place. Then churches get ahold of a bad pastor, and they doubt whether this is the best situation. The deacons are usually on the pulpit committee, and so they think it is best to retain their control (as when the church was without a pastor and they were in control). Then some "pillar member" complains that they grew up in the church, they are heavy tithers, and they are not at the moment a deacon, but nonetheless they should have a say in decisions. So they suggest a board run church. The "little people" (people that are not leaders, heavy tithers, but the bread and butter workers and members of the church) come in at this point and say that they think that they should also have a say in the church, and therefore decisions should be based on a democratic model where the people in office have little authority or decision making ability, and the officials must go back to the people for even minor decisions. The presbyterians in the crowd come out and point out that a few godly men usually take the burden of the ministry in preaching and teaching, and they are just as qualified as any pastor, and they with the pastor would make a much better ruling group than any of the others. Conclusion: What a mess! How can we get our bearings?

First we find an authority

We must not be without bearing in the sea of confusion and trouble. We must find our anchor and make sure it will hold against the worse of storms. In this case, we are Fundamentalists, separatists, Baptists, and therefore strong believers in the authority of God's word. It does not matter what any other church has done that has worked well. In fact it does not matter WHAT may work well (something functioning well in another church). That does not guide our church. It does not matter what bad or good experiences we have had in the past, because that is not our authority. It does not matter what our own people think, opine or lobby for. It does not matter what are our fears, or "giving power to somebody" may make a dictator out them. We must find out what the Scriptures teach, and abide by that, and be happy with that.

Many people have had bad experiences in the past because they tried what they thought was the biblical model, and it failed horribly. We point out that the biblical model will work, but not without work and following the design of God. One bad pastor will ruin the idea of a pastor for everyone in that church. The reason why God puts spiritual requirements on the one in leadership is to protect the church. Most churches do not examine those in oversight according to the requirements of God, but rather skip it altogether "if he seems like a good guy", or they make up their own requirements (must have a PhD, must have experience, must have graduated from X Christian school, must have etc.). This is why things always go wrong. They abandon God's requirements or change or add to or take away from them. They skip over whom God has for them, and they settle for whom God has given indication to stay away from. Recipe for diaster.

The Presbyterians need to get a special note here. They believe that churches should have a single pastor with a board of elders that helps (i.e. supports and carries out the pastors general plans) or oversees (i.e. the pastor is submissive to the corporate body of elders in that church) or there is a situation of equality among the elders and pastor, and they must come to conclusions as equals. We can note that the Brethren and Congregational groups also take a position that nobody can be a pastor because it is unbiblical for anybody to lord over God's flock. 

Overview of God's Plan for Church Leader

When we study the Bible, we do find it is somewhat difficult to "put the pieces together". Some positions seem to readily find support in one Scripture or another. Since we believe in the harmony of Scripture (Scripture is a single unit whereby one part cannot contradict another because God is behind all parts of it), then we must take into account all parts. 

What Scripture teaches is that the church is a dynamic organism that has many different parts working in a synergy (coordinated single effort by multiple individual elements). So we need to not "find the one element" that is to lead the church, but rather understand how all the parts work together in making the church work. Most church failures (splits, mass defections, and close the doors and shut down the church) are results of gross misunderstanding by the people of that church of this issue.

God alone rules His Church

We can start off by asserting that all of the above entities are wrong. None of them "rule" the church in the sense that it is their church and they can make decisions for it. God is the head of the body, and therefore in a local church, Jesus is still the head, the ruler, the governor.

KJV Ephesians 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Here we see the simple principle that God the Father has exalted Jesus Christ to be the head over all things, and specifically over the church. We quickly note that there is in the Trinity a concept that we humans have extreme difficulty understanding. How can three people, being in every sense equal one with another, have a relationship between them whereby one makes decisions and plans, another carries out those plans as a leader, and the third submitting to the first two, and yet there is no conflict, and none of them are inferior or less important, or less "executive" (decision making leader) than the others? The Holy Spirit is very active in this world working the work of God.

So to clarify, God the Father's will is always the plan by which the Son and Holy Spirit work. They never "invent" a will or plan to do, but are submissive to the Father's best judgment. The Son of God is the "key man" in the plan, because no man will ever be saved by shunting the Son and going to the Father or Spirit. Salvation is ONLY in the Son of God. The Father and Holy Spirit point all coming to them to focus on the Son of God to be saved. Although (we assume) they could save without Jesus, the fact of the matter is that their working manner is that they do not.

KJV Psalms 8:6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

KJV Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

KJV 1 Corinthians 15:27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

KJV Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

KJV Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

KJV Hebrews 2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: 8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

So when we approach the nitty gritty of how a church should be run and governed, we need to get a good grasp of the concept of "the headship of Christ over the church". That is THE ANSWER of how a church should be run, by Christ, its head. Nobody has the luxury of saying that "this is my church, and I will run it as I see fit". Rather we must act as stewards in Christ's vineyard, doing what God wants us to do. Unfortunately a faulty concept has crept into Christendom. Most pastors take on the situation is that God has given them a very broad general directive (get people saved, build a church) and God has left the minor and major details to them to work out as they see fit. That means that they can do whatever they feel like as long as they are getting people saved and building a church. But God has given us some very specific instructions and models to follow.

The means or instrument of how God rules His church

Again, as a Baptist, as a Fundamentalist, as a Separatist, we have some issues settled that others are groping for a handle on. The means or instrument of how God rules His church is by His Word, the Scriptures. God has given us a written set of instructions to study and obey. That is how we know what is right, and how we know how to do God's work. Opinions, beliefs, arguments, and other factors may have their place, but the Scripture rules over everything. In the New Testament Scriptures we see that the believers argued Scripture to arrive at an authoritative conclusion on matters. It was not a pope, or a presbytery that decided what doctrine was. It was the clear undisputed teaching of Scripture that holds authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

Practically what does this mean? Practically it means all elements which we discussed in the second paragraph can be wrong, and only God can be right. The conclusion from this understanding is that all Christians (obedient Christians) must back off and submit when Scripture is argued and exegeted correctly against them. This is where the influence of a good pastor enters strongly. He is the one who principly exposits Scripture so that the church can "graze" as good sheep.  Whether it is pastor, deacon, elders, church members, or anybody else, people's authority must not be exalted above God's authority (what God commands or prohibits). 

Example of older brother caring for kids when parents are away - In a family with many kids ranging in age from 16 to 4 years old, the parents have to leave and they leave the oldest child in charge. They also leave a list of rules of the house, and some chores for each one to do. Perhaps one of the rules is that the kids are not to watch scary movies. Mom and dad leave, and older brother is in charge. So he turns on the TV and starts watching a scary movie. The little 4 year old comes up and rebukes older brother for disobeying mom's and dad's rule about scary movies. Now he may do what he wants, but it is perfectly valid for an immature, irresponsible 4 year old to rebuke the one in charge. Likewise the 16 year old cannot do as he pleases with his brothers and sisters, because the bottom line is they are not his kids, it is not his house, and he himself is under the parents authority and must be submissive to them. This is how God has left us. Some older (more mature) brethren are chosen to take responsibility for the group. Notice that the issue here is to be responsible for the group, not to lord over the group. Any mistreatment by whomever is in charge will be severely dealt with when dad comes back and calls all into an accounting with him. 

See Ezekiel 34 for exactly a rebuke by God to the Shepherds (Pastors) of Israel.

The methodology or plan God uses to rule His church

Key to our getting a scriptural grasp on this issue is the following: (1) God gives spiritual gifts to everybody in the local church (body and members imagery); (2) God calls specific people to specific ministries, roles, tasks, and offices. and (3) God establishes public offices within the church which are highly visible and have responsibilities and requirements involved in them. (4) God may work through different ones to bring to light God's will. This does not diminish the rest of the church's "authority" in participation.

(1) The church is a body with members - What does this add to this discussion? First of all, it should make whomever is making the decisions to stop for a minute and think that perhaps God has given him/them a spiritual advantage over Satan in having gifted people who do some aspect of the ministry better than they can. Secondly, you never hurt your own body. It is extremely bad to deliberately cut off fingers, stomp on your own toes, and put out your own eye or ear. You treat with "kid's gloves" the members of your own body, pampering them, and in no way doing them harm. If church leaders would get ahold of the body concept of the local church, and hold in high priority the protection of the whole body, many church conflicts and problems would not happen.

(2) God calls specific people to specific tasks - Even though many people may qualify for a ministry, role or office, God has a specific person for that place. This means that we do not choose the most popular person, nor do we "micro-manage" other people's ministries. We make them responsible (answer as to how the ministry progresses, and explain the how, why, what and problems of that ministry). It also means that God uses a specific person for a specific ministry, and we should seek the person that God wants for that ministry, not our friends, or keeping out those that we don't like. This is a matter for much prayer after you know all the facts. It is not what just "pops" in your head, but a spiritual person who is gifted and called for a specific ministry. 

(3) God establishes public offices with responsibilities and authority - The New Testament presents two things, gifts and offices. There is never a requirement on a gift other than being saved. But when we look at offices (Pastor and Deacons), we find that these are very different from just a gift. They have a list of requirements on them that would exclude certain ones from occupying these offices. This also means that if they no longer comply with those requirements, then they must step down or forceably be removed from office. God does this because they are publicly representing the church in a greater way than any church member would be doing. Pastors stand before and preside the services, and they preach the word. Hypocrisy or sin in his life taints the entire testimony of the church because he is the "face" that the visiting public sees. Deacons on the other hand are also official representatives of the church in that they dispense the charity and physical help to its own members and the community. We also note that just because someone is in a public office within the church, that does not negate the need or possibility of also having a specific spiritual gift (or more).

(4) Shared responsibility, shared authority - The point here is that the local church is a team in which many people have roles, and none of them are "owners" of the flock, but all are given jobs and responsibilities and authority to go along with their jobs. It is like a church secretary. Because of her job, she is given authority by the church/pastor to answer the phone because her ministry requires it. Authority goes hand in hand with responsibility. You cannot be responsible for something that you have no control to change or do. The church secretary has the keys to the building and to the office. She has these keys because without them she cannot do her job.

At this point we need to begin to examine the Scripture passages involved in understanding the government of the local church.

Who rules the local church? Part 2

Last Updated on 02/02/08

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