Body of Christ: Leaders vs Others

Preface

It has to be acknowledged at the beginning of this section that it is impossible to write this properly.  It is difficult to convey some ideas in writing and this particular subject is loaded with assumptions.  I doubt that I will sway those who believe in a strong form of leadership and authority in church leaders to see differently.  At the same time, I believe there are a lot of those who are not in some form of christian leadership who are held in various levels of bondage to their concepts related to this subject.

Additionally, it should be noted that I am not attempting to present a comprehensive view of how those who are leading should relate to other believers.  My hope is to open a new window of thought that may lead to consideration on the part of the reader that an alternate view is valid to consider.  The impact of this alternate view has the potential to introduce an healthier environment in the church that is more conducive to growth of each body of believers.  Additionally, it cannot be denied that there is also the potential to introduce problems into the church environment because rebelliousness does exist in the Body of Christ.  It is clear to this author that God did not establish the church as an environment that was intended to be free of these problems.  The church was intended to be an environment where these kinds of problems are worked through for the benefit of everyone and to bring each believer to full maturity in Christ.  This potentially messy environment matches God’s core nature of love.  He is not an authoritarian as some of us are.

I put all of this forward without judgment of those who are currently in leadership.  I have experienced good leadership and bad leadership.  The experience of each is vastly different.  Ephesians 4:11-16 expresses the core elements of what comprise my viewpoint on this subject:

Ephesians 4:11-16 – And he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to a measure of the maturity of the fulness of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed about by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of people, by craftiness with reference to the scheming of deceit.  But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow into him with reference to all things, who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined together and held together by every supporting ligament, according to the working by measure of each single part, the growth of the body makes for the building up of itself in love.

Important Note:  Let’s keep in mind that ALL believers have been granted gifts by the Holy Spirit when they become believers.  These verses in Ephesians 4 are pointing to a particular subset of gifts that are classified as having a lot of importance in helping others in the Body of Christ.

For me, this passage expresses so much.  Focus on who it is written to.  It is written to ALL believers, not a subset of them.  This passage shows that there are some key gifted ones that are in the Body of Christ and then it tells their purpose.  When we look at this passage more as a whole and not just for the identification of some of the kinds of gifted ones there are in the Body we start to see some amazing truths about how both these key gifted ones and other believers should operate.

• It expresses the reasons for these key gifted ones
  • equipping (maturing) the saints for the work of the ministry
• It expresses some essential goals for each believer
  • until we all reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God
  • until we all reach to a mature man, to a measure of the maturity of the fulness of Christ
  • so that we may no longer be infants, tossed about by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of people, by craftiness with reference to the scheming of deceit
• It expresses the ultimate outcome of this maturing process
  • we (each one of us) are to grow into him with reference to all things, who is the head, Christ
• It expresses what things would be like with everyone in this matured state
  • from Christ the whole body, joined together and held together by every supporting ligament, according to the working by measure of each single part, the growth of the body makes for the building up of itself in love.

Within this passage there is an implicit reality which is pretty amazing.  Here it is…

The role of these key gifted ones is temporary and should be going away.  The gifted ones are to help connect the individual believers to Christ as their head so that they relate fully and properly to Christ as their head.  As the whole body matures and each part is operating in its function, the gifted ones who the Lord gave to prepare the body become less needed.  This is what the Lord expected.  He expected all of us to “grow into him with reference to all things, who is the head, Christ”.  This is not reserved to those who are named as these key gifted ones in Ephesians 4, but for each and every believer.

This has an amazing implication.  The real work of the most notable gifted ones is to make themselves less necessary.

Brief Review of Other Relationships with Authority

We have seen several other relationship where the Bible indicates there is some form of authority of one party over the other party.  These other relationships need to be considered for comparing and contrasting with the relationship between one leading and other believers.

• Government Official <-> Citizen – stronger authority for the government official for the domain of their authority where the Bible expects obedience on the part of citizens
• Master <-> Slave – stronger authority for masters over their slaves where the Bible expects obedience on the part of slaves.  It is important to remember that this relationship is specific to the master <-> slave relationship.  The Old Testament shows us there is a separate category for the hired worker and hired workers are seen in the New Testament.  The same level of authority does not exist between an employer and a hired worker as does a master and slave.
• Parents <-> Children – stronger authority for parents over their children where the Bible expects obedience on the part of children.  The relationship between parents and children change as children mature to adulthood and possibly marry.  It is clear that marriage sets up a new sphere of authority.  It is not as clear cut that as a child grows to be an adult that they begin to operate under their own authority apart from their parents, but this does occur.
• Husband <-> Wife – the level of authority drops in this relationship.  There is no requirement for a wife to obey her husband.  There is the requirement for her submission.  At the same time, the husband has a responsibilities to fulfill and the expectation of a husband loving their wife as Christ loved the church makes the authority given to a husband a spiritual reality which may not be visibly exercised by the husband when a wife is not willing for it.
• Siblings in Christ – the level of authority between siblings drops to its lowest level in this relationship.  It is difficult to see that there is any authority among siblings in Christ.  There is no requirement for obedience to one another.  There is an expectation of mutual submission to one another out of respect for Christ.  There are also expectations of humility, gentleness, kindness, lowliness among one another.  None of these comprise authority over one another.

With this backdrop, we will investigate how much authority God has vested in leading ones in the church.  We will go ahead and draw basic contrasts with the other relationships.

The relationship between leading ones and other believers on issues of authority is clearly:

Brief Review of the Complexities of this Subject

There are numerous complexities to this subject.   Here are some of the complexities

• The Bible does not prescribe a lot of rules about how leadership is to function (i.e. governance) in the church.  It presents some principles and it describes some scenarios where leadership seems to be in operation.
• The modern church consolidates many functions in the church to a smaller subset of people while the early church as seen in the Bible demonstrates that many of the same functions were shared more commonly across all believers in the early church.  The giftings of the entire Body were expressed in the group setting even by those who were not classified as “leaders”.
  • 1 Corinthians 14:26-33 shows us that selecting songs, teaching, sharing inspired by the Spirit, expression of spiritual gifts (tongues, interpretations) was shared commonly by all believers in a congregation.  This type of community driven gathering where each person had opportunity to contribute to the group setting was classified as “orderly worship”.
• The Bible uses some words repeatedly in different contexts where one context may be using the same word as a title/position while in another context it is a common reference without any signification of title
  • Three key Greek words have to be considered closely: presbuteros, episkopos, diakonos.  A full exploration of these words and their usage in the Bible will still leave some questions open to interpretation and drawing different conclusions.
• Some in leadership separate their thinking into two categories and relate to these two categories separately.  This allows them to take on a leadership role to the abstract entity called “church” apart from their relationships with others.  This complexity is difficult to address in writing.
  • Their interactions with the “church” as a separate entity that has standing apart from their individual dealings with believers
  • Their interactions with individual believers
• The operation of the church in various flavors of christianity have formulated leadership practices over many years of operation which don’t have any specific Biblical mandate.  These practices may or may not have Biblical validity, but since they have built up over time many begin to assume these practices are officially sanctioned by God.

The only way to overcome these complexities is to continue to study the Word of God and continuing relate to God in full submission so that He can lead you into the truths related to leadership in the church environment.  Premature conclusions based on partial understanding and an increasing understanding of the character of God and how He has chosen to relate to His children can lead to wisdom on this topic.

I do not consider myself (as the author of this writing) to have arrived on this subject.  I have a spent a long time studying this and still feel ill-equipped to write something completely conclusive.  God always turns out to be bigger than what I am able to capture with any “mental models” or “conceptual constructs”.  Having realized that God is not a mental construct, but a being who operates differently at varying times according to His will I don’t believe that I will ever be able to fully capture this subject in written form.

I do believe I can point out some unsound doctrine and point towards more sound approaches, but this does not capture this subject adequately.  The reader is left to seek God, get to know Him (his character and way of being), be led by Him and have his/her thoughts molded by God.  The willing subject of God who is able to drop their conceptions taught to them through culture, family, traditions of church environments will learn of God and be led by him into further wisdom regarding this subject.

Limited Goals for this Section about Leading Ones and Believers

Because of the broadness and complexity of this subject area, the discussion will be limited to the following key ideas:

1. Demonstrating that the Bible does not give much special authority to leading ones
2. Demonstrating that each believer has more authority than most seem to understand and they are not “under” the authority of leading ones to the extent that most believe

In focusing on these two items, it is the hope of this author to promote two things:

Review of Diagrams

There are three diagrams in this section.

• First, the relationship between “One Leading” and a non-leading believer in the church as it relates to “practical” church administration.  It will be impossible to clearly define what “practical” means in this context because there are varying views on what a “practical” matter is versus a “spiritual” matter.
• The second and third diagrams represent two different views of the relationship between leading ones and other believers.
  • Delegate Authority – God is the head over the believer who is leading.  In turn, the “One Leading” is the head over the individual believer.  This model does not show a direct connection between the individual believer who is not leading and God, so it represents an extreme view.
  • Elder Leading Ones with God’s Direct Headship Over Everyone – God is the direct head over every believer without any intermediary.  There is also a relationship between the leading ones and other believers in their arena.  This relationship is not a direct headship, but something else which will be explored in this section.

If you want to be very precise there is no requirement for someone to be a leading one to take on “practical” matters of church administration.  If someone is gifted in administration, they can function with this capacity without being classified as a leading one.

Diagrams #2 & #3 – Two views of Leading Ones and Other Believers

Having clarified that there are some “practical” matters of church administration we can now consider the how ones leading relate to other believers in other matters.  For simplicity we will call them “spiritual matters”.   Two separate diagrams are presented here.  One diagram shows the one leading as situated between the individual believer and God.  This is a clear model of “delegated authority”.  The other one shows that the one leading is just like the diagram with an older sibling with God added to the diagram.  There is no “delegated authority” in this model.  The leading one represents the person who has “seen it and done it“, but they cannot “command” (with any expectation of personal obedience) other believers to do what they have done or to follow their commands.

These are two disparate views.  The “delegated model” with a leading one between God and man can most easily be seen in the Catholic church.  To a lesser extent the beliefs of “delegated authority” exist throughout most flavors of christianity.

Upon reviewing these diagrams it is unlikely that a Protestant christian would be comfortable selecting either of them as correct.  On the one hand, most protestants would feel that the “delegate authority” model on the left is too strong and that leading ones do not have this level of authority.  On the other hand, they would probably feel that the model on the right is too weak because it doesn’t include any amount of “delegate authority” except in “practical” matters.

At present, this author believes the model on the right which shows little to no “delegated authority” to the leading one is the most correct.  Let’s briefly review some of the problematic approaches that have led to many believers feeling that leading ones have some level of “delegated authority”.  Let’s also look at some healthier approaches to establishing the specific abilities granted to leading ones and the constraints on them in relation to the Body of Christ.

Note:  Even though leading ones cannot give “commands” expecting personal obedience, this does not mean they cannot deliver “commands”.  They just cannot be deliver them like a military commander giving orders to their troops.  They have to be given as commands (i.e. directions) on behalf of a divine being for which the person receiving the command is responsible to God, not the person delivering the command.  In keeping with God’s character (God is love) the bearer of these “command” type is entreated to do so with humility.  Using the word “command” here may be somewhat confusing.  We must address it because Paul uses “command” type words in several places in his epistles, but we must understand exactly what he meant (and did not mean).   (TBD – See Paul’s Use of Command Words)

Key Evidence of Less Authority for Leading Ones

Given the complexity of this subject, the best way to focus in on this issue is to express a few points about what leading ones can and cannot do.  These will be done as a series of questions for the reader to consider and take into their ongoing Bible study.

Authority Leading Ones Have

1. Do ones leading have the same authority in Christ as all other believers?  Yes.  (Consider reviewing the relationship among sibling in Christ: Key Relationships Defined: Body of Christ – Siblings in Christ with a focus on the type and level of authority each believer has in relationship to other believers)
2. Do ones leading have some special authorities beyond what all other believers have?  Yes, but very limited.  Authority to come alongside (not overlord) another believer with an expectation that the other believer will listen attentively and be willing to be persuaded of what the leading one has to share.  This should be done in the spirit of what Peter describes in 1 Peter 5:1-5.  This authority also exists with other believers, but is specifically called out for leading ones in a proper translation of Hebrews 13:17 (See Hebrews 13:17 – A Closer Look).
3. Do ones leading have any special authority over other believers beyond what older siblings in Christ have?  Some would say yes.  It is possible that the answer is actually no.  The important note is that an older believer who is sinning or giving bad instruction (not according to God’s will) does not have any authority over a younger believer.  Review 1 Timothy 5:20 – As for those (elders) who persist in sin, rebuke them before all, so the rest may stand in fear.   This clarifies that the real authority is God’s authority.  An elder has no special privilege when they are in error, while they are due additional respect when they are not sinning.  A younger believer owes the older believer some additional respect, but this does not equate to obedience or subservience.  To some, this may not be clear.

Authority Leading Ones Don’t Have

1. Do ones leading have the personal authority to command (as a military commander with troops or parent with children) other believers to do or not do something?  No
   1. Upon close inspection, it is clear that Paul did not feel he had this personal authority.  Paul did think he had authority, but only in so much as it coincided with God’s will.  Even in one of the worst situations (incestuous adultery of a brother in Corinth, 1 Cor 5:1-7; 2 Cor 2:5-10), Paul did not expect full compliance of those who he
2. Do ones leading have the authority to punish (as a civil authority with a citizen) other believers beyond personal disassociation?  No.  Most models for “church discipline” are flawed with the assumption that ones leading in the church setting have some special authority to implement discipline on other believers.  The Bible does not back this up.   Personal disassociation is the only model we see in the Bible.  By personal it means that each believer has the right and responsibility to choose whether to disassociate with another believer who is sinning.  According to what the Bible portrays, it is not done at a group level by representative believers (aka leading ones).  It is done by the community of believers which allows for non-unanimous results.  There is no prescriptive text anywhere in the Bible that shows this sole form of punishment to be something that is wielded by a group as a group.  For example, you could not say that a believer had been disassociated/disfellowshipped by Church A or Church B.  It would be the individuals in each of these churches that would make individual choices which might add up to a majority, but the presence of others who either dissent or abstain from involvement should not be connected to this action by attributing it to an entire body of believers.

Problematic Approaches

• Inheriting leadership approaches which introduce the control of one believer over another believer from other realms (government, business, family, etc) of authority and applying them to leadership in the church
• Introducing concepts of “delegated” authority to authorize church leadership to control or expect obedience of other believers. Most use the example of Moses, Joshua or Old Testament Kings as a main support and a few select verses, but this is done in error.
  • The error is different for Moses and Joshua as opposed to Old Testament Kings because they played different roles.  Moses and Joshua were leaders appointed by God, but not as kings.  They never claimed delegate authority.  They both wielded God’s authority, but not as delegates.  Moses was clear that he did not act of his own accord (Numbers 16:28).  Joshua was Moses successor and demonstrates the same pattern as Moses.  
  • On the other hand, the Old Testament Kings parallel government authorities so different rules apply.  As government authorities they do wield delegate authority, but they are kings and not like priests or prophets.  It is erroneous to use them as examples to certify New Testament leadership as having delegate authority.  Old Testament Kings do not foreshadow us as believers.
• Using Hebrews 13:17 to establish delegate authority.  This verse is mistranslated and does not setup delegate authority
• Using other lesser scriptures to establish delegate authority (1 Tim 4:11, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, 1 Cor 16:16)

Healthier Approaches

– Understand all the other relationships that include some component of authority and how they are different from the relationship between those leading and other believers.

– Understand that church leadership is not being raised to a higher level of stature and control, but being lowered to the status of the lower servant with the primary tools of appealing and convincing others to be willing to cooperate with God’s will. Forcing the will of another believer is not a permitted tool.

– Understand that God is the Father and we are all brethren under One Father. We must respect the relationship between Our Father and each of our brothers. We should not interfere in that relationship, but only act in cooperation with God’s will for them by first understanding God’s point of view about each believer and their status with their Father. As brother’s, those leading need to recognize a stronger emphasis on our “peer” relationship and not be misled into thinking we have further control over siblings in Christ.

– Understand where your practices go beyond what is prescribed in the Word of God. Relate to any practices that go beyond the prescribed Word of God with extreme care.

– Understand where your practices are based on descriptive text and do not base any strong leadership practices on descriptive text. Any practices based on descriptive text should be treated with suspicion and not believed by leaders or other believers to hold much weight.

Paul’s Use of Command Words

Introduction

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