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Church Governance in the Message: Difference between revisions
→Biblical teaching on the office of the elder/pastor
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#All of the tithes goes to the pastor | #All of the tithes goes to the pastor | ||
=Biblical teaching on the office of the elder/pastor= | =Biblical teaching on church governance= | ||
While there is no precise biblical manual on church government, a survey and analysis of the biblical material reveals definite patterns and discernable guidelines on how the churches in the New Testament functioned. Here are a few things we can understand from scripture: | |||
#Voting for elders/deacons is acceptable. The apostles had the church in Jerusalem elect people to serve the widows (Acts 6:3), | |||
#There were two and only two offices within each congregation: pastors (elders or bishops) and deacons (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1–13). The Scriptures never specify the required or precise number of either. There is no biblical office of trustee. | |||
#Based on Matt. 18:15–17 the final court of appeal in the exercise of church discipline is the church and each member of the church is to abide by the corporate judgment. The assembly of those individual believers who are the church has the final word on such matters. | |||
#Senior leadership in the church should be comprised of a group of "elders" (see discussion below). | |||
In Acts 14:27, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch following the first missionary journey (Acts 13:1–14:28) and "when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done”. Their report was evidently not to the leadership only but to the entire congregation. | |||
Acts 15 records the crucial meeting of the Jerusalem conference that convened to determine the status of Gentiles in the church and issues related to salvation and the keeping of the Law. Important things to note: | |||
#it was the local church at Antioch that sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem (Acts 15:2–3) and it was the local church at Jerusalem that received them along with the apostles and elders (Acts 15:4). | |||
#the decision by the church at Antioch that sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about the “Gentile question” arose from that church’s voluntary initiative. This important problem started from the bottom and moved up. It was not a top-down decision. | |||
#though the apostles and elders appropriately convened and led the discussion, “all the multitude … listened” (Acts 15:12, NKJV) to the debate. | |||
#verse 22 points out that “it pleased the apostles, and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company” to deliver Paul and Barnabas with the decision reached by the conference at Jerusalem. | |||
#the letter that was sent came from “the apostles, the elders, and the brethren,” and it was directed to “the brethren” (the church as a whole) at Antioch (Acts 15:23). | |||
#it was the church as a whole that received the letter (Acts 15:30) and rejoiced over its content (Acts 15:31). In all that took place congregational involvement and action are present at every turn. | |||
In 1 Corinthians 5, we read about a case of sexual immorality which had gone unchecked, and Paul was scandalized by the lax behavior and indifferent attitude of the church at Corinth. Paul addressed not the elders, but the congregation as a whole. In particular, he stated that appropriate discipline was to be exercised “when you are gathered together” (v. 4). The issue of church discipline is a matter to be handled by the entire congregation, not just those in leadership. Paul is upset with the whole church — not just the leaders — that they haven’t already taken action and had been tolerating such sin. Paul calls for nothing less than a “community action, carried out in the context of the Spirit. The whole community must carry out the action because the ‘leaven’ has affected them as a community. | |||
The Didache, a document from as early as the first century that discussed church governance, includes only two offices that are acknowledged for election: bishops and deacons. There is no third office. Second, it is the responsibility of the congregation to elect their officers. The congregation is to honor those who meet the scriptural qualifications for spiritual leadership. The congregation has a voice in who leads them, but once these leaders are chosen, the members of the congregation are obligated to honor and follow them unless they (the leadership) are disqualified through immoral, unethical, or unscriptural behavior.<ref>Daniel Akin et al., Perspectives on Church Government: Five Views of Church Polity (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), 26-39.</ref> | |||
==Biblical teaching on the office of the elder/pastor== | |||
The Bible teaches that the ministry of the Word, the exhortation of the saints, the maintenance of godly discipline, the refutation of false teaching—all these vital aspects of the life of the church are to be undertaken by a body of elders. Two primary Greek terms underlie the various English terms used to describe the elder, overseer, or bishop: presbuteros and episkopos. The term translated “pastor” or “shepherd” is poimen. As a result, the careful reading of the text reveals that two offices or positions exist in the New Testament church: the elder and the deacon. The elder may be referred to as an overseer or bishop as well.<ref>Daniel Akin et al., Perspectives on Church Government: Five Views of Church Polity (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), 270.</ref> | The Bible teaches that the ministry of the Word, the exhortation of the saints, the maintenance of godly discipline, the refutation of false teaching—all these vital aspects of the life of the church are to be undertaken by a body of elders. Two primary Greek terms underlie the various English terms used to describe the elder, overseer, or bishop: presbuteros and episkopos. The term translated “pastor” or “shepherd” is poimen. As a result, the careful reading of the text reveals that two offices or positions exist in the New Testament church: the elder and the deacon. The elder may be referred to as an overseer or bishop as well.<ref>Daniel Akin et al., Perspectives on Church Government: Five Views of Church Polity (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), 270.</ref> | ||