CONGREGATIONAL RULE
“He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the
first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in
everything.” Col. 1:18
Christ is the Head of the church - His Church. In several ways the Bible makes it clear that Christ Himself is the
administrative Head, the One responsible for the building, growth, program,
governing, and evaluating of the Church. From Matt. 16:18, "I will build
My church," through Paul's epistles, 1 Cor. 12 (the Church is His body),
Eph.1:22, 4:15, Col. 1:18, 2:19 (Christ is the Head of that body), and
climaxing in the dramatic picture of Rev. 1 (Christ standing in the midst of
the lamp stands representing the churches, examining their works, issuing
admonitions and orders along with praises and promises), this portrayal of His
authority and control is beyond question. Christ is running His Church. He
states He is in no need of leaders in Matt. 23:10, for in His estimation there
is only One, only servants which He calls His friends in John 15:15. How does
He lead His church? When He was here on earth with those who were to become the
church, His leadership and administration were direct. He personally gave the
orders and made the decisions. Now that He is no longer present in the flesh,
by what means or mechanism does He run His church? The specific aspect of this
question we want to explore in this article may be seen by stating the problem
a bit differently. Does Christ accomplish His rule over the church by means of
specially authorized human agents (i.e., by elders)? Or does He direct His
church by means of a democratic congregational organization of all the members
of the body – congregational rule? The answer is congregational rule through His
gifted friends.
HOW HE GIFTS - When
the disciples began to realize that they were going to be left alone without
the immediate presence of Christ to guide, their response was fear and
uncertainty. Jesus knew their anxiety, and He spent much of the time in those
last days encouraging and instructing them. He knew what they needed to know
(much better than they did) and He taught them what they should know to face
the changed conditions which were coming. So looking at what He taught them
ought to help us to understand what He considered important about the changed
situation. What did Jesus talk about with His disciples that last night in the
upper room?
He said, "I am
going away, but I am not abandoning you." John 14:1-3, 18-20, 23;
16:16-22. In many of these words He seems to be promising them the spiritual
presence of Himself and of the Father during the interval when they do not see
Him in physical presence.
Especially, He said,
"When I go away I will send Another (One who will be your comforter, helper,
advocate as I have been)" John 14:16-17, 25-26; 15:26; 16:7-11, 13-15. The
indwelling Holy Spirit will be the presence of Christ in the believers. After
His resurrection He renewed the promise (John 20:22), and instructed His
followers (Luke 24:46-49) to wait in Jerusalem for its fulfillment at
Pentecost. Then in the great commission He reassured them, "Lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20).
This promise that
Christ would send Another to take His place while He was absent is most
significant to the problem we are looking at. How will Christ run the church
when He is not Himself physically present? He will do it through the agency of
His Counterpart, the Holy Spirit. "He will take the things of Mine
(including My running the church) and reveal them unto you." With His
presence and ministry, it is if I were still here.
Many Scriptures emphasize the close relation between the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the church. Repeatedly we are told that
Christ would baptize His followers with the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8;
Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5; 11:16). That promise was fulfilled on Pentecost (Acts 1:5,
8; 2:4, 16-17, 33, 38) and this marked
the beginning, the birthday of the church. Paul tells us that "we all were
baptized into one body with one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13, literal
translation; en pneumati: in, with, by means of; not by, in the sense that the
Spirit is the agent doing the baptizing; Christ always is the baptizer in
Spirit baptism -- look at the subject when the verb is active). Spirit baptism,
the act by which Christ introduces us into His body, the church, is the
reception of the Holy Spirit, Who enters to indwell the believer and new life
is introduced (Rom. 6:3-4). “….we also should walk in newness of life.”
The implication of
this teaching for our present discussion is that now Christ rules and directs
His church through the instrumentality of the Spirit who indwells us. But, how
does the Spirit direct? Is it by elders, or some other officials, who
especially are led by the Spirit? Or does He lead by directing the whole body
of believers? Do the Scriptures give us any lead as to His method? I believe
they do, quite clearly.
First, there is
nothing said in the Scriptures about the elders which indicates that they have
any special relationship with the Spirit. Of the 18 references to church elders
in the NT, only one (Acts 20:17, cf. v. 28) even has a mention of the Spirit in
the context, and that is a reference to how they became elders, not at all to a
special provision for their functioning in that capacity.
Second, it is never
said in the NT that an elder is "filled with the Spirit" for his
work. The expression "filled with the Spirit" occurs at least 12
times in the NT, usually of some individual (John the Baptist, Zachariah,
Elizabeth, Jesus, Peter, Paul), sometimes groups (the seven deacons, the
believers in Acts 7:31 and 13:52), "all" (at Pentecost). The
significance seems to be a special enabling for the spiritual task at hand.
That is precisely the need of the elder if he is to rule or direct the church,
but it is never found. (The expression in Eph. 5:18 is an entirely different
one from all the rest of these, and are not dealt with in this discussion.)
Third, the aspect of
the Spirit's work when it is related to the church is always His indwelling and
therefore is the common experience of every believer, not a work in a special
class. The primary passage is 1 Cor. 12. It begins with all believers being
baptized into the body by receiving the Spirit, vs.12-13. It continues by
showing that many members make up the body, and that the Spirit gives to each
of them His own enabling gift. Then it shows that all of those members with
their gifts are necessary to the body. There is not a hint that some gifts are
of a higher rank, or that some members are more capable of knowing the Spirit's
guidance than others.
Fourth, the
Scriptures make it plain that all believers are taught of the Spirit and
"know" the truth (1 Cor. 2:9-10, 12, 13, 14-16; keep in mind that the
"spiritual man" is not some super-spiritual leader; he is one who has
the Spirit, every believer. cf. vs. 12.) Cf. also, 1 John 2:20, 27. These
passages of course do not teach that the believer is omniscient, but they do
mean that every believer is teachable by the Spirit. There is nothing in
Scripture which suggests that there is a select group of spiritual persons who
are alone capable of knowing the guidance of the Spirit. The clergy-laity
distinction in the church is post Biblical. And 2 Pet. 1:20 does not mean that
only priestly or professional people are qualified to interpret Scripture; that
was one of the errors of Catholicism.
Fifth, the epistles
of the NT are almost all addressed to churches, and never to a pastor or elder
of a specific church. This would be strange if the elder were the
administrative head of the church, responsible for making the decisions. It is
true that some (Timothy, Titus, 2 and 3 John) are addressed to individuals, and
conceivably some of these may have been in fact elders. But they are addressed
as individuals, not as officials of local congregations.
Sixth, the seven
letters in Rev. 2 and 3 were addressed to "the angels" of the
churches. Opinions disagree whether these angels were "messengers" or
elders of the churches, or, more in keeping with the rest of the book, they are
to be thought of as literal angels (perhaps guardian angels). The point to be
noted, however, is that the messages contained in those letters were not
addressed to the angels. The commendations and the criticisms were not about
the elder's activities, but rather the characteristics of the whole church.
Each of the seven ends with the words "... what the Spirit saith to the
churches." Again, this seems strange if the elder is supposed to be the spiritual
decision-maker of the church.
Seventh, an analogy
may be seen in the way the Holy Spirit directs in the spiritual life and growth
of the individual believer. Does the Spirit guide our individual decisions by
telling us to go to some "spiritual leader" and follow His
instruction? Or does He guide by leading our thoughts to the Word of God and
showing us there what His will is? Of course, the pastor or elder has a part to
play; he has the responsibility to teach and influence our decisions by spiritual
guidance. But making decisions is our personal responsibility.
