03.30.08
Posted in Tom Gilson at 11:07 pm by Tom Gilson
Is there any significant move of God in all of Scripture in which He did not work through a core of spiritual leaders?
I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and the only place I can think of where spiritual leaders were not active was in Judges, where “every man did what was right in his own eyes.” This was not a positive portrait. There was a cycle throughout that book: when God raised up spiritual leaders the nation did well, but between those times they fell into sin and suffered oppression from heathen nations.
The message of the Bible is one of relationship and community from start to finish. Every person is significant. I confess I usually breeze right through the Bible’s long genealogies. There was, however, a Wycliffe Bible Translators missionary in a tribal location–I can’t remember where just now–who saved translating the genealogies in Matthew and Luke for last. When he finished them, the people said, “Why did you save the best for last?” They understood the importance of individuals–people whose contribution might otherwise have been forgotten.
Nevertheless, communities always gather around leaders. Modern business organizations often send potential leaders to “assessment centers,” which include a variety of exercises to test their aptitude. One exercise commonly used is the “leaderless group.” Eight to twelve people, with no one in charge, are given a task to accomplish together. Somebody always emerges as the leader–unless more than one person does, in which there may be conflict over who takes the lead. The point is that every group has a leader.
God has apparently ordained it that way, in view of the witness we have of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the Judges, Saul, David, Solomon, the rest of the kings, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, the prophets, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, James, and most obviously Jesus Christ. The church is designed to operate under leaders. Paul considered it one of his first duties to appoint shepherds (Timothy and Titus are examples) and elders (as in Ephesus). In 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 he laid out the crucial qualifications for church leaders. These are worth quoting here:
I Timothy 3 (ESV)
[Qualifications for Overseers]
1The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
[Qualifications for Deacons]
8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. 9 They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11 Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. 13 For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
In Titus 1, note how Paul made it a priority to make sure every church body had proper leaders in place:
[Qualifications for Elders]
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Acts 6 provides another qualification list, in which men of wisdom, full of the Holy Spirit, are given tasks to help administrate the church. And God calls us to give honor to our spiritual leaders:
Hebrews 13:7: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
1 Timothy 5:17-19: “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages.’ Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.”
Do we follow leaders blindly, then? Obviously not. Among the leaders listed above, not all were worthy–especially among the kings of Judah and Israel. The 1 Timothy 5 passage just cited recognizes that some leaders will face accusations. We can all name pastors–famous and not-so-famous–who have fallen.
The passage also warns us not to be rash about entertaining accusations, and to allow leaders some benefit of the doubt unless evidence of their failure is quite clear. This is not because leaders get special privileges, or because they should be allowed more freedom to err. Quite the opposite, in fact. It seems to me the reason Scripture calls us to be slower to accuse leaders is because they are in a uniquely vulnerable position. By virtue of their position, they are targets–targets for disagreement, for complaints, and for accusations. Scripture calls on God’s people to take some of that pressure off our shepherds. If they do succumb to sin, doctrinal error, or other leadership failures, they have further to fall than those who are not leaders. Most business organizations will not dismiss an employee who commits private sin on his or her time off. Churches certainly will–and rightly so, in many instances. Sin in spiritual leaders is very serious–which is all the more reason to be deliberate about how we handle it.
The sum of all this is that God leads through men and women He has uniquely called and positioned for the purpose. This is for the good of each member of the community and for the building up of all God’s people (Eph. 4). We can all grow in the gifts God has given us–and we can all grow in the leadership roles God has called us to, whatever those may be. God provides leaders to help us all get there.
This is not to say that everything depends on just one person. The Bible provides for church structures with leaders functioning at various levels with differing responsibilities. More on that next time…
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04.01.08
Posted in Tom Gilson at 9:47 pm by Tom Gilson
My last post ran the risk of sending a wrong message: that it takes one key super-leader to shepherd God’s people. No, it takes a definite leadership structure to lead well. I have very painful personal experience with this–experience that drives me to do my best to help prevent the same kind of thing from ever being repeated.
I was one of a small group that were planting a church in Pasadena, California in the early 1980s. What incredible fellowship we had! It was in many ways the ideal church. I’ve never been in another such tight-knit community of believers. We encountered sudden change, though, change that we thought at first was really good for our church. It happened when another church in the community switched pastors, and several members thought the new man was too liberal. Many of them came and joined us, all at one time.
They actually assimilated into our church quite nicely. But the church outgrew our ability to be just a great fellowship. Where once we could all get together–every one of us–for meaningful discussions about the church’s direction, now we were too many for that. We weren’t large–only about 100 people–but we were too big for our old ways to work.
To keep the story short, the pastor didn’t adjust well. He didn’t succeed in setting up a leadership structure for the next phase of our growth. Small disagreements turned into large dissension. Conflict arose between the pastor and the key elder. We ended up donating away all our assets to other Christian groups, and we closed the church. Be assured that there’s a world of hurting contained in that short summary.
Moses started out with a very poor understanding of how to structure leadership among the Israelites. His father-in-law saw this and counseled him in Exodus 18 (ESV):
13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. 19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, 20 and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. 21 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves.
The idea was to delegate responsibility and authority among a number of leaders. As Jethro pointed out, that was the only way leading a large company like the Israelites could have been remotely possible. Note that this wasn’t just good family advice. It was one of many examples of delegated authority in the Bible. Others may be found in:
Whoa… that list could get really long! Let’s just focus on two more very significant Old Testament passages and three from the New Testament.
Judges 2:16-23. The main message here is that when the people followed God’s appointed leaders they fared well. Otherwise they fell into idolatry and other sin, and “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.” In those days the result was that they were oppressed by neighboring nations. There’s no telling what the result of the Lord’s anger might be in regard to a body of his people today–but you can count on this, it won’t be something pleasant or desirable.
Nehemiah–the entire book. One good test of this is to read the book aloud. Notice how many names are there–or, how many times you have to pause to figure out a pronunciation! Most of these are leaders–”nobles and officials,” many of them heads of households or clans–among the people. Nehemiah did a masterful job of assigning responsibility for different sections of the wall they were rebuilding around Jerusalem. Another great lesson from Nehemiah is the emphasis on prayer–he led spiritually, not just organizationally.
Acts 6:1-7. The apostles recognized it was inappropriate and unworkable for them to be hands-on leaders of administrative tasks. It was not that administration was a lesser calling. The men they chose to fulfill those roles were full of wisdom, faith, and the Holy Spirit, and one of them went on to become the early church’s first martyr.
Acts 15:1-35. On the other hand, when a major, far-reaching decision had to be made, the apostles became very deeply involved, along with an unnamed group of elders. This was the controversy over whether Gentile converts would need to be circumcised and follow other Jewish law. This was decided in council. It was a council of spiritual leaders, however, and not of all the church. The word “elders” (presbytos) in the New Testament seems to be interchangeable with “overseers” (episkopos), by the way. This was not, at the time, a formal office in the same sense it is in some churches today (”episkopos” eventually become transliterated to “bishop”). It seems rather to have been a matter of appointing to leadership those who were recognized as spiritually equipped for it. We get a hint of this in our final passage today:
Acts 14:19-23. Paul re-traced earlier paths on his missionary travels and
when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
This is not just a principle for ancient times. The modern world hasn’t outgrown it, and there’s no reason to think we’ll ever “move beyond” this any more than we would move beyond any other principle of Scripture. Lyle E. Schaller did considerable research on church leadership and structures for his book The Very Large Church. Seaford, with about 800 in regular attendance, fits his description of “a very large church.” He describes the difference between decision-making styles that work well in
- small churches–where 100% approval of new projects is ideal,
- large churches of 450-700 people–where “broad-based support” of about 80% of members is desirable, and
- megachurches in the 3,000 member range–where support should come from “the majority of leaders, plus the volunteers required to implement [a new project]“
Our church falls in the cracks between the second and third group, but this example nevertheless makes clear the importance of a strong structure of spiritual leadership, appropriate to the size of the congregation. It was already clear in Scripture, so it should come as no surprise that it works that way in actual churches still today.
I’ve lived through one church’s experience with a leadership structure that didn’t match its size. I’ve never wanted to go through that again! Thankfully we have both Scripture and other churches’ experience to guide us to wise approaches to this crucial matter.
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05.06.08
Posted in Bible Study, Tom Gilson at 9:44 pm by Tom Gilson
In a past article I asked,
Is there any significant move of God in all of Scripture in which He did not work through a core of spiritual leaders?
I still haven’t been able to think of an example, unless you count Numbers 16. You could call this chapter a significant move of God, and in a way, it did not involve a core of spiritual leaders. The episode begins,
Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
This was a challenge against God’s appointed leader. Of course, God’s anointing on Moses was unique. No church that I know of today has a pastor who was called at a burning bush or parted a sea to lead his people across it. Therefore before we draw any application from this passage, we have to determine whether it has any real parallel in today’s church. We’ll look at that question first, then we’ll return to see just what the work of God was in this passage.
We’ll start with whether church leaders today are called by God. Most churches assume so, but does the Bible say? Ephesians 4:11-14 says pastors (shepherds) and teachers are given to the church by God:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
1 Corinthians 12:27-28 takes this idea of gifting and extends it to include others are involved in leading God’s people. The meaning of “apostles” and “prophets” is controversial in this post-apostolic era, but virtually all Bible students accept teaching and administrating as leadership gifts/roles for today’s church. Note that they are appointed by God.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
We don’t expect burning bushes to confirm such appointing, of course. God only did that once. Now, instead, he generally uses other qualified people to identify and appoint spiritual leaders. Paul told Titus to appoint elders, having first made sure he knew the proper qualifications:
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—-if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Once they have been properly recognized and appointed, God pronounces elders and teachers to be worthy of honor:
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
And again,
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
And then, ten verses later in Hebrews, we see this strong affirmation of spiritual leaders:
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Now, this hardly means that there is no accountability for our leaders. James 3:1-3 says their special honor comes with special responsibility:
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
Earlier I quoted from 1 Timothy 5. I need to return to it and add another couple of verses. That passage ends with:
Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.
In addition, I could go into all the very strict, even dire warnings, about false teachers and false prophets throughout Scripture; but I don’t that is necessary to cover in detail. We know that leaders are accountable. Now, how does that accountability take place? Different churches have different answers. There are episcopal structures, where a bishop presides over a large number of churches. There are elder-oriented structures, where accountability comes primarily through an internal body of qualified spiritual leaders. Both of these have their pluses and minuses.
Can an entire church hold its leaders accountable? Certainly any person (or at least one who is spiritual) could initiate the accountability sequence of Matthew 18:15-17, approaching a leader privately, then bringing some along if necessary, and later (if needed) taking the issue before the whole church. The above admonition still holds, though: do not admit an accusation against an elder without definite evidence of their wrongdoing.
But can a church body together stand up and take over the appointed role of a leader? This brings us back to Numbers 16. I encourage you to read the whole chapter, but I’ll highlight the beginning and the end for you here. Remember what the people had said?
For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?
It’s easy to think that any one of us could do what our leaders do, that we’re all qualified for their work. That’s not the issue, though. Moses did not exalt himself above the assembly of the Lord; the Lord called him and placed him there. It was the Lord’s doing. Moses made it clear at the time that the issue was, whom has God sent? God did not call the whole congregation to run the whole. He called the qualified spiritual leaders (also including others to whom leadership was properly delegated–see Exodus 18 and Numbers 11).
So what happened to those who thought they could stand up in place of those leaders? Something we wouldn’t want to happen to anyone around us!
The ground under them split apart. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
Of course just as no leader is called by means of a burning bush today, it’s also unlikely that the earth will open up and swallow a rebellious church, or part of a church. Nevertheless the lesson is clear: there are right ways to hold leaders accountable. And there is at least one way that Scripture tells us is a very, very bad idea.
What then does this mean regarding the purpose of our church business meetings? This blog post is getting long, so this is not time to try to answer that in detail. The business meetings certainly have their purpose, but whatever we do there, it should be consistent with following and giving honor to our teachers and leaders; and we dare not try to usurp them as Korah’s group did. We don’t want to end up the way they did.
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