Biblical Leadership

Organizations, companies, even whole countries rise or fall on leadership. A powerful leader or group of leaders can see amazing stuff happen. Good leadership can be constructive, like Chuck Swindoll who moved to TX as President. of Dallas Seminary after a successful pastorate in California.

But bad leadership can be destructive: Ted Haggard was the president of the National Association of Evangelicals and founder of New Life Church in Colorado. But he was caught soliciting paid male companionship and his fall has done much harm to that church & the NAE. There are leaders of whole denominations who do not really believe Jesus literally rose from the dead!

The church is growing desperate for Biblical leadership as times grow increasing hostile to Christ in the West. Every ship needs someone to set its course and rally the sailors when the storms get fierce! And folks the storms are getting worse…

If a church is a Biblical church, then Christ is the measure and master of all things. After all the church is His Body; He is of focus and reason for all we do. If He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, then it needs to be His way according to His truth!

The Bible is the only objective and infallible rule for our faith and practice in the church. The traditions of people will change, the culture and the forms we use may change, but the Bible is the final arbiter of all we do. The Apostles and Prophets have left us a written record of God’s directions for His Church.

Now one critical reason we have the Scriptures is that the Apostles and Prophets were a special class of leaders and as time passed they did also!

The passing of the Apostles and Prophets

Ephesians 2:20 tells us that the Apostles and Prophets were foundational to the church. They are like masons laying the initial bricks from Christ the cornerstone. Prior to the completion of the New Testament completion they provided normative revelation for church. In other words they spoke the words that were to apply to all Christians and churches for all time.

But now that foundation is laid, and with the New Testament God is done providing normative revelation for the whole church. Ephesians 2:20 says “having been built upon…” The tense of the verb indicates a past action – the church was founded upon Apostles and Prophets and now that founding is done.

However, local churches still need leadership. In fact, Acts 14:23 even tells us that Paul and Barnabas appointed the initial elders in the churches they founded so the churches would have leaders when they were gone.

One clear indication of the passing of the Apostles and Prophets is that we are given no instructions regarding them, while we do have instructions regarding 2 classes of church leaders: Elders and Deacons:

Elders is from the Greek word presbuteros which originally meant “aged one” but came to be a special use word for lay leaders in the synagogue, then leaders in the church.

The other word for this particular leader or office is the word Episkopos which we translate as “overseer” and means at its core a guardian or supervisor. The English word Bishop comes from this word.

Some denominations see these two words as representing different offices, but we can know they are equivalent terms by looking to Acts 20:17-28. Here in Paul’s speech to the Ephesian leaders they are called alternately elders and overseers. In 1 Timothy 3:1 Paul uses the word overseer but in 5:17 he uses elder to refer to same group.

The other specific leaders mentioned in the New Testament are deacons, from the word diakonos which simply means “servant.”

This word is not as common, but we know it is a special class of leadership because 1 Timothy 3 gives us a list of qualifications for overseers and then a separate but similar list for deacons. No other types of leaders or offices are given any instruction on qualifications.

Now the names of these leadership offices in the church give us some clues to understanding the functions of Elders and Deacons.

The deacons function is obvious from the name. They are to conduct the serving ministries of the church. Most scholars feel Acts 6:1-4 is the first deacon ministry.

Now the word for overseer means “supervisor” and points to their function of leading. 1 Timothy 5:17 uses the word rule which means literally to “stand at head of.” Someone has to set direction, someone has to coordinate, make day to day decisions, etc. And we also see that some are also to be at the work of teaching and preaching.

Overseers are first and foremost spiritual leaders. With the passing of the Apostles and Prophets and the foundation of the church established, someone had to give direction to each local church’s teaching and ministries, and someone had to pass on the tenants of the faith and instruct people in the Word!

Now we often see leadership from the CEO or the Douglas MacArthur model. Orders are sent out, people told to jump, and they are to respond by asking “How High!” This leadership model has infected the church in the West very strongly and many churches have CEO type leaders: strong directors who pontificate from on high and rule over everything.

However, the Biblical model for overseers is much different! How their leadership is conducted is described in 1 Peter 5:1-4. The model we are given is shepherding.

Now what do shepherds do?

First they feed the sheep. They make sure the sheep have what they need to grow and thrive and be healthy. Elders are ultimately responsible for feeding the flock the word of God and helping them to be growing healthy disciples of the Chief Shepherd Jesus Christ.

Secondly they are to be guides. Shepherds lead sheep to new pastures, around obstacles, etc. They set the direction the flock needs to go.

Finally the shepherd is responsible for protection. Shepherding is dangerous work! There are wild animals, sheep stealers, and all sorts of hazards. David was confident to slay Goliath because he had experience fighting wild beasts as a shepherd.

Similarly we have an enemy in the devil, and there are many who desire to lead people and churches away from Christ to their own agendas, for sordid gain, or into unbiblical doctrines. Elders must protect the flock from these threats.

Shepherds do their feeding, guiding and protecting of the sheep while they are present with the flock, not aloof and out there like CEOs in a private corner office. Shepherds do not just tell the flock, “Go over there!” They must gently prod and lead, sometimes calling to the flock from in front and sometimes pushing from behind. Sometimes have to intervene for a particular sheep by helping or correcting or pulling them out of some pit they have gotten into!

In church shepherding always has the goal of leading the church to achieve its God given purposes (which we will be covering very soon)!

Now the level of leadership will be different in various churches. In our church elders make most decisions, but we vote on large purchases, choosing officers, budget, and some other major decisions. Overseers are responsible to direct ministries, help people serve according to their giftedness, etc.

I have a friend in whose church elders make all decisions. There are no votes on anything. BUT they only make decisions by unanimity; if there is dissent then they pray more until all agree!

No matter what the details, oversight is to be done by the model of the shepherd, through teaching and setting an example, and any sort of dictatorial leadership is specifically prohibited!

Seeing that overseers / elders are to supervise the local church and shepherd its people we might ask, What is a pastor and why are we paying him?

The English word “pastor” occurs only in Ephesians 4:11, which is the only place we translate the Greek word for “shepherd” as pastor. Our word “pastor” actually comes from the Latin word for shepherd. In other words there is no Biblical word “pastor.” Only elders/overseers who exercise the function of shepherding!

1 Timothy 5:17 does tells us by emphasizing “especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching” that some elders will be more oriented toward preaching / teaching, but not every elder will focus on this.

Over time these elders developed preaching and teaching into a full time pursuit. The church felt that in order to get the best teaching that someone should be provided for by the church to concentrate on this particular ministry. 1 Timothy 5:18 evens seems to hint at this where “double-honor” seems to equate with “wages.”

As time has gone on, the complexities of both teaching the Bible (because of the need to grasp so much history and language and theology) and leading a church have become increased and so we train and pay certain people called to that work to perform those functions.

However, notice in all the elder passages (except where the actual qualifications of an elder are presented) the word is plural? The New Testament assumption is that there is always more than one. The pastor is just a paid teaching overseer, and one among a plurality of elders! The need for this is obvious, the hearts of people are deceitful and we lust for power and control. God does not want to turn His church into a cult of personality! The plurality of elders is a foil to this desire of a leader for power.

In the West there is a dangerous trend; churches founded by an exciting speaker / pastor and basically directed by him. The plurality of elders provides some measure of accountability and check on unrestrained pastoral power (it should anyway). However, in our CEO model churches that desire bigger and more, this check is often put aside as a hindrance to getting things done. People, afraid to lose their charismatic and eloquent leader, will allow unrestrained power as long as the budget is good the and the programs grow!

This is why in every case in the New Testament it seems the plurality of elders is assumed. No established New Testament church should have only one leader!

Even when planting new churches which is often done by one church planter who is their teaching elder, we surround that planter with a Plant Advisory Team who function as elders until the church has own leadership.

For example, when Crossroads Community Church in Burlington was planted, I functioned as head elder until they had a way to choose elders and were fully established. Dave from Genesis and Al from The Pointe also served as elders, along with 2 godly men from the Oak Street Baptist Church and 2 from the plant.

Now since we do not have Paul and Barnabas to appoint our elder we must ask How do we get our leaders?

We know the Apostle Paul and Barnabas initially appointed elders in churches they founded. But no other instruction is given in the New Testament regarding how we get elders.

We at Greenhill select them by a vote of the baptized formal membership, from among candidates approved by the current elders. In the church I was telling you about earlier where the elders hold sole authority they are chosen after a 3 year training process and then a 3 month vetting to the congregation to see if there are any issues in their lives that would prevent them from being elders. If there are none, they are then appointed by the current eldership.

The point is that there is not definitive New Testament instruction on the choosing of elders, and no matter how we get them, every church is responsible for getting its leadership house in order!

Biblical leadership is one mark of a truly healthy Biblical church – and leaders are shepherds and servants, not lords of the manor. They need your prayers as they seek to lead Greenhill in following Christ to achieve all we can for His Kingdom sake!

What Makes a Local Church

I have for several years now been involved in church planting. One of the things we have to get a grip on with planting new churches is when is plant a church? How do we know? The answer to that question is not always as simple as it seems.

The previous entry covers the meaning of “church.” If you have not read that entry or heard that sermon it is foundation to this entry!

The New Testament is not particularly detailed about the specifics or mechanics of the gathering if believers. But are some minimum aspects or marks of a local church.

First your must have a specific group of people. That should ould seem obvious, but I have met many who feel watching Charles Stanley is same as being part of church – not true. If the meaning of church in the New Testament is a gathering of called out people, then there has to be some people!

Saying a specific group is NOT the same as the way we use the term membership. There are people who are part of our specific group who are not formal members and there are sometimes people on the formal membership rolls that are not really part of our group because they do not fellowship with us regularly or at all!

One way to understand this is the New Testament metaphor “Body.” The parts of a body are CONNECTED – if I remove your arm it is not part of your body anymore! We see this in how modern churches have lost a lot of community – we will talk more about this in few weeks when we talk about fellowship, but you cannot have real fellowship without a specific group of people committed to one another, joined as in a body!

Hebrews 10:24-25 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵ not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

The word the writer of Hebrews here uses for “assembling” is the verb form of ecclesia, the word for church! This passage could read “not forsaking our own churching together…”

Another reason we must have a specific group of people is how the New Testament has many “One another’s.” We cannot do these unless we are with a group of people. It is like the difference between watching and playing golf!

For these people to meet and interact and serve one another it then only makes sense that they have a Specific location.

Local churches in the New Testament are often identified by location (Church in house, Smyrna, etc).

Again we cannot experience New Testament community and fellowship and service and “one anothers” over the internet, or on TV. We have to be able to get face to face.

For example, 1 Pet 4:9 says to “Be hospitable to one another without complaint.” Pretty tough to do if you are in San Diego and I am in Cedar Falls! The New Testament location limited by how far could walk – thus lots of “house churches.” I would argue that now we are limited by driving distance, but group of people have to get together someplace to execute the functions of a church! We cannot worship, serve, etc. over the internet.

Now our meeting together cannot be sporadic, or one time! A Local Church is people who meet regularly.

The early church always met on the “First day of week” which for them was Sunday (in practice for us Monday is, but Sunday was the day after Sabbath for Jews, and thus 1^st day).

Only 2 places in Scripture actually reference this:

Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

1 Corinthians 16:1-2 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. ² On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.

This tradition likely developed because Jesus rose on the 1^st day of week, but it does not seem to be a clear command of Scripture (I used to think it was). In Revelation 1 John talks about receiving his prophecy on the Lord’s Day, which the Church Fathers tell us became the designation by the late 1^st century for Sunday when the believers met for corporate worship and Communion, and it was clearly settled by the 2^ndCE (Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians, 1. 67). Whatever day, clearly to obey Heb 10:24-25 we need to get together regularly!

The next thing all local churches must have is Leadership. According to Ephesians 2:20 Christ is ultimate head of Church (Univ. & local), but from day 1 that leadership was delegated through people. I will speak much more in depth about Christ as the head of the church next sermon!

Right away in Acts we see Peter take charge, and in Acts 15 when questions arise the apostles in Jerusalem call a council to make a decision.

In Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas appoint elders in all the churches they founded. In Titus 1:5 he instructs Titus to do the same in Crete.

1 Tim 3 / Titus 1 give some guidelines for elders and deacons, but their function really is born out of 1 Peter 5:

1 Peter 5:1-4 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, ² shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; ³ nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

The function of elders is shepherding and oversight of the flock, as under-shepherds to the Chief Shepherd who is Jesus of course. Unfortunately in most churches elders more like trustees of the building with the spiritual shepherding a sideline. Most shepherding is left to the pastor, who is really just an elder who specializes in teaching. And some churches have deacons who function really as elders, even though in the New Testament they are different.

In fact in the whole New Testament “pastor” only occurs once, in Ephesians 4:11. It is the word poimen which in every other place it occurs in the New Testament is translated shepherd!

Beyond that the Bible says almost nothing about how a church should be run as far as practical matters. Does that surprise you? I believe it gives cultural flexibility to the local church. Some will choose elders by voting, some by other means. Some local churches will have many elders, some only a few. Some will pay a specific pastor, some will just rotate the elders through the teaching ministry.

For a church to truly be a church, its people must be Joined together by true gospel.

What is center of the specific group in specific place under leadership? The gospel of Jesus Christ! If Spirit baptizes us into the church (1 Cor 12:13) then only way for that to happen is through someone becoming saved in first place which means gospel is the message of any true church.

If a group of people do not believe the gospel message as presented in the New Testament they are simply not a church (thus Mormons for example are NOT another denomination of Christian despite their PR campaign)

The baseline for all churches is that all people are sinners and Jesus Christ is God who came and took on flesh to live among us and die on the cross as our payment for sins. On the 3^rd day after being buried He rose from the dead. Everyone who puts their faith in His death and resurrection as the only payment for their sin is given eternal life.

If a church believes something else, it is not a church.

Once the baseline of the gospel of JC is established a true church must be Built on foundation of apostles and prophets (God’s Word).

The same passage Ephesians 2:20 that talks about Christ as the Head of the Church talks about the church also be built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets – the record of that foundation is the Bible.

The Bible is our only objective basis for faith and practice and next week we will develop this thought more fully.

One thing every church does in some way is Performs the Ordinances. Every church, whether they call them sacraments or ordinances has as a minimum baptism and communion (some have many others) as the regular acts that Jesus instructed us to perform.

Baptism is a visible act to publicly proclaim ones faith. It needs to be public! That is why we normally baptize under authority of church. Now someone could be baptized while on vacation by their uncle, but since no one had vetted their confession of faith and there was no public aspect to the baptism it is unlikely any church would accept that (and every church requires baptism for full membership). Now that is not to say their baptism was not valid! I am simply saying that I know of no churches that would accept that persons baptism because it was not publically witnessed under the authority of a church.

For the New Testament church, the center of the worship service was the Lord’s Table. Little is said about this in the New Testament (only 1 Cor 11. Acts 2:42 and Acts 20:7 even mention it besides when Jesus institutes it in gospels, but from those passages we can gather they took part when they came together on the 1^st day of week). Now there is nothing in the New Testament that RESTRICTS the Lord’s Supper to only the local church, but since the book of Acts it is something that every church does regularly!

Finally a local church must have some Specific Doctrinal boundaries. Doctrine is like a fence. We have to define our foundational beliefs about spiritual things. At some point each local church has to decide what are the absolute essential s of fellowship and what things are so divisive or against our interpretation of the Bible that they are tests of who we will agree to have as part of ourfellowship.

It was likely easier for the early New Testament church because they had Paul, Peter, James and rest right there! In fact many of the letters are written in order to explain certain foundational things, and while they are hard sometimes for us to understand were probably a good deal clearer to the original readers!

But that was 2000 years and a couple different languages and cultures ago! So first the church developed creeds (confessional statements of belief, like Apostle’s Creed, etc.), then Confessions and Catechisms. Typically today we have Doctrinal Statements. These are the fences.

For example, our Doctrinal Statement makes it clear that we believe Jesus will return someday. However, we do not consider the timing of that return a test of fellowship. You can believe He comes before Tribulation, after the Tribulation, that there is no Tribulation, or whatever, as long as you believe Jesus will return someday!

Now next time we will talk about Christ as the Head of the Church and its foundations upon the Apostles and Prophets. But until then, consider that at minimum a local church must be a specific group of people meeting at a specific location who meet regularly under Biblical leadership joined together by the gospel of Jesus Christ, built on the Word of God, and performing the ordinances together, defined by a minimum set of foundational beliefs.

What is "Church?"

One of my favorite exercises is to have people draw a picture of a church. Invariably the majority of people draw a building. I saw this done one time with a group of pastors at a meeting and 13/15 drew a building! If pastors who are teaching churches cannot get buildings out of head then it should not be surprising most other people cannot.

We are further confused because we use “church” numerous ways in English. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

1 : a building for public and especially Christian worship

2 : the clergy or officialdom of a religious body

3 : a body or organization of religious believers: as

a : the whole body of Christians

b : denomination

c : congregation

4 : a public divine worship 〈goes to church every Sunday〉

5 : the clerical profession 〈considered the church as a possible career>

CFU cable even has “The Church Channel” as if church is something that can be tuned into! Now one can hear sermons and music on TV but it is not a church! Our definition church must not come from a dictionary or the culture or even a denominational body, but from Scripture!

The Meaning of Ecclesia in the New Testament

The word for “church” in the New Testament is ecclesia. It comes from two Greek words that mean “from or out from” and “called” and thus at its root means “called out ones.” It occurs 108X in 106 verses (114 total – occasionally just means gathering of people). It only occurs 3X in the gospels, all in Matthew.

Church in the New Testament always refers to a gathering of people – never building: Acts 8:1-3… on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

Saul not ravaging a building, not putting a building in prison, clearly people are in view!

Eph 5:25 Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.

Did Christ give Himself up for a building, or for a denomination, or a worship service? Does Christ love our carpet? Or CFU channel 23? Of course not!

In the New Testament if a specific congregation is in view a city is referenced or a meeting place:

Romans 16:3-5 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; also greet the church that is in their house.

Paul tells us a church met in Prisca and Aquila’s house, but the house was not the church – the people are!

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

Here a location is mentioned, but then notice how “church” is defined as “those sanctified in Christ Jesus”

This leads us to our 2nd consideration; if “church” refers to a gathering of called out people, who are they, how are they called out and from what?

Who is a part of the C(c)hurch?

1 Corinthians 1:2 gives us a nice definition of who is part of the church in a general sense: “sanctified” means made “holy or set apart” and it parallels “saints” which simply means “holy ones.” Thus “those sanctified…called to be saints” is equivalent to “those who…call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In other words, anyone who has been made holy by calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is a part of the Church! And since calling upon the Name of the Lord Jesus according to Rom 10:9-10 is how one becomes saved, the church is thus made up of people who are those who are saved by confessing with their mouth and believing in their heart!

Now as a corollary to this, Old Testament saints are not part of the church! Church is distinct entity from people of Israel. Consider Romans 11:25-29 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery-- so that you will not be wise in your own estimation-- that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; ²⁶ and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." ²⁷ "THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS." ²⁸ From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; ²⁹ for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

God still has a plan for Israel that will pick up in the future, because He made promises to them that have yet to be fulfilled and His gifts and calling are irrevocable. He will never go back on His Word. But that does not happen until all the Gentiles He calls into the church have come in!

A second corollary to who is really a part of the church is that someone who has not called upon the Name of the Lord Jesus to be saved can participate with a congregation and come to worship and do everything else, but is NOT part of the Church in the Biblical sense!

Thus children are not part of the church if they have not confessed Christ, nor just because someone has been a member in the legal sense.

This is because we are told in 1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

The Body of Christ and the Church are synonymous (Colossians 1:18, 24 He is also head of the body, the church). Spirit baptism ultimately is not about whether people speak in tongues or some sort of second blessing or filling of the Spirit as some churches teach. Notice later in the passage it says “we were all…” – yet at the end of this very chapter Paul points out not everyone has same gifts, yet everyone is baptized by the Holy Spirit. Spirit baptism Biblically is specifically the act of the Spirit that upon salvation makes you a part of Christ’s Body – the Church.

Now in what sense are we called out? 1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰ for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

We are called out of darkness (ignorance of God due to sin) into light (Jesus is light of the world; light is a metaphor for the knowledge of who God truly is and His truth. Consider Psalm 119 where we read Your word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path.

We are called to be a people of God, a royal priesthood (people who serve God). God’s own possession, a people to proclaim His glory!

So when we turn from our sin and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior God’s Spirit baptizes us into the Church, which is the Body of Christ: the gathering of people with Christ as Head that are called out from darkness into light in order to proclaim God’s glory!

Now you may have noticed “church” sometimes is used more specifically of a particular group of believers and sometimes more generally:

Church Universal and church local

Notice in outline for previous point I have both a capital and a lowercase C. Theologians often use that shorthand to distinguish between Universal Church (sometimes also called the Invisible Church) and the local church.

Universal Church refers to all believers in all time from Pentecost until the Rapture (the “Church Age”). Now there are other members of God’s family from the past (Israelite saints) and there will other believers during the Tribulation period we call Tribulation saints who are also not of the Church.

Local Church is the specific gathering of a group of believers in a specific place organized to carry out the functions of the NT church. This is why Paul refers to the Church at Ephesus, or Revelation has the Church at Laodicea.

Someone might ask when Jesus says “Where 2 or 3 are gathered…” in Matthew 18:20, is that a local church (since those are already members of the Church)?

My answer to this would be no, because the New Testament local church is more than just people together. Since this will be the topic of the next sermon, I will not comment more on that now! Next week I will develop what makes a local church a local church and not just a social club!

Until then consider Paul’s prayer from Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, ²¹ to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.