One Head, Many Shoulders

One of the most important advantages God gives his leaders in a biblical church structure is that no church is to be carried by one leader alone. 

If you’ve ever wondered why there are no scriptures talking about “the pastor” at the head of a church, it’s because there aren’t any.  Surprise! 

Instead, the biblical evidence all points to a group of men at the head of every local church, men called elders or overseers (or bishops, in some translations).  Many other people have made the biblical case for elder rule pretty thoroughly, so I’m not going to build that argument from the ground up.  My point here is that the structure of elder-rule and their practice of biblical authority is the only one that can bring the church into its fullness. 

Why have rule by the many instead of by the one, though?  How does that structure, like “church by committee,” make sense? 

We “dump on” committees as a spectacular way to lose time, money, and momentum—and we’re usually right to do so.  If you take any random group of people, give them all equal authority, and ask them to give direction to and decisions for a church, you’ll get a big mess.  It is the nature of the flesh for each person to try to exert himself and his ideas—either overtly or through manipulation—no matter what the other elders think. 

However, the church is not to operate in the flesh, but in the Spirit.  The elders are not to seek their own agendas, but the agenda of the Father. 

If you feel the cynic rising up in you, if you are muttering under your breath, “yeah, but they won’t operate in the Spirit,” then you have dug a couple of pits for yourself. 

First, you have joined the atheists by saying that God can’t or won’t help the church walk by the Spirit.  Do church by “horses and chariots” but not “by My Spirit,” you are saying, because you don’t believe God can actually deliver a group of people from self-serving fleshly agendas.  There’s no power for the elders to work together in spiritual unity, you say, so let’s just give up on that part of the blueprint and give in to the flesh. 

A second problem with cynicism on this point is this: if a group of godly elders can’t keep one another’s eyes focused on Christ, what chance does a solitary pastor have of leading his church by the Spirit? 

A group of elders may have issues to work through together, but a solitary pastor has no one to check his fleshly leanings.  Sure, he may have a staff or a board, but the different levels of authority provide a fairly solid buffer, usually, against any serious accountability. 

A godly solitary pastor may raise the spiritual level of the whole congregation, but a fleshly solitary pastor will lead the group nowhere or downwards.  The most harmful scenario is when a formerly godly pastor, who has borne real spiritual fruit in the congregation, goes into a moral tailspin.  (Like that ever happens, right!)   

Is God powerful enough to keep a solitary pastor from stumbling?  Yes, just like He can keep elders functioning together well.  God can do anything and work through any broken vessels. 

However, God has ordained means to keep church leaders (and the rest of us) from stumbling.  If God gives you a spoon and a fork, you should use them instead of sticking your face in the bowl. 

The means for healthy leadership and a healthy congregation, in this case, is the structure of multiple elders on the same level of authority. 

Coming soon...Chapter 5.7:  Elders are Men with a Past

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