March 31, 2010
Authority
Sometimes in the church our serving is stifled because we’re waiting for someone to give us an assignment or to give us authority to proceed. For better or worse, part of my make-up is the need to get permission before I do something. I want to know that if someone asks, “Who told you that you could do that?” I can refer them to a higher authority. Jesus was teaching in the temple courts when the chief priests and the elders came to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” (Matt 21:23 NIV)
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Gail;
-----Hebrews 13:17 makes it clear there is an authority structure in the church. Two thousand years of church history has blurred the purpose of that structure. As children of God, the elders are also subject to the Scriptures. This is because Christ, the Word of God, is the head of authority in the Church. Romans 14; I Cor 12:27; Col 2:18-19; and I John 2:27 are a few passages indicating the individual’s autonomy. Elders are bound to recognizing this, too. So, how can they exercise authority and the members exercise obedience if everyone is to be autonomous?
-----The Scriptures call people into the body through Christ, then into godly attitudes in Christ. Some of the attitudes are imperatives. Jesus warned us to be forgiving. John says that if we do not love our brother we can not be loving Christ. “Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Heb 12:14). Other Biblical attitudes evidence the new life, e.g. the fruit of the Spirit. And others are simply encouraged - perseverance, forbearance, honor, generosity, submissiveness, meekness, humility, zeal, innocence, thankfulness, contentment, peacefulness, etc. Godly attitudes are the primary objectives of the leaders’ authority. Not that they are to be demanded of anyone, but that the leaders are expected to teach, encourage, and inspire them, being themselves an example of them (I Pet 5:2-3). For through the development of these attitudes individuals become competent in their autonomy to mutually co-operate with others in the body.
-----But church ownership of property has blurred this purpose of the leaders’ authority. The early church held no property. They met anywhere that offered convenience for gathering. Yes, supplies and monies were collected for distribution. But the church’s control over these was in the nature of a trust, not a possession. The first property the church actually possessed was theology. The Bible calls for defense of the faith and a holding to the apostles’ doctrines. But church leaders embellished these doctrines into theologies by the turn of the first century, going beyond what was written (I Cor 4:6). Then theological authority developed through demanding their acceptance. This coalesced into church membership as distinct churches condensed out of Christ’s living body around differing theologies. By the middle of the second century churches added buildings to their balance sheets. Then the works Christ prepared beforehand for us to walk in became programs and services owned by the churches, too. Even the churches’ songs, hymns, and psalms have become their intangible properties directed by their leaders. Since mutually owned property requires central control, elder meetings have become board meetings for applying properties to the work of the kingdom. Forgotten is the example, the inspiration, the encouragement, and the teaching of godly attitudes and principles to individuals who by their autonomy in the Lord were each to bring forth good works from their spiritual gifts. Forgotten is the church’s purpose to build one another up to mature manhood, to the measure of the fullness of Christ. Forgotten is that each member’s autonomy is Christ’s property. Authority in the church has indeed become blurred.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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