An analysis of church leadership - a pastor's teaching on having a head pastor

This was written by someone as a teaching for the local church. We think it is flawed, so we're offering this rather long analysis. Our comments in bold.

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Local Church Leadership

By Pastor Bob

1. Purpose of an Elder

• Care and protection of the flock.

1 Peter 5:2 (AMP) Tend (nurture, guard, guide, and fold) the flock of God that is [your responsibility), not by coercion or constraint, but willingly; not dishonorably motivated by the advantages and profits [belonging to the office], but eagerly and cheerfully;

• To alleviate the burden of the leader of the flock so that they might be cared for more effectively. Ex 18:13-27
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Here’s a quote from that passage: 

Ex. 18:19-21 “Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. But select capable men from all the people — men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain — and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.”

This is a specific corrective action that was taken because Moses’ father in law noticed a problem. It is not prescriptive to how the Church leadership should be organized. It is not a model of leadership to be implemented by the Church. Moses, a workaholic, had to be told that governing a entire nation by himself was not possible.

In addition, Moses' position over the nation was typical for the ancient world, one man over a kingdom. And importantly, the biblical role of elder does not describe it as alleviating the burden of a singular leader.

Thus, this account does not presume to instruct us about anything other than Moses’ flaw.
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2. Leadership structure

a. "Appoint a man over this community!"

Numbers 27:16-17 (NIV) "May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd."
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Here’s a more extended quote so we can get the context: 

Nu. 27:15-23 “Moses said to the LORD, ‘May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.’ So the LORD said to Moses, ‘Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19 Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. Give him some of your authority so that the whole Israelite community will obey him. He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by enquiring of the Urim before the LORD.

“’At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.’ Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD instructed through Moses.”

The first thing to note is that this was a prayer of Moses (“Moses said to the LORD…”), and the purpose was to ask God to choose Moses’ successor. God responded by telling Moses to commission Joshua. This method of succession is not prescriptive; it is not the way leaders are chosen in the church, and it does not tell us how the Church should be structured. Also note Moses’ reason: “…so that the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus echoed this language in Mk. 6:34: 

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” 

We must note that the elders in the church are to be the shepherds, and Jesus is the Chief Shepherd: 

1Pe. 5:1-4 “To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers… And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

Therefore, the elders (plural) are to shepherd  and oversee the flock, and Jesus is the Chief Shepherd. There is no leadership position between Jesus and the elders of the church. In fact, as we will read later, Paul writes to Timothy to tell how an elder is to be chosen, and it’s not like this passage in Numbers at all.

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• There is ultimately one man over the local church - the angelos, Rev 2-3

In Re. 2:1 we read: “To the angel of the church in Ephesus…”
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Seven churches are mentioned, and each has a letter addressed to the “angel of the church.” We need to do two things. One, we need to know how the angel is related to the specific church; and two, we need to know what is meant by “angel.”

First, angel (Angelos, a messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger from God) is used 181 times in the NT, like Mat. 4:11 (“Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold , angels came and ministered…”) and Mat 11:10 (“For this is he, of whom it is written , Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”). There is only one time in the N.T. where “angel” ever refers to anything other than a celestial being, and that is John the Baptist.

So who are these angels? Re. 1:20 informs us: “The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

It seems pretty clear that these angels are of special note, for ”one like the Son of Man” holds them in his hand. He also walks among the seven lampstands, the seven churches. This is a picture of the Supernatural presence in the Church of the One with the two edged sword (the Word) coming from His mouth.

These seven churches were literal churches who were appointed to receive a message from the Alpha and Omega. Indeed, we find John telling us in Re. 1:4 that he is writing to the seven churches. John then proceeds to tell us the story of how the message came to him. He then tells each of them the message, which continues to the end of chapter 3. The message is delivered to the messengers (angels) of each church. These angels were told the message and they were to tell these churches.

Various angels continue to appear throughout Revelation. When we get to Re. 21:12 we find this: “It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.” So not only are there angels who represent the seven churches, there are angels who stand for the twelve tribes. 

God uses angels to do a variety of things, including, I believe, watching over churches. And we who believe have angels as well, who minister God’s grace to his people: He. 1:14 “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Apparently we even meet them from time to time: He. 13:2 “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” 

The conclusion is these seven angels are ministering spirits to those churches, and clearly not the pastors of those churches.
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• First and Second Timothy were written to one man (Timothy) giving him instructions about elders, deacons, and church life.
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Timothy indeed was dealing with a group of believers. But Scripture does not tell us that Timothy was a pastor! Timothy was actually a valued associate of Paul, who labored alongside him, went to various churches on assignments, and generally did his bidding.

Paul and Barnabas was one such partnering in this work:

Ac. 14:23 “Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.”

And Timothy also worked with Paul:

Ac. 17:15: “The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.”

Timothy was sent to various places at Paul’s behest:

1Co. 4:17: “For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.”

In fact, at one point Paul told him to stay in Ephesus and correct some errant believers:

1Ti. 1:3 “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer…"

Some of Paul’s epistles were co-written with Timothy:

Ph. 1:1 “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi…”

Paul commends Timothy to the Philippian church:

Ph. 2:22 “But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.”

Paul tells us why he was writing to Timothy:

1Ti. 3:14-15 “Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”

Paul was planning to come himself, and the purpose of his instructions was to help Timothy deal with this particular church until Paul arrived. 

1Ti. 4:13: “ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.”

Paul points out to Timothy that it is the elders who lead the church:

1Ti. 5:17 “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.”

And lastly, Paul counsels Timothy that Paul has trusted him with the assignment. Paul wants Timothy to keep the church intact and on the right path.

1 Ti. 6:20 “Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care.” 

In sum, there isn’t a single passage that indicates that Timothy was pastor or head of this particular church. Rather, it is reasonable to conclude that Timothy was on assignment from Paul as a young church planter charged with setting up elders and correcting doctrine in this church, and Paul was advising him how to do it.
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b. Decision making process in the early church: Acts 15:1-29

• 15:5, Apostles and Elders meet to discuss.
• 15:7 -11, Peter shares his revelation.
• 15:12, Barnabas and Paul share their experience.
• 15:13, James brings it to conclusion by summing up and relating it to scripture, (15:13-18)
• 15:19, James makes a final judgment. (19-21)
• 15:22, The apostles, elders, and the whole church make application.
• 15:23, a letter is unanimously sent.
• 15:28, This was the leading of the Holy Spirit!
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In this account we find that there was a problem in the church in Antioch. This church decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some other believers to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles and elders.

Ac. 15:1-2 “Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: ‘Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.’ This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.”

So they arrived and described the problem to the apostles and elders:

Vs 4-6 ” When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.’ The apostles and elders met to consider this question.”

Peter has some input to the apostles and elders:

Vs 7 “After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them…”

Then Barnabas and Paul started telling stories about the great things God was doing among the gentiles:

Vs 12 “The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.”

Then it was James’ turn:

Vs 13-18 "When they finished, James spoke up: ‘Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: `After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’ [Amos 9:11,12] that have been known for ages.”

James then expresses his insight and opinion:

vs 19-21 “‘It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.’”

Then the apostles and elders consult with each other to render their decision:

Vs 22-25 “Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers. With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul…”

Clearly, James did not make the decision. A reading of the passage indicates a plurality of leadership listening to the evidence brought by various parties, then rendering a decision, which was communicated back to the Antioch church. There is no singular leader in any part of this text.

To conclude, in my opinion this teaching offered by Pastor Bob does not demonstrate its intended thesis, that a single leader is a scriptural position.