Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?
It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.
Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.
We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.
Introduction
It saddens us when famous church leaders stumble. Charismatic or Reformed, Arminian or Calvinist, it doesn't matter. Pastors screw up their ministries and are removed or they give up.
The purpose of today's post is to examine the reasons this happens and to suggest ways to ameliorate the problem.
Various Types of Church
In churches we typically see three types of leadership, the more common are first:
1. The church hires the pastor to do his ministry.
This is probably viewed as being necessary in small churches because there might not be the people available to construct the biblical leadership structure. We would consider this to be a dodge, however. Even in a small church there are trustworthy people who can be matured into various leadership positions in a reasonably short amount of time.Commonly the church board or elders hires the pastor to do all the things they don't want to do or don't think the can or should do. Other than a few of the most dedicated people who do a few things like help in the nursery, serve as an usher, or play the piano, the pastor does most of the work.He's either a mere employee or a superhero. Perhaps both.
2. The people help the pastor do his ministry.
This is the next level, and somewhat better than the "Hired Gun" illustrated in the first point. In this scenario, there are some, often many, people who eagerly jump in to serve in all the ministries of the church. Though the church benefits by the involvement of these people, the pastor is still the spiritual and administrative boss of the church, with the people serving his vision. It can be a positive environment and can be a healthy church, but it is still built around the pastor.
3. The pastor helps the people do their ministry.
This approach is closer to the biblical model. The pastor might still be the primary or singular leader, but he has an objective to equip and release the people to do the work of ministry that God has called them to do. The pastor is a coach and edifier, a discerner of the church's gifting and the peoples' abilities.
The people are the spiritual heroes who build the church. The people aren't helping the pastor advance his vision, they are serving Jesus and advancing the shared kingdom vision of the church. In this model the potential for fruitfulness and growth is significantly higher.
Our opinion is that biblically speaking the pastor is not the singular leader of the local church. We think a pastor ought to actually pastor, which might not even involve being in leadership.
The Problem
Too many pastors are caught in immoral situations, become abusive, steal from the offering, or get burned out and quit. These are all symptoms, not the problem itself.
Why does this happen?
We believe it is related to church leadership structure and practice. The thing that passes for church today. and for the last several centuries, is a church not found in the Bible. The typical Sunday service, with attentive, docile sheep sitting in pews nodding their heads in amazed agreement to the profundities passing from the lips of the CEO pastor, writing their tithe checks but keeping their heads down and their mouths shut, never daring to crack open a Greek dictionary, faithful in attendance but sitting in the exact same place they have sat for 20 years... That is the traditional church.
The CEO pastor sits at the top of this little pyramid, admired and respected. He doubtless likes the adoration. He probably enjoys the pedestal. He would think he is serving God in the only way it can be done. As long as his parishioner's checks continue to clear and he gets to lead all the prayers and visit all the sick himself, if he's the first to arrive and the last to leave, well, that's the way it should be.
This the Church. This is what many think is biblical. This is what most churches want. And most pastors and churches are threatened by the idea that church leadership could be done differently.
However, the top-down leadership structure is fundamentally flawed in that it invests too much expectation in one man. Yes, there are a few men who can handle the pressures of traditional pastorship, but the toll it takes on the pastor and his family is not inconsequential, even for "successful" pastors of large, vibrant churches.
For those pastors toiling away in smaller, perhaps less successful churches, the pressures are still immense. It's these pastors who get midnight calls from troubled parishioners or hospitalized church members. These pastors give up the well being of their children for the sake of the job. No wonder so many fail. They would need to be supermen to do all the pastor stuff that is expected of them.
Further, the congregation has been relieved of their obligation to grow in Christ and minister according to their gifts because the pastor does it all for them.
If the hardworking/overworked pastor causes the church to grow, what does the church do? It hires associate pastors to take over some of the numerous duties of the overwhelmed lead pastor. Thus the unbiblical model perpetuates itself.
The Answer
The Answer
But where in the Bible does it tell us that one man sits atop the church leadership structure? It doesn't. 1Pe. 5:1-2:
1 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: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers...
The local church is to be governed by a plurality of men. Peter exhorts these elders to be shepherds and overseers; he doesn't tell them to serve under the lead shepherd and overseer. Leadership duties are spread among these men according to their gifting. No one is invested with the crushing weight of leading the church by themselves.
A pastor who would choose to assume his biblical role would be a person who primarily cares for the flock. He's not the CEO, because the elders oversee the church. He's not the decision-maker, because he serves the elders or perhaps serves as one of the elders. He's not the Bible answer-man, although he may be insightful and studied.
A pastor loves the people, prays for them, and ministers to their needs. He's acutely aware of their well-being. That's it. He's not necessarily the preacher, because he has read Ep. 4:11-12:
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up...
This passage mentions these gifts to the church as distinct, which means the pastor is not required to be the teacher. He, like the elders, might have more than one of these gifts, but not necessarily.
There are very few bench warmers in a healthy church with healthy leadership. This is the church as Jesus intended it.
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