The church is an organism, but it is to be organized! Organization may not be the most exciting topic, but it is a biblical one — and it matters in church life. Let’s zero in on five biblical principles for how to lead a church.
Healthy churches grow, and as they do, there has to be systems in place that help keep things moving. 1 Corinthians 14:40 says of the church, “But everything is to be done decently and in order.” Every healthy church is going to put systems in place for order.
The Bible doesn’t spell out exactly how church governance should go, but there are principles for how to organize a church that are abundantly clear. You can call a church pastor-led, congregation-led, elder-led, or anything else, but if they don’t have these elements they get into trouble! Here are five principles of order that help the Church thrive:
1. Strong Leadership
There is no benevolent dictator in the New Testament. Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. No pastor is! But, leadership is critical to the life of a church. In Titus 1, Paul gives Pastor Titus the job of appointing leadership. “The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town.” (Titus 1:5).
What is an elder? It literally means “old man.” In principle, it means a person who has leadership and oversight in a church. Here we see three terms used interchangeably in the New Testament for the same office: elder, overseer and shepherd.
I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed: Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
And we understand here that there’s room in a church, not for any person to run the church by himself, but for servant leaders who teach, love, and protect the local body.
2. Mutual Accountability
Elders or pastors are never intended to be benevolent dictators. 1 Timothy 5 makes this clear. “Don’t accept an accusation against an elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses. Publicly rebuke those who sin, so that the rest will be afraid. (1 Timothy 5:19-20).
The good news is you have the biblical principle of mutual accountability where no one is unchecked, and that’s a good thing for a church to have. When a pastor has no support around him and feels that a church is his to rule, it becomes an attempt to pour 500 watts into a 40-watt bulb. There’s no pastor equipped for it. It’s a fool’s errand. It denies the reality that we’re all broken people. We don’t count on one man to rule the roost. It’s not my Church. It’s God’s Church. It’s our Church.
3. Shared Gifting
The Sprit equips the entire Body of believers with spiritual gifts for the building up of the saints. We are to engage every member in ministry in some way.
According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:6-8
And, we also engage our members in the work of the organization of the church and the accountability of the church. A church can call it different things, but in the New Testament church, there are many using their gifts in the Body, and that should be celebrated. The pastors should be shepherding the flock while every member is doing the work of the ministry.
4. Congregational Consensus
While leadership is important, and not everyone can be in on every decision, the entire body ought to have involvement and clear understanding of what’s happening in the body. We see a church vote in the New Testament. In this case, there was an accusation of discrimination by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews, and it seems what was probably happening was a language barrier. In response, “[T]he Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples….” (Acts 6:1-2).
They had a town hall meeting! The twelve put forward a solution with a “proposal [that] pleased the whole company.” (Acts 6:5). It doesn’t say they voted, but somehow they took inventory of the sentiments of the congregation. Later, we see because of this good communication and congregational support, the church exploded with growth! (Acts 6:7).
Below is a simple chart that illustrates the idea of this principal. In matters of detailed decisions, we place a few people in the room representing the entire congregation to pour over details and pray over them. But, once we have a plan, we want consensus.
5. Supernatural Dependence
The church is to be organized, but we can never get so caught up in organization we forget the entire point of why we’re here. We are more than a club that does good deeds on Earth on God’s behalf. We, collectively, are the bride of Christ! This is the living Body of Christ— the distinct mouthpiece and expression of God’s grace to a lost world!
In Acts 6, Paul says, “In [God’s] own time he has revealed his word in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Savior….”
Heaven forbid we would be good at organization, even families and community service, and take our eyes off of Jesus. Remember we are all caught up in this grand mission the Lord has put on our hearts because of the gospel!
This article is a shortened version of a sermon delivered by Kingsland Baptist Church Pastor Ryan Rush. Click here to view the full sermon.
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