The Organization Of The Church
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH
When we begin to speak about the organization and the structure of the church, some people will object that we are trying to bring alien forms and trying to impose them upon the body of Christ. “The church is a natural organism,” they say. “You should just let it be itself.” The problem with this line of thinking is that even natural organisms have their own organization and structure. We have a God of organization and structure who tells us to let all things be done properly and in an orderly manner (1 Corinthians 14:40). The Lord established the form of government for His church by means of the officers that he gave for the duty of oversight. This is stated in Paul's address to the Ephesian elders: Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. (Acts 20:28).
Notice who it was that made these men overseers in the church. It was not Paul or any of the other apostles. It was the Holy Spirit. This is the principle of Just Divinum — “Divine Right.”
1. The Principle of Divine Right.
This principle has been used in the past to say that kings received a divine right from heaven to rule over their nations. I am not so sure that the principle necessarily applies to all forms of human government, but I do think it applies to church government.
2. The Regulative Principle.
This principle states that God regulates His church and the activity that goes on in His church. Practically speaking, it means that God regulates how He is to be worshiped. We are not free to worship God in any way we like. He demands that He be worshiped in the ways in which He has ordered. This is vividly illustrated in Leviticus 10:1 when Nadab and Abihu attempted to worship the Lord using “strange fire,” that is, fire that was not according to that which had been prescribed by God. They were struck dead for their transgression. The church has had some very different ideas concerning the regulative principle. Luther and Calvin each came into the Reformation with a kettle full of traditions in worship. Luther said, “Let's take anything that is condemned by the Scriptures out of the kettle.” Calvin said, “Let's dump the kettle and anything that the Bible teaches about worship can go back into it.”
Roman Catholic & Lutheran|Reformed Tradition|
We are free to worship the Lord in any way that is not forbidden.|We are to worship the Lord only in those ways He has commanded.|
That which is not expressly forbidden in the Scriptures is permitted.|That which is not expressly commanded in the Scriptures is forbidden.| This has some very practical implications. It means you cannot say, “I know that Jesus taught His disciples to pray to the Father, but I would like to pray to the Virgin Mary.” You are not allowed to worship any way you like. You are to worship God in the way He likes. You are to follow the pattern of worship set forth in the Bible.
3. A Responsible Leadership.
Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. (Hebrews 13:17).
It is a very heavy responsibility to be an elder or a deacon in the church. Leaders will have to give an accounting of their people to the Lord. Notice that there is a dynamic overlapping tension between leaders and the people they lead. Leaders are responsible to lead in a way that shows their submission to the Lord and those whom they lead are to follow in a way that shows that same submission.
|God's Instructions||
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|To Leaders||||To the People|||
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Don't lord it over the people|||||Obey your leaders and submit to them||| On the one hand, God says to the leaders, “Don't get carried away with your authority.” But when those whom they lead are tempted to say, “That's right, they can't tell me what to do,” the Lord says to them, “You obey those leaders and submit to them.”
4. The Revelation of God's Plan for Church Organization.
How has Jesus manifested how He wants His church ordered? Did He preach a sermon entitled, “Rules for Church Structure?” No. He has used to specific means:
Explicit teaching.
Apostolic example.
All Christians agree on the first point — that certain passages of the Bible give explicit teachings that ought to be followed. It is this second area, that of apostolic example, that leads to greater uncertainty. Are we to follow the example of the apostles? Are their examples to be normative to us today? I submit that under certain conditions their example is to be considered both normative as well as didactic.
All Scripture is profitable. When Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable, he does not say that the applies only to the teachings portions of Scripture.
Historical passages are didactic. The New Testament states in a number of instances that the Bible is written for our instruction. This is often stated in a context that cites historical episodes (1 Corinthians 10:6; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Romans 4:23-24; Romans 15:4). If an Old Testament historical passage can give us principles of how we ought to live, how much more will a New Testament historical passage give us normative principles? The representative character of the apostles: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, 20 having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone (Ephesians 2:19-20). The apostles were given by Christ to begin His church. That was their function. Because of this design function, their actions should be considered both significant and normative.
• Paul speaks of his teaching in all the churches (1 Corinthians 7:17).
• There was a practice in all of the churches that was to be seen as a pattern to be followed (1 Corinthians 11:16).
• Paul's written instructions were, in effect, the Lord's commandments (1 Corinthians 14:37).
• Paul and Silas gave to the churches decrees that had been established by the Jerusalem council that were to be observed (Acts 16:4).
• Paul writes so that people would know how they are to act within the church of God (1 Timothy 3:14-15).
• Paul calls his readers to join him in following his example, and to observe those who walk according to the pattern they have in him (Php_3:17; Php_4:9). In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul calls the believers in that city to be imitators of himself. He then cites the traditions he delivered to them (1 Corinthians 11:2). When the gospels make mention of the traditions of men, it is in a negative sense, but the traditions described in the epistles are all to be obeyed. The historical and didactic passages can be seen in parallel to one another. They are not contradictory, but complementary.
Subject|Example|Teaching|
Elders|Acts 14:23|Titus 1:5|
Authority in the Church|Acts 16:4|1 Thessalonians 5:12-13|
Laying on of hands|Acts 6:6; 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6|1 Timothy 5:22| This is not to say that every practice ever mentioned in the New Testament must necessarily be followed. We must ask whether the practice was local or universally followed and whether there was a principle to be found behind the practice.