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I had three conversations yesterday concerning church polity. Here’s how it started….
“We have to have somebody that stops the buck. We have to have a man (and it’s always a man) who can make the hard decisions.”
To that I say - what Bible did you pick that up in? My exact words in the conversation went something like this - “That has to be the most unhealthy, unbiblical view of church leadership I’ve ever heard.”
Community/plurality of leaders is the standard in scripture. That does not mean congregational voting either. Leaders - gifted, called, and qualified leaders who in unity make a decision. Don’t have unity? Hit the pause button. Every church Paul appointed elders, when John writes to the churches in Revelation, he writes to the whole church. James and the other elders make a decision concerning Gentile Christians in community. No one person in scripture is ever given the magical trump card.
“So who does the buck stop with?”
Us. Those of us that are gifted, called, and qualified leaders. Actually, it doesn’t stop with us. IF we are truly trying to follow Jesus and just do what He tells us to do - then it stops with Him. If we mess up and mis-read Him - that’s our fault. Let’s just repent and try something else. It’s not rocket-science.
And here’s the other thing - why in the world are we so consumed with figuring out who to blame when stuff goes wrong? Why not try to figure out how to fix it or redeem it? What’s with having a scapegoat mentality?
I find it ironic that the business world is implementing community/team based leadership before the Western Church is. A thoroughly biblical method of leadership being implemented and illustrated to the world by businesses.
Tags: church leadership, polity, team based leadership
8 responses so far ↓
1 Wayne // May 23, 2006 at 10:58 am
Amen.
How many un-gifted, un-called, and un-qualified folks are in positions they shouldn’t be in but have gotten there? And to what degree (if any) does this worsen the condition?
Is there a way to truly redeem this worldwide? Or is the Body not really the Body? Are we too fragmented?
2 Mike R // May 23, 2006 at 3:51 pm
I’ve seen this work before:
An odd numbered board of elders and a head pastor in on the decisions/discussions but does not cast a vote.
Oh, and elders rotate off every few years.
My 2 cents.
3 Grant // May 23, 2006 at 9:06 pm
Mike, I’ll respectfully disagree. If you have a pastor who has studied all his life about the Book, who is gifted and called and qualified, and who has spent his entire life eating, drinking, and sleeping the church, why wouldn’t you give him a vote?
That would be like us going to the doctor and telling him how to be a doctor.
Wayne - i’ll ramble my response later…
4 Wayne // May 23, 2006 at 9:09 pm
“Respectively disagree” — don’t you mean “Respectfully?” Oh wait, this is you.
My first two questions are really rhetorical. The last three aren’t….just don’t ramble a church answer back
5 Grant // May 23, 2006 at 9:12 pm
Alright - I edited it … man, my grammar/spelling has just gone all to pieces since Catbird and Paul started reading my blog.
6 Mike R // May 23, 2006 at 9:51 pm
I’m not saying that is how it has to be done. I’m just saying I’ve seen it done that way and it worked.
7 greg // May 24, 2006 at 8:56 am
I find it ironic that the business world is implementing community/team based leadership before the Western Church is.
Don’t worry… now that the business world is doing it, churches will jump on board…
8 Bryan // Jun 18, 2007 at 1:45 pm
I don’t know if this conversatgion is still open, but I seem to disagree with some of this…The Apostle’s/Paul did not appoint elders, Paul told Timothy to appoint Elders. Someone has to make the determination as to whether or not someone is called or gifted…etc. There has to be some head who acts in accordance to wise counsel. In the O.T. and N.T. we see a model of one leader with other leaders to come along side and give counsel and assistance.
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