Chuch leadership 3

OK, so I let even more time elapse since last post.  It has been a mix of the first rush of blogging energy being over and a week of busy days so that I am very tired in the evenings with not much brain power left for writing.  I would promise to try to do better but I can’t guarantee.  I am sure there will continue to be up weeks and down weeks.

   In this post I will look at what direct instructions are given in God’s Word to church leaders and to the congregation in relation to church leaders.  If you read my first posts on this topic you will remember that I said that I would be making the point that Scripture shows church leaders being more authoritarian, i.e. wielding a great deal of authority, than we would be comfortable in modern evangelical churches.  They do this, however, as servant leaders, doing what is best for those they lead, not what is best for themselves.  Besides Jesus, Paul is the clearest example of this.  He obviously wields significant authority, such that he can command certain things be done, but he does so with humility for the good of the people under his charge.  In II Corinthians 10:8 he says he will not be ashamed of boasting of his authority, which the Lord gave for building the Corinthians up.

   So, a snapshot of passages giving instruction to leaders and followers:

I Thessalonians 5:12-13:  Paul asks the Thessalonians to “respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love”. 
I Timothy 5:17:  Paul says the elders who “rule well” should be considered worthy of double honor.  So it expected that the elders would exercise authority.
I Timothy 5:19:  Charges against an elder should only be admitted on the testimony of 2-3 witnesses where the standard for regular people was only 2 witnesses.  This seems to show that there is a special trust given to elders and it recognizes they may be a potential target for slanderous charges.
Titus 2:15:  Paul tells Titus to “exhort and rebuke with all authority.  Let no one disregard you.”  Wow.  That’s pretty strong.  I suppose some elders/pastors may take that instruction wrong and act like a dictator; but it seems that most don’t recognize the authority they are supposed to be vested with.
And it is not just Paul.  Hebrews 13:17:  The author tells the readers to “Obey your leaders (speaking of church leaders not political leaders) and submit to them.”  I am sure there are a lot of elders/pastors out there who would love to have their congregations read that one and take it to heart.
Finally, Peter gives concise instructions to elders.  I Peter 5:1-5:  They are to exercise oversight as under-shepherds, but with three positive and three negative injunctions: 
       - willingly, eagerly and being examples
       - not under compulsion, not for shameful gain, and not domineering

So, the overall view of elders seems to me to be one of great authority as subordinate leaders under Christ (like in the military context we might see company commanders under a battalion commander).  They are to execute His intent and His specific instructions.  However, they are to do so as servant leaders who seek the good of those under their charge, not their own comfort, prestige or other sort of gain.