Guy Duininck: Church Government
Church Government
We often ask concerning various subjects of Christianity, "What does the Word of God say?" We should also ask, "What does the Word of God not say?" In areas where the Word of God is silent or not specific, we must not "fill in the missing messages" with our own opinions, traditions, or systems.
Concerning the governance of the church and of local churches, the one thing that the New Testament is clear about concerning God's Design is that the church and churches must be led, fed, guided, overseen, direct, corrected, and protected by those who are truly called to spiritual leadership, are grace-gifted to lead, are spiritually mature, are developed in godly character, and are at least somewhat skilled in ministry. On the other hand, interestingly, the New Testament offers no specific system or style of government for the church and churches beyond this clear pattern.
The church in Jerusalem was led by 12 apostles. Although history suggests that James operated in the pastoral role, the leadership of the church in Jerusalem was a plurality of apostles.
The church in Ephesus was founded by the apostle Paul and guided by him for three years. Then the responsibility for this local work was entrusted to a group of elders. History tells us that Timothy oversaw the Ephesian church for a period of time. Paul, however, also clearly kept a role of leadership, writing to the Ephesians. Interestingly, the apostle John also had a significant influence in the church in Ephesus and the whole region, even writing two letters directed to believers in that region, addressing them as, "My little children."
The Philippian church was overseen by Paul. But he wasn't always there. There were, however, bishops and deacons in place in that local body. Paul wrote to them that he planned to send Timothy there to minister to them and to see how they were doing. Before he sent Timothy, however, he sent a fellow laborer and fellow soldier named Epaphropditus. He told the Philippians that Epaphropditus was, "your messenger."
We know Paul that watched over the Colossian church because he told them that although he was not there, he watched over them in the spirit "beholding your order."
Paul was also an apostle to the Corinthians and not only visited them, but remained in close contact with them by letter. He contended aggressively for his place of leadership in that church, having to contend with false apostles who presented themselves as ministers of righteousness.
Apparently, one of the churches that the apostle John desired to minister in, he was not able to minister in because a man there named Diotrephes loved to hold a place of pre-eminence. This supposed leader there refused to let John have entrance.
In his letter to Titus, Paul instructed him to put things in order in Crete and to ordain elders in every city in that region. It seems that those elders would be leading the way and overseeing under the guidance of Titus who was under the guidance of Paul.
In Acts 15, the whole church, and elders, and the apostles discussed and then agreed on certain issues concerning the Gentile converts; especially concerning circumcision. After much discussion, Peter took the lead, and then James finished the discussion and summed up the decision made by the church, the elders, and the apostles.
In these cases, and in many others that we could look at in the New Testament, we can see that good spiritual leaders were leading in the church. What we do not see, however, is that every church or group of believers followed one specific system of church governance.
When it comes to church governance, the most important thing, by a long distance, is the qualifications of those who will lead. Are they truly called? Are they grace-gifted as spiritual leaders? Are they mature in character? Are they skilled in ministry? We see these kinds of requirements set forth especially in Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus about how to choose "elder/bishops."
What does not seem to be nearly as important concerning how the church is governed is which specific system of church governance should be in place.
Believers and Spiritual Leaders must embrace the reality that there is much room for diversity in style and in systems when it comes to the question of how the church should be led and governed. Being locked into one style or tradition, or attempting to make one specific system THE Biblical system for Church Governance is a mistake.
