There are those who have decided that the office of Elder is
proper for “running” the church. They are wrong. The office would have been
properly used to run the synagogue, but not the church.
The church is to be run by priests. Every Christian is a priest;
therefore the church is to be run by all of its Christians. We call this a
congregational form of government.
Sure, such notables as John Piper, John MacArthur and some
whole denominations disagree, but that’s OK. This is America. They have the
right to be wrong.
Pastors have routinely been afraid of the congregational
form of government. They have seen it as clumsy, which it is. They have seen it
as cumbersome, which it is. They have seen it as opening the possibility for
error, which it does (but no more than so-called Presbyterianism or
ecclesiastical government). They have seen it as time consuming, which it is.
They have seen it as requiring more planning, which it does.
The congregational form of government more closely follows
the New Testament than any other form. It has the advantage of relieving the
pastor of the decision making process, and therefore relieves him of the
responsibility of the consequences of the decisions. It also has the advantage
of many minds dealing with a particular issue, making its Godly solution more
likely.
The pastor of the church is to be just that; a pastor. His
job is not to run the church. His job is not to be responsible for the decision
making process. His job is not to say, “Here’s the way we’re going to do it.”
The pastor’s job is to pray, preach the gospel, edify the saints, minister to
the saints and to assist the congregation with its job of decision making.
The largest non-Catholic denomination in the world was built
on the principles of congregationalism. The principles have never changed and
they will never change. Sadly, some have
chosen to depart from the principle of congregationalism. That will inevitably
result in damage to the church.
In many churches, it already has.
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