Theological Musings

s we discussed in my recent post and comments, there sometimes is a point where we have to look for what might be standing in the way of following biblical patterns. One can tell from the comments that there is disagreement as to what models and patterns even exist in the New Testament for us to follow.

Some believe that we must be very careful in applying Paul’s instructions across the board because they were written to specific churches in a specific culture at a specific time. Others believe that, because certain gifts allegedly no longer exist, some specific instructions might not necessarily apply.

This is all fine and good, and readers of my blog know that I don’t really have a problem not finding complete agreement on these issues. I have tremendous respect for all of my regular commenters here, and have no desire to debate endlessly on things that could end up dividing us if we aren’t careful.

However, since this is my blog…

No, seriously. This morning, Dave Black linked to an article he had written back in 2003 entitled “There’s Only One ‘Senior Pastor’ and It’s Not Us!“. How’s that for a provocative title?! In this article, Dave challenges the status quo of leadership styles in our churches.

First of all, if you are not familiar with Dave Black, allow me to introduce him to you:

Known for his love for New Testament Greek and passion for teaching, Dave Black is a husband, father, professor, author, preacher, lecturer, web journalist, and (above all) a sinner saved by God’s sovereign grace….

Dave is currently Professor of New Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He has also taught courses at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Lancaster Bible College, Fuller Theological Seminary, Talbot School of Theology, Simon Greenleaf University, Criswell College, Freie Hochschule für Mission (Germany), Tyndale Theological Seminary (Holland), Bibelschule Walzenhausen (Switzerland), IEM Bible College (India), Chong Shin Theological Seminary (Korea), Faith Theological Seminary (Korea), Cosin Theological Seminary (Korea), Evangelical Theological College (Ethiopia), Meserete Kristos College (Ethiopia), and at other institutions.

In addition, he has lectured at the Complutensian University in Spain, the Areopagus in Timisoara, Romania, and the Universities of Oxford and Leeds in England.

Dave has published over 100 scholarly articles and book reviews in such journals as Novum Testamentum, New Testament Studies, Bible Translator, Journal of Biblical Literature, Biblica, Westminster Theological Journal, Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, and Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society.

(By the way, Dave and his wife are leaving today for three weeks in Ethiopia. If you wouldn’t mind, keep them in your prayers today and over the next few weeks.)

In the article that I linked to above, Dave talks pretty frankly about our traditional structure of leadership and how it departs from the New Testament experience. For example, he describes the lowly, servant-style approach that Jesus exhorted his disciples to use, and then contrasts it with this statement:

Someday, I hope, the plain truth of the matter will no longer be a subject of debate and confusion among God’s people. The whole traditional concept of one “pastor” of a local congregation is a practice that is absolutely foreign to Scripture.

I tried to post some questions in my previous post to spark some thinking about what changes might be needed in our view of church, if we accept the New Testament record as one showing some principles that are timeless and a-cultural. Dave puts it a bit more bluntly:

The time has come to bring our local church practices under the scrutiny of God’s Word. If there are practices in our tradition that are in conflict with the New Testament revelation, then we have only one option, and that is to correct our practices. The Bible clearly rejects our clergy-laity divide. All members of the local church are to function in the body according to the grace given unto them (Rom 12:1-8). The church is a temple in which every Christian is a “priest” who offers spiritual “sacrifices” to God (1 Pet 2:5, 9). According to the New Testament, all Christians do the work of ministry through the exercise of spiritual gifts. Whatever legitimate distinction can be made between leaders and led (e.g., 1 Thess 5:12-13) does not negate the fundamental truth of the priesthood of all believers. (emphasis mine)

I’ve emphasized one sentence in bold, because I think it illustrates the kind of radical thinking I continue to push for on this blog. I don’t think that, ultimately, it’s good enough for us to sit back and think about how different things should be. If we know something should be done differently, I think we have a responsibility to pursue that.

Now, please note that I am not saying anything specifically about how things should be changed. I’m learning to be humble enough not to think that I actually have answers to all of these questions for everyone else’s situation! But I do want to continually encourage each of my readers to act on any truth that has been revealed to them, and trust God to lead them into whatever changes might be necessary. For some, the changes might happen fast and radically. For others, it could take years.

When I started to question my own involvement in leadership and the conventional system of doing church as a whole, it was not an immediate change for me. In fact, it took almost a year for us to work through some of the concerns Christy and I had about heading in a new direction. For some, it could be even longer.

Ultimately, when a body of believers is involved, any changes need to involve the whole body. This might mean that some are ready to change long before changes actually take place. Or some may be a bit slower to adopt changes that take place. But the mutual respect and edification that results in treating each member of the body as vital to the life of the body would, in my opinion, be very beneficial to the maturity of the church.

Let me illustrate a little bit by quoting a comment Alan Knox left on my recent post. Maybe I can talk Alan into sharing a bit more about the journey that his fellowship is on. In writing about the introduction of open, participatory elements into their gathering, Alan wrote:

I’ve talked with many people who recognize that scripturally any believer should have opportunity to use their gifts (speaking or serving) to edify the church. However, they do not know how to implement this in their current context and with the current expectations of the church.

We started by discussing this with the church. Has everyone caught on? No, many still believe it is the “preacher’s” responsibility to speak to the church on behalf of God. However, there are some who are beginning to understand that God may desire to speak through them. So, some are beginning to take their responsibility seriously.

It’s a process. But one which we should not prevent our fellow believers from experiencing, if we sense that God is leading us toward a different expression of the body. If God is the author of the change, then we don’t need to try to figure out how to make it happen, or how to make sure people are prepared for it. We must trust Him to be the “Senior Pastor” of His sheep, and follow Him ourselves as an example to others.

Until next time,

steve