Page 66 - Ecclesiology Textbook Masters

I Timothy 5:17-18 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor,
especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while
it is treading out the grain, and “The worker deserves his wages.”

Peter gives further instruction to the elders as they provide leadership to the church.

I Peter 5: 2-4 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you
must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to
serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief
Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

The elder or pastor is to lead by example, not by command. He is to watch over the congregation in a
servant role. In doing so, he will receive a crown of glory for his service.

There is an important rule when it comes to building a doctrine from the Scriptures:
Do not build doctrines based on historical events in the Bible. What this means is
we cannot establish rules for church polity based on what the early church did
historically. For example, the church in Jerusalem sold all their property and goods
and gave them to the apostles for distribution to those in need. So, because they
did this, are we to create a policy at our church, that when you become members,
you must sell all your personal property and give it to the church?

There are several historical events in the lives of the apostles which we would not want to emulate. For
example, Paul had to rebuke Peter for his hypocrisy not associating with gentiles (Galatians 2:11) during
a dinner when the Jews entered the room. If Peter did this, should we then discriminate within our
churches? No! Peter was wrong. We cannot build a doctrine for the church based on Peter’s behavior.

In the Old Testament, Abraham obeyed God and was commended by God as a man of faith. But
Abraham also lied to the king of Egypt about Sarah being his wife to save his skin. Do we promote lying
in certain circumstances because Abraham did it? No. We cannot formulate doctrine and practices for
the church based on what various people did in the Scriptures. Some did what was right, but some did
what was wrong. Some things they did are neutral, but not necessarily to be copied to our modern day.

Instead, we build our doctrines based on the clear teachings found in the Word. Paul gave us volumes
of information about the qualifications of those who lead the church and practices of the church. This
information if what we pattern our churches after.

So, the question still remains. Which church governance should we select for our churches? Here are
some guiding principles we can glean from the apostle’s teaching to the early church:

1. The believer in the church selected from among themselves those who were qualified to lead, based
on the clear teaching of Scripture. So, inherit in this concept is that the congregation retained some
control of those who would lead them. This can be done within the presbyterian and congregation
forms of government but is pretty much not possible within the episcopal form of government. Even in
an independent church that the pastor is the potentate (total control), the congregation must give up its
authority to that pastor. Having one person in leadership with total control can lead to real problems if
that person is not walking in the Spirit and seeking to do God’s will. It is a dangerous polity to follow.

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