Page 22 - The Church and Education PDF Pro

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 a number of 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 NOT right.

Instead, we build our doctrines based on the clear doctrinal 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.

2. Once selected, the pastor (elder) or elders do have leadership responsibilities and will be held
accountable for their guidance. God has specially selected them to guide the church and direct it in
worship of the Lord. They are worthy of their position and should be supported financially by the
congregation. The congregation, therefore, must submit to their pastor’s leadership unless that
leadership is contrary to the will of God.

3. Unity was extremely important to the church. In John 13:35, Jesus said, “By this everyone will know
that you are my disciples, if you love one another." And we know that love gives preference to another
(I Cor. 13). A church that loves Christ and puts Him first in their lives will be a church that loves each

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