“We want our church back!”
A complainant in a local church lawsuit confronted the denominational officer with what he thought was a simple request. Actually, it was the root of the problem.
Confusion about who owns the church and who should be in charge is crippling American Christianity. Many congregations have reached growth plateaus, and many have begun decline, largely because their democratic approach to doing church stifles their impact. It can sidetrack the church from its eternal purpose and, consequently, choke the flow of God’s power for relevant ministries.
How may we turn our churches right-side-up and put the people, not just the pastor, into the ministry? The key is recognizing Christ as the Owner and Head of the Church, embracing the biblical flow of authority through His ministry office gifts, and putting into practice the priesthood of believers.
Pentecostals and Evangelicals vigorously contend that Jesus Christ is Head of the Church, and that He established leadership offices for “equipping of the saints for the work of service.”¹ We argue that every New Testament believer is a priest, but how we do church undermines what we say we believe.
We say we believe Christ is Head, but we jockey for power positions. We trust him with Eternity but we want to be in charge until we get there. We say we believe in equipping the saints for ministry, but we relate the bulk of the work to paid professionals. We believe Christ’s death opened the way for us all to call on God, but we rely mostly on the preacher for prayer and intercession.
Becoming a healthy church means getting back to God’s pattern. As we explore roles of pastors and deacons and the relationship between pastors and boards, we will discover that the New Testament process releases all the people of the church into relevant ministry. It also unleashes God’s power to enable and confirm their efforts.
In many instances, good men and women fail to flow in God’s purpose because they simply do not know their roles in God’s process. These are the individuals most excited about the liberating truths in The Church that Works.
Night after night in a series of leadership banquets on “Democracy vs. Theocracy,” local church board members responded: “We didn’t know, and it’s the only way we have seen church done. Now we see the Scriptures, and we realize this is NOT how to do it. We are going to change.”
In a small assembly the first Sunday following one of the banquets, the deacons unnerved their young pastor when they gathered around and asked for a corner conference. They said, “We’re going to take you to lunch today, and we will pay!”
Over the meal, they told him what was on their minds. They had evaluated their attitudes and overall approach to serving on the church board. They said they had been out of order and concluded with, “We’re sorry and we are going to do better.” They have kept their promise, and the pastor reports an incredible and continuing transformation in the life and ministries of the church.
So many local church board members responded this way that it became an expected part of each banquet evening. These were not arrogant or angry leaders. They were rightly motivated individuals who had been doing what they thought was their job, keeping the pastor accountable. They bubbled with relief to discover they are not divinely assigned to ride herd on the man of God. “Thank God! I can be what God called ME to be!”
It’s His Church!
Authority Belongs to Christ
Whoever owns something has authority over it, and whoever pays for it owns it. Jesus Christ paid for the Church with His own blood and body. It is his Church and all the authority belongs to Him.
In Matthew 28:18, Jesus is about to ascend to His Father. He has been crucified and raised from the dead. As He addresses a large post-Resurrection crowd outside Jerusalem, He makes a definitive proclamation, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
How much of it? All of it! It all belongs to Jesus. In Heaven, all the authority is His. He can say anything He wants, and the seraphim, cherubim, and all the angels hop to it. “And on earth…” He didn’t just say in the Church. He said all authority on earth. He can stop the swirl of human events anytime He wants. He can interrupt and intervene. He still has all power and authority. (That is why we should sleep well at night. No matter what is going on, He still is in control!). We can be sure, then, all the authority in the Church belongs to Him.
Jesus said “I will build MY church”, very possessive, “MY church”.² It is His Church in ownership and authority. It is “our church” in the sense of membership, fellowship, privilege, and responsibility for service and support, but it is always HIS church.
When we begin to think it is OUR church and act as if it were “built for me”—we have issues. He bought it and He is building it according to His purpose. This is the first thing we must resolve. All the authority in the Church and in each local church belongs to Christ.
It’s Your Church!
Ministry Belongs to the People
Every born-again believer should be in ministry inside and outside the meeting place. Putting the ministry into the office of the pastor alone robs the church of power and denies the community the help it desperately needs.
The term “ministry” today typically refers to a career pursuit of preaching, teaching, worship leading, and other duties of religious professionals. The verb “minister” most often applies to the efforts of a pastor, teacher, singer, or musician. The New Testament, while it includes all of these, shows a much richer meaning.
Ministry is God’s love reaching people through the infinite variety of gifts He has given to His children. He gives every one of us the ability to do something well and the responsibility to do it.
The Apostle Paul addressed these gifts and responsibilities in his letter to the Romans:
Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.³
He emphasized the truth again to the church at Corinth in his discourse on spiritual gifts:
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.⁴
In the Greek of the New Testament, Paul uses a form of the same word for “serving” and “serve” in Romans 12:7 as for “service” in 1 Corinthians 12:5. The words derive from the noun diakonos, for “attendant” or “servant” (and the verb diakoneo for “minister” or “serve”,).
It is the same term which the writer Luke applies variously in Acts 6:1-4 to serving in distribution of food and attending tables, as well as to preaching and teaching the Word of God. Ministry is any service which brings God’s love to bear on human needs. Whenever you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, you become His servant. You enter the ministry.
The Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 is a good example. Jesus connects with her in conversation, diverts her efforts to argue religion, and identifies her specific needs. She begins to understand when she refers to the prophesied Messiah, or Christ, and Jesus replies, “I who speak to you am he.”⁵
She left her water pot and rushed into town to tell everyone she could, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”⁶
Many people from the town came and believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, and many more believed after hearing Him for themselves.
She had been a believer only minutes, but she started telling others about Jesus. If we are not careful, we make ministry something far off and limited to special people. We prescribe classes and on-line studies and make it hard for people to go to work for God. Jesus didn’t. The moment you become a Christian, you can begin.
You may be thinking, “I don’t have any skills,” but that is not the issue. When Peter attempted to divert Jesus’ questions about his commitment to a question about John, the Lord said, “…what is that to you? You must follow me.”⁷
What others may do or whether someone else might do a given task better has no bearing on God’s call for you to serve Him. It is a cliché but still true… the first ability many tasks require is avail-ability. Are you willing?
The four men in Mark 2:3 carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus. So many people were crowding into the building that they could not get their friend through the door. So, they ripped a hole in the roof and lowered him in front of the Master.
The Gospel writer says, “When Jesus saw their faith,”⁸ He forgave the man’s sins and healed him. Faith? All they did was tear off the roof, but they did it to position a friend to receive from God. They were not builders that day, just a demolition team, but they did it in faith and love, and miracles resulted.
Some speculate it was Peter’s house where this took place and where Jesus had healed his mother-in-law. Peter may have been thinking about his time, “Lord, you’ve got to find another place to do your work.”
Certainly, you can grow and develop in ministry, and you should, but you do not have to wait to get started. The church is on the right track when the pastor and the people understand that we all are priests, we all can be filled with the Holy Spirit, and we all have ministry. All authority belongs to Jesus, but the ministry belongs to the church.
The Apostle Peter taught that all Christians are priests to God.
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message — which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.⁹
The priesthood was central to God’s plan in the Old Testament. Under the Law, an individual seeking God would bring an offering, whatever the Law prescribed, to the house of God, the tabernacle or, later, the Temple and give it to the priest.
The priest would present it to the Lord in behalf of the suppliant, and God would receive it. If anyone else attempted to present the offering, God would not accept it. Only a priest was ordained for that service, and only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place once a year with a blood sacrifice to intercede for the whole nation.
This was the process God had put into place. Going the other way, the priest was God’s representative to the people. He spoke and taught His laws and precepts through the priest. The priest was the intermediary, representing the people to God and God to the people.
Then comes the New Testament, as if Jesus says, “Through My blood, through salvation, and through birth into this Kingdom, all of you now are priests.” Everyone is a priest, which means we each can go directly to God. You don’t have to get on the phone and say, “Pastor, I need you to pray because I need God to help me…” Certainly, you can call and he or she will be eager to help, but you also have direct access to the Father. God has cut out the earthly middle man.
As a believer in Jesus Christ, the one Mediator between God and men, you can call anytime with confidence that He hears, cares, and will respond. You have the constant relationship of a priest, and you are in the ministry