Below is a vision of how in my opinion the Lord intended the authority in His Church. It's completely different from how authority is handled in the world. But the Christian world is also largely based on other views.
To make things a bit clearer, the main line with statements is given below. These statements are substantiated and further elaborated in separate notes (blogs).
There is no formal authority in the Church
The Bible does not assign formal authority to people in the church. The church is the body of the Head, Jesus Christ, and He directs His body. Each member of that body is directed by the Head. Arguments can be found at this page.
The "problem" with this, of course, is that each member must then be properly "connected" to the Head. When this is lacking, problems arise.
But aren't there elders in the church?
If all goes well, there are elders in the congregation who take care of the flock (1 Timothy 3:17; Titus 1:5-9). God has commanded them to tend the flock and be examples to the flock. In this way they have received moral authority from God Himself with regard to the believers. Nowhere in the Bible is elders given formal authority. It is not the case that they 'arrange' things in the congregation or be held responsible for possible problems. Nor do they present themselves as 'problem solvers'. And if you want to know who the elders in the church are, see who fit the characteristics mentioned in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.
Furthermore, it is very instructive and interesting to see how Paul approaches the church in Corinth and how he points to 'the elders' on the spot, without calling them that. Read there in this article more about.
Unity
Corinth was a congregation where there was no immediate unanimity. Yet the believers in every church are called to be of one mind.
Unity actually means having the mind of Christ and that has everything to do with our behavior and how humble and submissive we are. This is a crucial characteristic of all believers: humility and submission play a key role in the spiritual health of the church.
We describe how this relationship works on this page in a little more detail.
Submission
But what if in the end it doesn't work to come up with the same thing? Or if the 'elders' do not agree among themselves? Then what should you do?
Even then it comes down to everyone wanting to be humble and submissive towards each other. No one is exempt from the command to be humble and submissive. Paul was so when he 'went aside in submission'. See further on this page.
Keeping the peace in this way is the most beautiful thing there is, but at the same time the most difficult task.
Finally a summary
In summary, it means that the church is a community of believers who love the Lord from the heart, where God's Word is the only guideline in everything and where the believers love one another because they are all 'born of God' and have received the same life. The believers are all accountable to the Lord, who is the Head of the Church, His body. He works in them and therefore also in the Church, so that unity and peace are preserved there in love. This unity is based on the glory of the Lord Jesus, as He Himself says in John 17:22. The glory of the Lord Jesus has been given to us for the purpose of our practical unity based upon it.
“And I have given them the glory which You have given Me,
that they may be one, as We are One”
When we try to summarize the state of authority in the Church, we come to the following important characteristics:
- Christ Himself is the Head of the Church, His body, and He is the only one who has authority over it
- What He wills for and with the church, He has set forth in His Word. That Word of God is a guideline for the church in everything.
- God has not given formal authority to any man in the church
- There is only moral authority, especially a characteristic of those who are truly elders. Moral authority is authority that does not demand authority, but calls for recognition.
- Authority cannot be imposed or coerced; that leads to rule over the consciences of your brothers and sisters.
- The biggest problem in the church is not being humble, not wanting to submit to the authority of others. This is a problem for every believer because this is an essential characteristic of the flesh, the old nature in us. Let none of us think this will pass him or her. “The heart is deceitful, above all things, yea, it is incurable, who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
- Ultimately, what matters is that wein all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing one another in love, and endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2,3)
If these are principles that God gives us in His Word regarding the church, then it is a community that is not based on and organized according to human conceptions. It is a community that functions as God intended, under the leadership of the Lord Himself and with love and submission as its essential characteristics.
In this way she can testify of God's manifold wisdom to the invisible principalities and powers in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10) and show what it is like to be united under Jesus Christ, the Head.
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