MINISTRY MINDED LESSON 2 LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE2015 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

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Year: 2015

Title: Ministry Minded Lesson 2 Leadership Structure

Teacher: Jerry B Simmons

Series: 2015 Ministry Minded Series

Teaching Transcript: Ministry Minded Lesson 2 Leadership Structure

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2015.

So this evening as we talk about leadership structure and authority within the body of Christ, we're starting here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, where Paul says a couple verses that are really important. In verse 12 and 13, he says, "...and we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake."

Be at peace among yourselves. And so I wanted to start here this evening just to establish the fact and help us understand that God has prescribed in his word that there are those who are over us in the Lord. As Paul writes to the church of Thessalonica, he says there are those that have authority there in the church.

And you are to recognize them. And he says, recognize them who labor among you and are over you. And there's the combination of those two things. So it's not a, you know, an authority that's somewhere else that you guys don't really know. You don't get to see them, you know, but they said this. And so that's what you, you know, have to obey. But there's this authority that God has established within the local gathering of believers that

These leaders are among you and they are over you in the Lord."

And this idea of being over you in the Lord is difficult for some people to grapple with. Of course, there is a little bit of rebellion in each of us, right? We dislike authority. We dislike others having authority over us. And so that's why I wanted to take the moment to just establish the fact that this is something that the Bible teaches, that there are those who

This word, to be over you in the Lord...

Well, the ESV puts it this way, respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord. It's real different, right? No, it's the same because, well, that's what it means. It means to be over. The word literally means to be set over, to superintend, to preside over. It also has the idea of being a protector or a guardian, to care for something or someone.

And so it's to have that type of authority of taking care of, you know, something or someone. And so we are to recognize those who labor among us and are over us in the Lord. The Holman Christian Standard Version says, give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord. And so there's this leading aspect of being over as well as the care and protection of

So the New Living Translation says, honor those who are your leaders. Now, similar verse, but just to, again, make it a little bit redundant, but clear that God has established this kind of authority within the body of Christ. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 7, the author of Hebrews says, obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account.

Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. And so here the author of Hebrews says, obey those who rule over you. Again, there's this idea, there's this understanding. There are those who are placed in authority over you.

Now, part of the problem that we have sometimes when it comes to the idea of authority in the church is this word rule is a little bit strong. It's kind of hard for us to swallow, right? And so, you know, we know that there's been abuses of authority, and that's one of the reasons why it's like, oh man, it's difficult to, you know, to really believe the authority or that there is this kind of authority within the church. But again, this idea of rule is not like dictator, you know, dictate every aspect of your life.

but it means to preside over, to govern. And so it's that general oversight of something. And so those, obey those who have this oversight over the church and over you. And notice he says, why? Be submissive because they watch out for your souls. And so they're

What they're entrusted with is your soul. They're going to give an account to God about how they did in watching over your soul. And so he says, obey them because that's what's best for you. It would be unprofitable for you if it's miserable for them to watch out for your soul, you know? And so if they don't really enjoy watching out for your soul, that doesn't help you at all.

That's not beneficial to you, but make it a joy for them because there are these who have been given this authority within the church. Now, why has this authority been given? There's tons of detail here that we're not going to be able to get into, but let me just give you a couple quick things that we can consider. There's reasons for authority within the church that are spiritual.

And so within the church, God has given authority for direction of the church. So what book are we going to go through next as we study the Bible? You know, how is the worship service to go? What's to be the order? There's this direction, you know, which we're going to go as a church. Also, God has given spiritual authority for exhortation, that there needs to be that encouragement, that stirring up of the people of God.

There also is authority that's given for doctrine because there needs to be good doctrine. There needs to be the truth that is established. And there is false doctrine that will lead people astray and destroy lives. And so God has given authority within the church to establish and to maintain and protect sound doctrine. Another good reason for authority is for the congregation, the people, to have examples.

Paul presented himself as an example. He called Timothy to be an example to the church of Ephesus. And so he gives authorities within the body of Christ so that the body has examples by which to model themselves. Now, again, you know, we could take this too far and it's not meant to be in every detail and it's not meant to be clones of one another, but examples of how to apply and how to live out the things that are found in the word of God.

Another example of the reason for authority is for correction because there is need many times in our lives for us to be corrected. And of course, ideally, we would just listen to the Lord and we would respond and be corrected when he speaks to us.

But many times God will use others in our lives to bring correction. And he specifically placed people in authority in our lives so that that correction can be brought. And sometimes, of course, to the point of discipline within the church is kind of like the final element of that. But it doesn't always have to go that far. There's just the need for correction in our lives.

But there's also practical areas of ministry and practical areas of the church. So you have administration and there's finances to deal with and they need to be handled well. It needs to be dealt with properly.

There's also many times property that's involved. And so we have, you know, physical property like, you know, land that we're talking about or things that the church owns like speakers and sound systems and such like that. And so these things need to be taken care of and managed and we need to be good stewards of these things.

And then there's also legal reasons for authority, especially, you know, in our society. This probably was less so, you know, as the New Testament was being written. But in the day and age that we're living in, you know, there's some legal things that have to be addressed.

And we actually had a board meeting this past week, and we had to kind of review some of the legal issues that concern us regarding the recent change or the recent ruling by the Supreme Court. And so, you know, how does that affect us? And how does that put us in a potential liability for lawsuits and things like that? And so there's this authority that's established within the church to take care of practical things and some of those types of things, as well as spiritual areas of the church.

So there is authority. It's given to us by God. It's God's idea that there be authority in the church for these various reasons, as well as many more. But one of the questions that is often discussed and gone round and round and round and round and round throughout the years is, okay, so

We can agree that there is to be authority, but what form, what structure is that authority to take? How is that to be structured? What is that to look like?

And so there's a lot of different styles. And again, there's a lot of different details here that we're not going to be able to get into. But I've kind of summarized it to five types of church government that are, you know, somewhat around and probably you have had some exposure to.

The first one is the idea of just being a corporation. It can be run like any non-profit. It can be run like any corporation. Or it can be run as a congregation. It can be run by a single elder. Or it can be run by a plurality of elders. And then there's also what we often refer to as the Moses model of church government that was not invented by, but kind of made popular by Pastor Chuck. And it's what he often would refer to.

Now, we'll look at these different types of church government briefly and then move into where I believe that God has us at Living Water and the type of authority and structure that he's established here. But before we get into that, I just want to make the point. The New Testament talks a lot about the heart and the character of leaders, the heart and the character of those who have authority, and very little about an exact structure.

So, you know, you don't turn to 3 Timothy and then Paul gives the detailed outlines of, you know, this kind of person has this kind of authority and does this kind of thing. And this kind of person has these roles and functions and does that kind of thing and reports to this other person. And there's not that. There's not that type of detailed structure. And so there's room for discussion in a lot of this. And there's room for, you know, each church to really be led by the Lord in the way that structure is established today.

There's some pros and cons. There's positives and dangers in each type of model that you might find. But the point of the New Testament is there needs to be character. There needs to be godliness. There needs to be integrity within those who lead. And that comes down, that's like the real issue. All of these structures will fail if the men who are engaged in them are not men of God.

And all of these structures can succeed if the men who are engaged in them are successful.

are men of God and are seeking the Lord. And so that's the bottom line when it comes down to the debates about the different types of church government. It really comes down to who are the people that are involved and are they men of God. But to look at these briefly, we'll look at the corporation. Now this is of course more modern. It's not something that's derived necessarily from the New Testament. But in the corporate structure you have a board, a board of directors, and

And usually they have an appointed CEO or pastor who runs the organization. And so it's the pastor who's relating to the congregation, handling the affairs of the church, and reports back to the board. And it's the board, basically, who has the final authority within the church. Now,

This one, you know, it can be handled in a few different ways. It could be handled, you know, completely secularly or it can be handled in a godly way. In a godly way, I would say it's more down in the plural elders category. But I left it separate just to kind of, you know, highlight this is, it's not really found in the scriptures that you have to have a board and that kind of thing. But it is something that many churches have because of the society that we live in.

Then there's the congregational style of church government. And the idea here is that, well, the congregation decides the direction, the different needs that arise or the decisions that need to be made. It's the congregation who comes together. Now, this is popular in some regions and not so popular in other regions. And it's some that appeal to them because...

it's very democratic, right? So then we all get to vote on everything that happens in the church. And so the idea is, you know, we as a congregation come together, we

you know, pitch in our thoughts. We pitch in our ideas. We all vote on it. And then, you know, we're able to go forward from there. And so then it's the congregation who decides, okay, let's all gather together and figure out who do our elders need to be? Who should be our pastor? And so we vote. And okay, well, Harvey, you know, you didn't get the vote. Sorry. So Jerry's going to be the pastor. And so there's this like election type thing. There's this congregation type thing. And, and, and,

It's one that is appealing to some people. Now, I would say one of the challenges, I think, of the congregational type of church government is you're dealing with a whole mix of all kinds of people. And so coming to decisions and coming to conclusions can be very difficult, especially as, you know, the ideal is you want to be reaching the lost. And so you're going to have brand new believers and seasoned believers and

And there's going to be, you know, a whole lot of different backgrounds and things that come to the table when those decisions are being made. And so that can make that style of government in the church be quite difficult. On the other hand, there's the single elder type of church government. And the idea here is that, well, Jesus talks to the pastor. The pastor tells the deacons what to do. The deacons minister to the congregation. And so it can

can be actually on the opposite scale of the congregational. It's one guy making decisions. And so he can do, you know, he can move quickly and he can go here, he can go there, he can go there and go there and do different things because, well, it's just him and Jesus and as long as they agree, you know, they're good.

And then the deacons kind of come along for support. Now, I put deacons there instead of elders because in this type of church government, that's typically what they call this board or this group of men who assist the pastor. They usually call them deacons, and it exists in particular kinds of churches.

Then there's another type that's called the plural elders. And this is an elder-led congregation. And so the idea here is that Jesus ministers to the elders and speaks to them. The elders essentially have the authority within the church to

They select a pastor of their choosing, and that pastor ministers to the congregation. But the elders maintain this authority over the pastor. So, you know, there's this direction of, well, you're going to teach these things. You're going to teach this book. You're going to go this way. This is how we're going to do church service. And so, you know, the elders have that authority within the church. Well, then you have the Moses model.

And the Moses model looks at the Old Testament and the structure that God had set up within the nation of Israel as a model for how the church should operate. And so what that looked like, these are diagrams that Pastor Chuck has shared over the years. And so it kind of illustrates for us. You have God, who, of course, is God. He's the one on top, the final authority.

And he would speak to Moses. And you would remember that Moses would be up on the mountain or he'd be in the tabernacle of meeting and God would speak to him. And then he would come out and speak to the people.

Now Moses did not minister and lead the congregation by himself. He had judges who helped decide with practical matters. He had elders who helped communicate the message and communicate the things that the Lord was speaking through Moses. And so every tribe had their elders and so they would have meetings where the elders would go to meet with Moses and then go back to the people. As

And then he also had the priests, and the priests would help Moses in the ministry of the people and their relationship with God. And so this was the model that God established with Moses there in the wilderness. And so Moses would speak to the heads of the tribes, the elders, what God has commanded, and then...

God would give that to Moses. Moses would speak to the leaders, and then the leaders would deliver that vision, that direction, you know, whatever it was to the people.

And so in looking at this as a model, we kind of change it up a little bit to say, okay, well, Jesus is the head of the church. And that's true of all the church structure types, the government types, that Jesus is the head of the church. That's clearly stated there in the book of Colossians for us. We know he's the final authority.

But in this model, Jesus speaks to the pastor and gives the pastor direction, insight, vision, clarity, you know, whatever the Lord wants to give him. And then the pastor is not all by himself, but has support. And so there's elders, there is a board perhaps, and there's also assistant pastors within the church who help communicate the vision and bring the ministry to fruition and minister to the congregation.

Now, there has been lots of, I think, misunderstandings about the Moses model and this diagram as well over the years, both inside of Calvary Chapel and outside of Calvary Chapel. And I'm not attempting to try to speak on behalf of all Calvary Chapels everywhere, but I would say that, you know, I think Pastor Chuck was using this model primarily to express how vision and direction are communicated and

Not as an absolute statement of authority with no accountability. And that's one of the objections that people have to this idea of the Moses model. That, well, see, you have the pastor on top. He's accountable to nobody. He can do whatever he wants. And so, you know, that's a failure of this type of model. Now, Pastor Chuck came from a very particular background where, you know, the pastor was controlled by either the congregation or by the elders. Right?

And so there was this conflict. There was this tension that was there between these elders and him. And so as he had this opportunity at Calvary Chapel to establish something new, he changed that up because, well, he wanted to be able to be free to do what God put on his heart. But don't think that Pastor Chuck...

You know, ran as a dictator and everybody had to do everything that Pastor Chuck said. And, you know, that is not at all the vision, but sometimes that's how it's communicated. And sometimes people take this model too far to use it to go beyond really what was intended as he was sharing and expressing this model.

And I say that that happens both inside and outside of Calvary Chapel, that there's a kind of a take into an exaggerated conclusion regarding this model, this structure. And so I want to share similar understandings with you, but slightly different as we go forward. So these are the different types of church government, or some of the main types. They have the corporation, the

the congregational, the single elder, the plural elders, and the Moses model. Now again, none of these are particularly declared in the scripture. This is how the New Testament church is to operate. And so understanding that as we look at these things, it's allowing us that there's room for discretion. There's room for us to come to an agreement and to understand how God wants us to operate.

There's a commentator named Wayne Grudem, and he says this about the types of church government. He says,

And so again, this is the point. The Bible is not so concerned about the exact format of the structure, but the quality and the character of the people that are involved in the structure. And if there's good people involved, godly people involved who are seeking the Lord, well, they can be effective and minister and fulfill their role and their calling and gifting within any of these systems. But the problems begin when, you know, men's hearts are not right.

Now, some will suggest, of course, that some of these different types of church government are more open to vulnerabilities and dangers than others are. But I would say that there's going to be dangers of ungodly men in any system. And that becomes the issue. And so it's not a failure necessarily of the structure or the type of leadership, but of the men, the people involved.

Now, I want to take a look at this from kind of a slightly different angle as we go forward here and begin by looking at the New Testament words that the Bible uses for leaders. And so in the New Testament, there's essentially three types of offices or leadership roles that are described in regards to the context of the church. You have the bishop, the deacon, and the elder.

The bishop, it's the Greek word episkopos, and so this has developed into a type and style of leadership within the church that is the pastor-led. That's the pastor has the final authority, has the ultimate authority in the church, and

And then you have the elders who, this is the Greek word presbyteros, and this was the group of men who would then have the final authority within the church. And generally speaking, all of the different types of church government boil down to a disagreement or kind of a challenge between these two, either the pastor-led or the elder-led congregation.

Nobody disputes about deacons. Typically, deacons are servants and have different roles, but are not up for final authority within the church. It's typically between the elders and the bishops that people disagree about who should have the final authority within the body of Christ. And so let's consider these different words. You have deacon.

The word deacon, sometimes also translated minister or servant, it means one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master, a servant, attendant, or minister. And so this is someone who is executing somebody else's commands. Again, it's a servant. Then you have the bishop, and the bishop is an overseer, a man charged with the duty of seeing that things done by others are done rightly.

And so this guy, you know, oversees and makes sure that things happen in an appropriate way, in a way that is right. And then there's the word elder. And it can be someone who is old or it can be a rank of office.

And so for the Jewish people, the Sanhedrin was referred to as the elders. Those who managed the public affairs of a city or administered justice, they were called the elders. Those who presided over gatherings of people, they were called the elders. And so elder was something that the Jewish people were very familiar with. In fact, as you look at these three different words for leaders in the New Testament, it

The word bishop was a normal term. It was a normal word that they understood in the Greek culture. And the word elder was a normal term that was understood in the Jewish culture. And so it was something that they were familiar with, this role of bishop or this role of elder, depending on what background they came from. Now, I'm going to kind of...

define these or redefine these words for us to just help us understand and talk about the same thing. So first you have the deacon, and the deacon is a servant. And I would describe a deacon as anyone who has responsibility for tasks, property, or things. And so it's someone who is responsible, who has a role, who has a position, but

But they're not entrusted with people. They're entrusted with things to do, things that must be accomplished. As opposed to a bishop, who I would redefine as a leader, and say that this is anyone who is responsible for people.

Regardless of the title. So, you know, we might call this kind of person a pastor, an overseer, a ministry leader, something along those lines. But regardless of what they're called, their role is to be responsible for people.

And so you could think about, you know, those who have people that are entrusted to them. They're responsible to lead people, to, you know, help people grow in the faith and draw near to God. And so they're leaders and they're our servants within the body of Christ. And then you have this term elder. Now elder, I would say to you and suggest that this is what we have as our church board.

There's the idea of an elder, and you can see that throughout the scripture as it refers to an individual. But oftentimes the scriptures refer to the elders. And as it talks about the elders in the context of the church, it's referring to a ruling body of men that includes the pastor. And so there's this group of men that are responsible for the body of Christ, and they're referred to as the elders.

And this is, as far as Living Water is concerned, this is how we operate as far as our church board is this group. It's a group of men that includes the pastor that rules, that makes decisions, that deals with and administrates the things that God has given to us. Now, I would suggest to you that elder singular is the same role as bishop.

Again, as I mentioned, that one was used in the Greek, one was used for the Jews, and they kind of come from different cultures. But that these roles, as they're described, they're often used interchangeably, bishop and elder. In fact, in Titus chapter 1, you can see right there, just a couple verses, Paul uses bishop and elder in the same passage. And so I would say that these are speaking of the same kind of roles

or the same type of position. And so what we're seeing then is not so much an outline, a structure of hierarchy. Well, this, you know, bishops are higher than elders or elders are higher than bishops. That's not trying to be established at all. What then you see is basically two different categories of leaders. Those who are responsible for people and those who are responsible for

Not for people, so for tasks or for other things. And so if you're a deacon, you know, it's something that you're responsible for, let's say, parking cars, or you're responsible for, you know, folding the bulletin or taking care of, you know, some of the practical things or serving or helping in some capacity, but you're not responsible for the people. As

On the other hand, you have, you know, those who are responsible for people. Now, you can look at that as, you know, the pastor of the church, elders of the church, but you can also look at ministry leaders. And ministry leaders are responsible for the people within their ministry. Bible study leaders are responsible for the people within their ministry. And so that's a different category. It's those who are called to be leaders.

So you have these two different types, those who are responsible for tasks, for property, for things, and those who are responsible for people. And then you have the elders. And the elders are a particular group of men that gather together to lead and to guide, to direct the church as God provides and God leads. And so I would...

kind of throw out all those different diagrams that I showed you, and I've put together a different one to try to illustrate this a little bit better and help us understand how all this works, and again, how we operate here at Living Water. And so here you have the pastor, you have the board, you have leaders, you have servants, you have the congregation, and then, of course, you have Jesus. Now, Jesus is the head of the church, and he's the leader of the church.

But I'm communicating that a little bit differently in this diagram and saying Jesus is the center. He is the center of everything. He is what everything revolves around. It's all about Jesus. Now, another reason why I did it this way and put Jesus in the middle like this is because one of the things that kind of is communicated sometimes if we take it the wrong way by those other diagrams is you have to go through these other men to get to Jesus.

But the congregation has direct access to Jesus. And the servants have direct access to Jesus. The leaders have direct access to Jesus. The board, the pastor has direct access to Jesus. And so there's this centrality of Jesus that we all are connected to Jesus. And as we gather together as a group of believers, well, there is to be order. God desires order. He's established authority. And he also desires that things be done decently and in order.

And as we look at these things, I would often share with you that none of these things are a statement of value or importance or anything like that. So just as we look at the order that God has established in the home,

that it's not a statement of value or importance or anything like that, you know, with the different things that God has established for order within the home. The same is true within the church. There needs to be order, and that's what this is for. This is to establish order, not hierarchy or rule.

And so you have the board and you have the pastor and they are ministering to the congregation. They're pouring into the leaders who are also pouring into the servants and ministering to the congregation. It's centered around Jesus. And I want to walk through these again just to help illustrate and talk about the different aspects of the structure here for the authority that God has given. And so we'll start by talking about the board.

Now again, this is in the New Testament would be referred to as the elders. And the elder, it's someone who has age or has a rank or office. And again, the Sanhedrin was called the elders for the Jewish people. They were the ruling body who gathered together and made decisions for the congregation or for the nation.

In a similar way, we have the board. It's the elders who gather together to make decisions, to lead, and to seek the Lord about what he wants to do with the church and for the church. Now, the word elder or the elders mentioned in context of the church are first found in Acts 11, 14, and 15.

And so as the church is being established, we see elders are in existence early on. So in Acts chapter 11, verse 30, it says, this they also did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

And this is talking about a collection of aid that is being sent to Jerusalem in order to help those who are suffering from famine. And so the elders here receive this contribution and then are responsible to distribute those funds to the people in need.

In Acts chapter 14, verse 23, it says, And so this is talking about the mission trip with Paul and Barnabas. And how, so there's churches being established, there's churches being planted, and so they appoint elders. And so we find that elders are appointed by Paul and Barnabas, and they are in every church.

Now, some dispute, you know, so is this multiple elders for each church, or is it talking about multiple cities, and so there's one elder per church, or different, you know, gatherings together, and that's a discussion for another time. But the idea here, the understanding is that there are elders in the church, and they're appointed by Paul and Barnabas here.

And then in Acts chapter 15, we see a council that happens at Jerusalem. And so it's the apostles, the elders who gathered together to answer this question for the church and to answer this question for the churches that have been planted, not just in Jerusalem, but all over. And so there's the gathering here of the apostles and elders to handle this situation and to address this question. And so we have the elders established in the New Testament.

In summary, elders or the elders are appointed by the pastor, appointed by other elders, by those who have authority within the body of Christ. And so like Paul appointed elders in every city, those are appointed. Their responsibility is to lead, to maintain, and to protect the church.

Now, we saw in Acts chapter 11, they were entrusted with funds, you know, to meet the needs of the people. In Acts chapter 15, they're determining the church's doctrine and what they're going to decide about certain things.

Acts chapter 20 talks about elders shepherding the church. James talks about elders praying for the sick or calling for the elders to pray for you when you're sick. And there's many different responsibilities and roles that are given to the elders throughout the New Testament. So it's a variety of things that they do in governing and maintaining the church.

The qualifications for elders, I would suggest, are there in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Now, Titus 1 uses the specific word elder as well as bishop, and they're, again, used interchangeably. And so as 1 Timothy 3 talks about the qualifications of a bishop, I would say that individual elders have to have those same qualifications as well. And as you compare 1 Timothy 3 and the qualifications of an overseer or bishop,

it's almost identical to the qualifications found in Titus chapter 1. Again, so he's not trying to establish specific, this role is over this role, is over that role. He's talking about the quality of men and these general type of categories of leadership. The elders also, I would say, are led by the pastor.

The elders is a group of men that includes the pastor and also is led by the pastor. And so we see in 1 Timothy 5, verse 17, Paul tells Timothy, And so he makes a distinction. There are elders who labor in word and doctrine, and there are elders who do not labor in word and doctrine. And so...

Elders are to be honored, and especially those who are engaged in the laboring of the Word and teaching of the Word of God. And so there's the gathering together of the elders, which includes those who are laboring in the Word of God. And then we also see in the book of Acts a little bit more detail about leading the elders, and I'll talk about that in just a moment. And then finally, the elders are accountable to God.

Or you could say to Jesus because Jesus is the head of the church. And so it's their job, their role, their responsibility to hear from the Lord and to operate the church in the way that God instructs and directs. Well, amongst the elders, you also have the pastor.

Now, you could refer to this as the senior pastor. Some talk about, you know, the lead pastor or lead elder, lots of different titles, but you get the point, right? It's the one that God has called to lead amongst the board or the elders, right?

Now, an example of this we find in Acts chapter 15 when that Jerusalem council happens, the apostles and elders come together to consider the matter of what should be done about these Gentiles who have believed. And there's fierce debate, you know, there's strong opinions on either side. And so they gather together and all these different viewpoints are shared. But then we see that at the end, James stands up and he says, okay, I've heard everything and here's my decision.

And so he makes clear his decision, and that's the decision that's then sent out and communicated to all the churches that have been planted.

And so it was a gathering together of apostles and elders, and there was discussion, there was, you know, different viewpoints being shared, but ultimately there was one who had to make a decision. And so James had this role of leading the elders in that way, and so there was this, you know, responsibility and this decision that was made. And so we operate here at Living Water in a similar fashion. We have the board, which is, you know, the elders, but

but we also have the pastor and there's discussion and there's lots of prayer and we, you know, have different viewpoints and work through different things. And then ultimately at the end, you know, there's a responsibility that I have to make decisions. Now, typically one of the things that we do for safety here at Living Water is typically we operate in unison that when the whole board, everybody's in agreement, then we go forward. Um,

And so we do that, you know, as a precaution, as, you know, as a matter of being safe and being, you know, wanting to be in the center of God's will.

But at the same time, if there was a disagreement and there was a strong, clear word from the Lord and I believe that, hey, God wants us to do this. And Dave's like, I don't know. I'm just not sure. And I have the authority. I have the right to be able to say, OK, I understand you feel that way. But this is what God has called us to do. And we could go forward on that.

And so there is that idea, that understanding that there is decision that needs to be made. There is authority that ends up falling on one who is called to lead the group of elders. And so, again, I'm speaking primarily of spiritual direction. Now, some, again, take this too far. And so this is where, you know, I am in line with the Moses model. I believe that God speaks to the pastor and he is called to lead the congregation.

That's primarily talking about spiritual direction. That does not mean there's no accountability. That doesn't mean that I can do whatever I want and I can say, hey, you know, you can't ask me about how I'm spending the money or you don't get a say in that or, you know what I mean? Like, it's not that there's no accountability. It's just that the way that God communicates vision and direction spiritually for his people is,

is he selects a person. He chooses a man. He chooses someone to funnel that through and to share that through. And so this is the way that God works. Now, again, for us, typically, I can't think of any decision that we've had to make that there was some kind of, you know, division within the board. And so, like, I had to override and say, I want it my way, darn it. You know, like, there's...

Dave, have we ever had any? We never had any. We always operate in unison because, you know, the Lord is leading and the Lord is working. But so there is this spiritual direction that is given. It doesn't mean there's no accountability. And I believe this is the balance of the two general systems, the pastor-led church and the elder-led church, where it's the elders, the pastor is among them, and the pastor leads the elders, but is also accountable to the elders.

And so you have the pastor who's appointed by the elders. And so, you know, again, understanding that there is a leadership role amongst the elders, but it's the elders who ultimately have to decide, you know, if I die, let's say, then it's the elders, it's the church board who needs to decide who's going to take that role and fulfill that role going forward. And so they're appointed by the elders.

The responsibilities of the pastor, there's just three examples here. Of course, you could look at many other things, but responsible to feed the sheep, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, as well as to lead the elders. The qualifications are that of an overseer found in 1 Timothy 3, and the accountability is to the elders, of course, as well to God. That's definitely important.

All right, but then you have other leaders within the church. And so the pastor, the board is making general, you know, kind of big picture decisions, dealing with, you know, the property and things of the church. But then you have leaders who are over other parts of the body. And so, again, I would give an example of ministry leaders.

And so ministry leaders are responsible for particular groups of people within the congregation. And so you have men's ministry, you have women's ministry, you have children's ministry. We have, you know, different Bible studies and things going on. And there's these different kinds of leaders within the body of Christ. And so again, I would say a leader is anyone who's responsible for people.

And so these ministry leaders are also there, but they are to be submitted to the board and to the general direction of the church and on board with that flow and with what the Lord is doing through that. And so you have these overseers. They are appointed by the elders or the pastor.

And so, you know, if there needs to be a new ministry leader in some regard, then that's something that, you know, the board will need to consider, the elders will need to consider. Of course, you know, receiving input from all sorts of areas, but ultimately, you know, their decision to appoint them to that role needs to be one that's done by the elders.

Their responsibility is to oversee spiritual areas of ministry as well as practical areas of ministry, depending on the type of ministry that we're talking about and the type of leadership role that they have. The qualification, I would say, is still in 1 Timothy 3, the qualities of an overseer. Same qualities for a pastor as for a ministry leader. It's all the same. We are responsible for people, and so we need to have these qualities in our lives.

And then the overseers are accountable to the elders, accountable to the pastor in the way that God has established it. And then you have the servants. Now, again, these are the deacons, one who executes the commands of another. And so the servants are not in charge of people, not responsible for people, but they have a role within the body. They have a position to fulfill. And so they fulfill their role in ministering to and serving the congregation.

So servants are appointed by the elders, the pastors, or the ministry leaders or overseers that God has placed there. Their responsibility is to fulfill their assigned role, whatever that might be. And there's great variety there of functions and roles within the church.

The qualifications are found in 1 Timothy chapter 3 as well, but it's the latter part of the chapter. And so the deacons have slightly different qualities that are required than overseers. Not very much different, but slightly different. And so Paul lists them there. And again, they're accountable to the elders, the pastor, and their own leaders.

And then ultimately you have the congregation. And so the congregation is here, the gathering of believers, and they are responsible, of course, to walk with the Lord and to have their own connection with Jesus, but also to receive the ministry and benefit from these that God has placed in their lives to minister to them, the pastor, the elders, the leaders, as well as the servants.

So the congregation is appointed by God. In other words, God chooses where each member of the body of Christ belongs. So whether you belong in this body or that body or this church or that church, it's God who appoints the congregation.

And their responsibilities are to fulfill their role within the body of Christ. And we spent a lot of time in Equipped to Serve talking about that, that every member has a role. And so each member of the congregation has the responsibility to fulfill their particular role, which may not be a position or an official role within the church, but it is their role within the body of Christ that's been given to them by God.

The qualifications to be part of the congregation, you must be born again, pretty simple, and they're accountable to all the elders and leaders that God has placed over them.

So again, here's the diagram. You have the pastor, you have the board, you have leaders, servants, the congregation, all centering around Jesus, all having our own relationship with Jesus, all having, you know, that overarching idea that Jesus is Lord over all. And so when there's a contradiction between what Jesus says and what one of these other authorities say, you know, we skip those authorities and we stick with Jesus and we obey him above all.

But again, for our church here, this is our church board. These are the elders. And so you have Dave and Rick and Cisco, Pastor Tom, George, myself, and Pastor Dylan. And so we gather together regularly and are seeking the Lord and leading the church in the way that God prompts our hearts.

We also have other leaders. So we have the board, we have myself as the pastor, and then we have leaders within the body of Christ here. Now, these leaders, again, I would refer to the ministry leaders. You have children's ministry and men's ministry and Spanish ministry and worship ministry and ushers ministry and on and on we could go. This isn't trying to be exhaustive, but

I believe that any of these who are leaders, who are responsible for people, are these types of overseers that the scriptures describe and need to have the qualities and qualifications of an overseer. And then you have the servants. Again, the deacons, those who are responsible for various tasks and capacities that are assigned to them.

And I believe this is important, okay? So here's the structure, and this is kind of like the flow by which we operate. And this is important for a few reasons. Number one, you need to understand, you know, how we operate so that you can be able to have some confidence in the work that God is doing here. And as decisions are being made, you kind of understand how they're being made.

But also, especially for those of you who are involved in ministry, that you understand your role and your place in the structure that God has established here. And I believe that this model scales not just for, okay, this is living water, you know, this is the whole church, but

but that it scales down to each of the individual ministries. And so I would kind of reformat it a little bit like this. And so you have a leader, a ministry leader, who operates within a group of leaders. Now, maybe that group is just themselves at some points, or maybe that group has multiple people. But there's this idea that there's, you know, this group of leaders with someone that God's called to lead and ultimately given the responsibility to. And so you have a leader who operates within a group of leaders.

And then you have servants, those who are coming alongside the ministry to help fulfill the vision and do the work that God has called that ministry to do. And so there's this ministry to the people still revolving all around Jesus. Everybody's still having their own connection with Jesus. And that needs to remain central in all of this.

Again, I think this is effective and the Moses model is effective at illustrating how God speaks to and leads a group. That there is this person that God has called to lead and their responsibility is to hear from the Lord, to pass on the vision, to pass on what God is saying, and that is to give the direction for the group, for the ministry, for the church, whatever realm of authority that God has given to them.

Now, one of the mistakes that I think is often made when it comes to this idea of, you know, having a leader or having this Moses model or having, you know, this type of authority in the church, that there's this misunderstanding that that means that this leader has to make every decision. And that is not at all what is intended by the Moses model or by what the scriptures say or by these, you know, realms of authority that are given by God.

But one of the examples you could think about is in the book of Exodus chapter 25, when God is giving Moses the instructions for the tabernacle. Now, when you read through that passage, you can kind of get bogged down, right? Because it's this measurement by that measurement, by this measurement, by that measurement, all kinds of detail. And God tells Moses in all the midst of this detail that we struggle just to read, God tells Moses, hey, according to the pattern that I showed you,

Just so you shall make it. And so all that detail is there because God said, here's all the detail. Make sure you make it so exactly the way that I showed you. And that is a responsibility that leaders have. It's a responsibility that leaders

every ministry leader has. It's a responsibility that, you know, any overseer has. That is, when God gives you those specifics, then you need to make sure that you make it happen with those specifics and do and fulfill the pattern that God has given to you. And that's important, and that must be done. However, again, we take it too far when we think, okay, God always works that way, and so that's why I

You know, sometimes it's taken too far to say the leader has to make every decision and sign every check and do every dotted, you know, every detail has to be because, well, God's given all the details and all the specifics to that leader. That's not always how God operates. Sometimes God gives you the tabernacle. So let me give the example of an event. So let's say I'm planning a retreat.

And sometimes when God calls me to lead a retreat, he gives me every detail. And I tell Richard, here's what you're teaching. Here's the passage you're teaching. Here's the points I want you to make. And emphasize this in your message. And then I tell Dave, well, here's your passage and here's your emphasis and all of these details. Now, that's not because, you know, I just like to tell people what to do, but because God gave me specifics. And so it's my responsibility to make sure those specifics come together in exactly the way that God told me.

but it doesn't always work that way. Sometimes God gives you general direction. Go that way. Well, like there or like there? Or you mean like there? Yeah, just like that way. Go that way. And what that means then is that there's room for discretion. Now, a good example of this is the cities of refuge. You remember the cities of refuge? God said, okay, I want you to establish cities of refuge that are within boundaries

such and such distance that are on this side of the river, that side of the river, make roads to them. And so that, you know, the manslayer can flee so that it's not too far. And so it needs to be, you know, this distance from everywhere around them. They need to be able to get to a city of refuge when they're in that time of need.

Now, God did not tell them, all right, this city right there, make that a city of refuge. And then that city right there, I'm going to name the cities for you, and you have to make those cities, cities of refuge. What did God do? He gave them parameters.

All right, it needs to be this distance from other places and this far apart, and you've got to be able to reach it in this amount of time. And by following those parameters, they have full discretion. They could have picked that city or that city or that city or that city. There was great opportunity for them to decide and make decisions according to the parameters that God gave. But they got to use discretion. And so sometimes if I'm leading a retreat, I might say, Richard, teach whatever you want.

You got discretion. Or I might say, you know, teach something about the characteristics of God. And it's not specific, it's not detailed, but just along those lines. And there's that general direction that's communicated because, well, that's the direction that God gave me, you know? And so sometimes it's very detailed and specific. And I want to be clear, it's not wrong to have those details and specifics. When God gives you those, well, you need to make sure that those are passed on.

Now, for those who are on the other side, so here's Richard, and he's involving himself in this retreat. Now, I think this is important to understand so that Richard, as he approaches this, he does his best to catch the vision. Okay, now, Jerry, are you giving me this passage because God gave you that, and this is a specific detail that you need to make sure you fulfill?

Or are you giving me this passage as a suggestion, as an idea, but I can work from here or bounce off from here or do something else? And so it's helping us to understand how this is being communicated. And then we are able to understand better, okay, this is what God said. This is what God wants. And we follow the details or we work within the parameters that we're given according to the Lord's leading.

And so I think that's why this is important for us, that we understand for those who lead, your responsibility to pass on those details or those parameters that God sets, or for those who are involved and not leading, but that they would be able to understand, okay, my job is to catch the vision and to understand, you know, the parameters or the details that we need to be fulfilling.

So here's a few important points on authority just to kind of sum up. Jesus is the head of the church. That's first and that's foremost. He is the one who needs to be directing. No matter what type of government a church has, it needs to be Jesus who is calling the shots. It needs to be a reliance upon, a dependence upon Jesus for direction.

Servant leadership is definitely something very important. Jesus taught his disciples, you're not to lord over. And so leadership is not about, okay, all you people do what I want and serve me and meet my needs. Leadership is about meeting the needs of the people. Now, again, that doesn't mean then, okay, everybody take a vote and decide how I can best meet your needs. And then that way I'll be involved in doing that.

Now, the Lord is speaking to me about your needs, and I'm doing my best to minister to you and serve you according to those needs. And so that's the way that it works. But it's for the people. It's not for the leader to have some type of lording over in other people's lives.

hear from God and pass on the vision. And so when it's general instruction, he allows for discretion. Enjoy that freedom and use your discretion and do the best that you can. And when you're passing that on to others, give them that discretion and allow them to make those decisions as well. But when it's specific instruction, then

then make sure you fulfill it. And if you're passing it on to someone else, make sure you pass on that specific instruction and that they understand this is the way that God wants it to go. And so in that we delegate in the way that God does. And so let's go back to 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 12. Paul says, Those who have this place, this role of authority within the body, recognize them.

They're among you, they are over you, and they admonish you. And I want to close with just some words from David Guzik. He says, those who labor among you, he says, these leaders are recognized not by their title, but by their service. A title is fine, but only if the title is true, and if the title describes what that person really is before God and man. So the Greek word is bishop,

translated overseer, might be called ministry leader, might be called pastor, might be called, you know, elder, all kinds of things. But the point is not the specific title, but that the person really has that authority that's been given by God. And so recognize those who are among you who have that authority. And then he also says, who are over you in the Lord.

Leaders are recognized as being over the congregation, Guzik says, in the sense of ruling and providing headship as a shepherd is over the sheep. He says this describes a clear and legitimate order of authority. It's clear, it's legitimate. God has established authority within the body of Christ. It has been abused, and many people have used it wrongly and in ways that God would not allow or describe or prefer or want or command or anything like that. But

And then finally he says, And that means that leaders are recognized as those who admonish the congregation. To admonish means to caution or to approve gently, to warn. And I like this. He says, And that's...

I think that's a good description. There's this big brotherness, you know, to the admonition, to the correction, to the instruction that is given. It's a love and care that motivates, that prompts the leaders within the body of Christ to bring the instruction and correction that is brought. And so that is the kind of care that leaders are to have within the body of Christ.

Now, that's not exhaustive. That doesn't cover every detail of every exception of every idea or possibility. But that is hopefully a good idea of the way that God's called us to operate in light of what the Bible teaches about leadership within the body of Christ. Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for your word, and thank you, God, that you have provided for us leaders and those who are over us to help us, to grow us, to instruct us, to challenge us, to stretch us, and all the other things that we need, God. And I pray that you would help us to be right with you in being right with those that you've placed in authority in our lives, Lord, that we would be submitted to them, recognizing that they watch out for our souls as those who must give an account.

And so, Lord, help us to fall in line and to be walking consistently with you in submission to those that you've called in our lives in that way. And also, I pray for those who have authority, Lord, that you would help us to be faithful to you. Help us, Lord, to hear from you, to be led by you, and to represent you well to those that you've entrusted to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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