VIEWPOINT

Biblical leadership
George Goertzen

Reuben Pauls's article in the Nov. 6, 1998 MB Herald was one of the best articles on church leadership that I have read. Churches and leaders who fail to base their leadership style on a biblical model do so at their peril—or, more importantly, at the peril of those in their communities who still need to be introduced to our Saviour. As members of churches argue about leadership styles, the unsaved shy away from them, and the light which these churches should be in their communities, goes out. (As an aside, our pastor has said a number of times with some humour when referring to a disgruntled person's critical comment: "What that person needs is to lead a soul to the Lord; he/she would be so excited, the grumbling and criticism would cease.")

On the other hand, most of E.L. Unrau's comments regarding church leadership (Letters, March 5, 1999), are not found in Scripture. Church leadership by "lay" leaders and "pastoral" leaders is not a partnership. Pastors (paid elders) and ruling elders (unpaid elders) are all elders in a congregational church. There is no hierarchy. They are equal.

We need to look at the New Testament description of church leadership as given by our Lord Jesus. The mother of two disciples asked Jesus for a special favour. Jesus' answer is quite enlightening and a strong rebuke to us in leadership: "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave" (Matthew 20:25,27, NASB). The New Testament model of leadership is that of a servant leader. The ultimate example of a servant leader is Jesus Christ Himself.

There is controversy over whether leaders are developed or born. In my opinion, leaders are born and will lead regardless of where they are. A strong "lay elder" will lead a less strong "pastor elder", and a strong "pastor elder" will lead a less strong "lay elder".

I've been a church moderator and have been invited to leadership seminars. Unfortunately, at that time, I was working 50-60 hours a week in a medical practice and couldn't usually attend. In any case, leaders don't need to go to seminars as such. Leaders will lead.

The most important criteria for a leader are that he needs to be full of the Holy Spirit and he needs to have the qualifications set down by the apostle Paul in I Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9. If one wishes to improve one's leadership skills, I couldn't see anyone arguing against taking appropriate courses to do so. The most important "skills", however, are the qualifications laid down in those biblical passages.

Unrau's letter also uses phrases such as "regarding law", "governing council", "aggressive monitoring of the activities of pastors" and "pastors they employ". These are unbiblical notions. They may fit in the business world, but not in God's church.

The church council, which is the style of church government in some MB churches, is not found in the Bible. This does not necessarily make it wrong or mean that it should be dispensed with, but it should make all churches who have this style of leadership take a good look at this model and compare it to the one found in the book of Acts.

The idea that I as a layman need to monitor the activities of my pastors in their leadership seems incongruous to me. The Bible says, "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you" (Hebrews 13:7). Could it be that a congregation's unwillingness to obey this instruction is a reason why many churches are without pastors today? "The elders" make decisions in the biblically modelled church.

Being called to the ministry (becoming a paid elder) is likely the most awesome calling any person can have. I cannot imagine a more difficult, frightening job. I've been a physician for 40 years. It has been a fulfilling and often a most difficult occupation. Yet, my job pales in comparison to being a pastor. As church members, it is our responsibility to help these men and women carry this load, not make it heavier.

As lay elders (unpaid elders), it is our responsibility to see that pastors are advised according to the will of God when they first seek our input on whether God is calling them to ministry (that's why we need to "fast and pray"). This must be done early on in their training. Because we are all human, mistakes can be made, and when they are, changes must be made. We have an example of this in the Bible: "Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica" (II Timothy 4:10—see Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 24 for the end to this story).

It is also the responsibility of the unpaid elders specifically, and church members generally, to protect our pastors from unwarranted criticism and other forms of harassment. We need to stand in the gap for them and give them the space to minister effectively.

It is also our responsibility to see that our pastors are adequately paid. We aren't there to make sure they're among the lowest paid members of the congregation. We're there to make sure they don't suffer from financial needs. One of the qualifications of an elder is that he/she is not to be a "lover of money". It therefore behooves us to take this worry out of their lives. We need to give regular raises to their salaries in keeping with the cost of living without them having to ask. This is so that the enemy cannot challenge them in this area.

When our pastors are chosen on biblical principles after "prayer and fasting", when they are "set apart by the Holy Spirit" and "full of the Holy Spirit", we will willingly honour them as God's servants. This is not an "employment" relationship as in the "real world". This is God's church. Pastors don't serve the church; they shepherd the church, and they serve God.

Like leadership, administrative and management skills are more inherent than learned. I would see no problem with a pastor so gifted honing his management skills by taking appropriate courses. If, however, these gifts are absent, churches would likely fare better by placing deacons, who by definition are task-oriented and appropriately gifted, to do administrative, management and office work. Both Moses (Exodus 18) and the apostles (Acts 6) did something similar.

Paul's instructions on elders in I Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9 are supported by Acts 11:30; 20:28; I Thessalonians 5:12,14; I Timothy 3:1,5; 5:17; Titus 1:9,10,13; Hebrews 13:17; James 5:14,16; I Peter 5:2,3,30. The interpretation of these instructions can vary to some degree. However, to ignore the criteria set forth in these passages is to disobey the direct teaching of the Word of God. These are not "concepts"; they are instructions.

Many customs of the church from the first century until the present have been to a large extent determined by the cultural norms prevalent at any given time in church history. Electing church elders, therefore, may have more to do with living in a society which elects its secular leaders than with biblical teaching. In the book of Acts, elders were appointed.

Further to Unrau's letter, the title "pastor", which in Hebrew means "shepherd", is not in my opinion a hierarchical term. It signifies a position and is particularly useful when relating to people unfamiliar with evangelical churches. All paid elders who fulfill the qualifications for leadership, may, in my opinion, be called "pastor".

I was recently asked by our elders to chair an ad hoc committee to review Scripture's teaching on the subject of church leadership. We were impressed with our findings that someone before us had studied the Scriptures on this subject and instituted a leadership model in our fellowship that very closely resembles that found in the New Testament. After presenting our paper to the elders, the only change made this year was to add a time of "fasting and prayer" before the process of elder selection. The remainder of this article is a summary of our study.

The terms "elder" and "elders" were used interchangeably with "bishop" and "presbyter" in the New Testament church until the end of the first century, and lingered on for the second century as well. In Acts, the elders led the church.

In one model of the 20th-century church, all pastors and elders are elders; pastors are paid staff, and the other elders are unpaid staff. They are all elders. There are several forms of this model; one form is for the elders to be nominated by the congregation, screened by a nominating committee and the present elders, then affirmed by the congregation in a vote. This is the model in the church in which I worship and in which I am a lay elder.

God has blessed this church with much growth, by adding to it regularly people from the community. True, we've had some transfer growth, but much of the growth has been new Christians. When my family first came to this church 16 years ago, we joined about 600 people. These 600 had grown from a church plant of fewer than 100. Our highest attendance in February 1999 was 3200. Those of us in the present leadership are thankful for past leaders who, in obedience to God, studied and followed biblical principles of leadership. I hasten to add that growth numbers are not necessarily signs of spirituality. On the other hand, if our churches aren't growing by the conversion of people from the communities in which they are situated, it could suggest that we don't care whether these unchurched people ever hear the Good News.

In a large city church, it is impossible to know everyone. We depend on leaders of small Bible study groups to bring to the attention of the present elders those whom God may want to become leaders. We can also ask the congregation to suggest (nominate) those whom they feel have the biblical qualifications to serve. Because elders should be a spiritually mature, vibrant, energetic, visionary group, it is always necessary to keep asking God to send new men and women, whom God has gifted with a variety of gifts, to serve in this capacity.

The Bible is mostly silent on the method to be used in the selection of elders, other than that described by Luke in the book of Acts and Paul in his epistles, where leaders were appointed. The Bible, however, has much to say about the qualifications of an elder and about the nature of such appointments. Two examples are: Elders are to be chosen and set apart by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2,3; 6:3), and they are to be appointed "with prayer and fasting" (Acts 14:23).

To disobey what the Bible instructs us regarding church leadership, suggests we don't know what the Scripture teaches, or, worse, that we ignore what it says. My plea would be that all of our churches should re-examine their leadership styles with a careful study of what the New Testament teaches regarding this matter. God's blessing may be at stake.

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