RELATING TO CHURCH LEADERSHIPI. INTRO Throughout the O.T., God provided

leaders for His people Israel, and the welfare of that nation was largely dependent on the effectiveness of its leaders (cf. Prov 29:12).

~ How the people responded to their leadership was also a significant factor in whether the nation would be blessed or judged by God.

~ 1Chron 16:22~ Neh 9:26-27

God has instituted positions of leadership within the New Testament church, and He is greatly concerned that they be recognized and maintained in the manner He has prescribed in Scripture.

~ Members must understand and live out the biblical principles

pertaining to their relationship with their leaders.

~ There are Christians who struggle with this biblical concept primarily because our sinful nature rejects the idea of accountability.

Unfortunately, unbiblical extremes characterize many churches in this regard.

~ One extreme is an outright denial or ignorance of the need for a functioning authority structure in the church; the other extreme is an enslaving authoritarianism that

cripples the body.

~ For the authority structure of a church to function as God designed, each member must be aware of his or her responsibilities to the leadership and diligently attempt to fulfill them (cf. 1Cor 12:12-30). A verse that speaks clearly and directly

to the issue of our relationship to church leaders is Heb 13:17.

II. RECOGNIZING THE AUTHORITY OF LEADERS

THE COMMAND TO OBEY The Greek word for peithō literally

means “to be continually persuaded.”~ The idea is clearly that we are

required to constantly allow the teaching and counsel of

our leaders to be very persuasive in our hearts and lives.

~ “Obey” here does not only denote a willing reception of teaching and

counsel.~ It also carries an undeniable

connotation of compliance to directions.

~ The KJV rightly translates “leaders” as “them that have the rule over you.”

This command to obey our leaders contains an unmistakable emphasis on the authority of their words in our lives.

~ But does that mean we are required to comply unquestioningly with

anything they tell us to do? ~ Not according to John’s third epistle.~ See 3Jn 9-11.

According to that passage, God does not want us to obey church leaders if they tell us to do evil; we should obey them only when they tell us to do good.

~ Cf. Acts 5:29 The following questions will help us to

determine whether we should obey our leaders in specific circumstances:

Is our objection a matter of conscience or merely preference?

~ Keep in mind that the evaluation of the conscience is based on

the knowledge that our mind possesses, so

emotions or feelings are not the issue in such decisions. WE MUST ALSO BE CAREFUL NOT

TO CONFUSE THE CONVICTIONS OF OUR CONSCIENCE WITH OUR PREFERENCES.

Is their leadership causing us to sin, or is it confronting our sin? Many times it seems that our objections

to the teaching or rules of the church arise simply because we are fallen, sinful creatures who tend to resist any authority in our lives.

~ When we find ourselves resisting our leadership for some reason other than a biblical conviction, hear Paul’s words in Gal 5:7-8.

Finally, is the leadership issuing commands or merely offering counsel? What Heb 13:17 does not demand is

that we comply or even agree with the suggestions proffered by our leadership.

~ It would be wrong for us to allow our leaders to do all our

thinking for us. That is not to say that the counsel of

our leaders is unimportant.~ Prov 15:22 & 20:18

~ Not only are we commanded by Scripture to obey the

dogmatic directions of our leaders, we are also commanded to consider very carefully the advice they have to

offer.