How are we governed?

Most Christians today don’t think too much about how a church runs. It tends to be one of those things that we just leave to the paid professionals. Many believers would say, ‘Well, I know it comes in lots of different forms. There are archbishops, archdeacons, vicars, and presbyteries. But, a bit like the boiler in my house - I don’t need to know how it works I just need to know it’s not broken!’

However, at Emmanuel, we believe that church governance is an important topic for every Christian. This is primarily because God thinks that church governance is important. For God would not have revealed in the Bible how to run a church if it were not important for his people to know. Secondly, Jesus teaches that every single Christian has the privilege and responsibility to manage His church. Practically, church governance is also vital for protecting a local church from theological error and the abuse of authority (which is sadly all too common today). Church governance also promotes beautiful Gospel unity, as church members understand their responsibilities and how decisions are made together.

There are three important parts of church governance that the Bible speaks to:

The first (and most important) of these is the authority of every Christian – the members of each local church who gather in Jesus’ name. Throughout the New Testament, it’s the congregated church as a whole who have the final authority to protect the Gospel through its proclamation and people.

The local church members are finally responsible for the what of the Gospel. In the book of Galatians, Paul ultimately holds the whole church responsible for accepting teachers who held out a different gospel (Galatians 1:8-9).

The local church members are also responsible for the who of the Gospel. Jesus makes the congregation the final court of appeal on matters of dispute between other Christians. If one member has sinned grievously against another and refuses to listen to his or her fellow church member, the matter should finally be brought to the entire church for resolution (Matthew 18:15-20). Sometimes, for their own sake (1 Corinthians 5:5, Jude 23), this sadly even means the church removing someone from their church membership if they are stubbornly unwilling to follow Jesus (1 Corinthians 5:1-13) - only to welcome them back with joy when they have repented (2 Corinthians 2:6-7).

The second aspect of church governance, which God speaks to, is the authority the elders. The term “elder” (or, in the Greek, presbuteros), from where we get the word presbyter, is used interchangeably with “overseer” or “bishop” (episkopos), and “pastor” (poimenas) – Acts: 20:17-28, 1 Peter 5:1-2. Through a devotion to reading the Bible and prayer (Acts 6:1-16), the elders are charged with the spiritual oversight of their local church (Acts 20:28, 1 Timothy 5:17). If the church members are like the handbrake, the church elders are the bus drivers. Elders lead their own churches through preaching and teaching. Since there should be more than one elder in every church (Acts 14:23, 20:17, Titus 1:5), elders should be humble and willing to listen to others (Proverbs 15:22). They must be shepherds, who are examples to their flock (1 Peter 5:2-3) - men who are known for their teaching ability, godliness, and leadership in the home (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:6-9) – servant-hearted leaders who the church can submit to (Hebrews 13:17).

The final authority in the life of a local church is the authority of the deacons. The deacons, however, don’t really lead so much as serve. Indeed, the word deacon (diakonos) means servant. The deacons care for the physical needs of the church members (Acts 6:1-6). They oversee the practical details of church life – preparation for church services, administration, hospitality, benevolence, etc – which allow for unity. Deacons should be peacemakers. Unlike the elders, they don’t need to be able to teach or be men (Romans 16:1). Like the elders, they too, must be godly role models of a Jesus-like humility (1 Timothy 3:8-12).

Praise God that he has given us such clear instructions for how to build a kingdom that will bring him glory. Pray that all at Emmanuel might display God’s image to a watching world – that we might build an alternative governance of justice through a faithful application of God’s word in the area of church governance.