Biblical Authority in the Local Church

One of our messages in our sermon series on the life and work of elders and pastors is "Following the Leader(s)."  Below is an excerpt from The Perfect Pastor? which may help the reader to understand the limits of biblical authority in the local church.

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“Didn’t know we were coming to a party!” Dan said as he gave the woman a hug.  “Thank you so very much.”

            After each of the men collected platefuls of food and drink of choice they claimed comfortable seats in the elegant living room.  “I’ve asked us to talk about the real nature of the authority invested in the pastor or elders,” Marcus started off.  “I’ve finished reading Jay Adam’s book The Place of Authority in Christ’s Church (2003).  Ya’ll need to read it.”

            “It’s a spiritual authority, governing the citizens of Christ’s Kingdom here and now. It’s restricted to Christ’s church,” Dan said.

            “Yeah, but what does that really mean?” asked Marcus.

            Dan reminded Marcus and the other two new elders that they had studied this in their training.  Joe had not studied the issue.  Authority is not invested in a person, but in the office.  That’s the way it is in life.  If you take a biblical perspective on things then you would understand that all are equal before God, and that we owe obedience to no other human except by virtue of their office ordained by God.  “Office is the only justification and proper limitation of any human exercise of power and authority because no one has a natural right to rule over others,” Dan quoted an unknown source.

            “Just exactly what do you mean by office?”  asked an elder.

            “Any legitimate, official position with responsibility, authority and power:  the office of parent, of teacher, of civil servant, of military officer, as well as of the elder and pastor,” responded Dan.

      He reminded them that the office of elder is the one office ordained by God to rule his church.  The three interchangeable terms for this position are presbuteros (elder), episkopos (overseer) and poimen (pastor-shepherd).  The apostles saw themselves as elders (1 Pet. 5:1; 2 John 1; 3 John 1), and each church as having multiple elders (Tit. 1:7 cp. Acts 14:23; 20:17; Phil. 1:1; Jas. 5:14). The one elder who became prominent as a servant of God’s Word and spiritual leader was the pastor, or better, the bishop (overseer).

            “As someone else has said, office involves institutional authority granted by God, an appointment by God to a position endowed with majesty and authority,” Marcus added.

            The discussion continued with Dan and Marcus doing most of the talking.  They had learned that God sets up church government with proper jurisdiction, with a right to govern according to the Bible.  This comes through three significant words.  The first, exousia has to do with the delegated right, duty and freedom from the Lord Jesus to exercise authority over God’s flock as determined by Scripture (Tit. 3:1-2).  In a general sense, all believers are to be subject to legitimate authorities over them (Luke 10:19; Tit. 3:1).  The special authority in the church is given to build the church up, not tear it down (2 Cor. 13:10).  This delegated authority from God is the biblical duty and right to think, decide and function within the sphere of God’s assigned authority God.  Jesus has his area which is the entire universe (Matt. 9:6, 8; Mark 6:39).  The centurion had authority in his sphere (Matt. 8:9).  Parents have authority over children, masters have authority over slaves (Eph. 6), and elders have authority over the church (Acts 5:1-13; Heb. 13:7, 17).

            The other term is hegeomai (Matt. 2:6; Acts 7:10; 14:12) which means to lead or guide (Heb. 13:17).  This is what ordained church leadership is to do (Heb. 13: 7, 17, 24).  The third word that underscores biblical church authority is proistemi.  The context determines this translation, so it can be to lead (Rom. 12:8), to manage (1 Tim. 3:4, 5, 12), or to rule (1 Tim. 5:17) (BibleWorks 5, 2002; Meisinger, 1981).

            “In our form of government there are two aspects of church rule and discipline.  One is administrative, which deals with maintaining good order and government in Christ’s church, seeing that everything is done decently and orderly for God’s glory,” citing 1 Cor. 14:40 and 10:31.  “The other is judicial.  This is the right, responsibility and duty to address matters of truth and practice.  As God’s elders we are to do what we can to prevent anything in doctrine or living that would be contrary to the Word of God.”

            “We’re also supposed to correct sinful offenses in the church in order to protect God’s people and bring the offending person back to godly thinking and doing.” Marcus added.

            “We’ve got that kind of authority?” asked one of the long-time elders.  He seemed to be unfamiliar with what was being propounded.

            “You know, this delegated authority from God is in the office we hold, not in who we are as people.  We also believe that this authority to make decisions, implement policies and so forth, comes when we sit together as a council or in session.  The judgments or rulings are not mine or yours, but ours.  These things must be consistent with the teachings of our final authority the Scriptures, and for the good of God’s people, not for personal will or singular benefit, and not according to personal demands.  No singular elder can dictate policy or rule alone,” Dan stated.