Church Organization — Just Tossing This Out There

A lack of time and a lack of a nearby Bible means that this is going to be short and sweet, essentially just to see if I can get any feedback on it. During my Christian life, I have become most accustomed to and accepting of the Baptist way of doing things. Of the several churches I’ve been to in my life, most have been Baptist (and all the ones I have regularly attended have been Baptist of one kind or another). And while many were similar (the Catholic churches being the noted exception), I became convinced that the Baptist church was the “church of the Bible” in how it was organized and run.

Over the past year, however, I have not only realized how ignorant I was but have tried to figure out the Biblical way of running a church.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I realize there aren’t a great deal of verses which describe in detail how a church is to be run. Looking over church charters, rules of order, constitutions or any other traditional document may make you think the Bible is full of proof that a certain church is doing things the right way.

Without further ado, here is what I can recall from memory thus far:

First off, let’s get this out of the way: there is no “missionary” in the Bible. I’ve searched the word of God, and that title is not to be found. The work of a missionary, however, is in the Scriptures, although God calls that work the work of an evangelist.

Which means that modern day evangelists who travel around to established churches, preach to the choir, collect an offering, and teach their kids to play a multitude of instruments are not in the Bible. I can’t find anything even close to that in the Bible.

So we have evangelists, of which the apostles were the first. These men travel to an area where the Gospel has not been preached or to where it has been forgotten, to an area with no established community of believers. Upon winning souls, the evangelist organizes them into a fellowship, an assembly, and disciples them, eventually leading to a godly man to accept the calling of pastor, to take over the work of the evangelist at that church so that the evangelist can move on to the next area.

The pastor (which is a specific calling and which carries no prerequisites or requirements) is responsible for the flock, for its teaching, etc. He will need to spend a vast majority of his time studying the word of God, growing in Christ, so that he may be an example in various ways to those around him. Timothy was a pastor, and we can see the various instructions to him in 1 Timothy.

As pastor, he is required to appoint various leaders within the church: elders (bishops, overseers) and deacons. These offices are not gifts of God and do have requirements, which the Holy Ghost lists to Timothy.

Elders would seem to be in charge of the spiritual affairs of the church and the deacons over the temporal. It would also seem that they have a hand in church discipline, in silencing false teachers, in maintaining church order, etc.

The congregation itself has no authority in a church, and even congregational voting is foreign to the Bible’s teachings. The pastor is not a pastor if his sheep are leading him. The overseers are not overseers if those who they oversee are overseeing them. Biblically, the pastors will be held accountable for the authority they hold, yet so many modern churches want to pass that authority on to the congregation while still holding the pastor accountable.

As far as the church is run, it would seem that the sermon ougth to be the focal point. That is what people ought to come for, to be fed from the word of God. The pastor spends countless hours studying to show himself approved before God so that he can preach, not so that he can sit on the sidelines while ten songs are sung, twenty announcements are shared, and while women and children do their thing at the front.

From what I’ve seen, scripturally, after a sermon is given, a hymn is sang and they are dismissed or the communion supper is partaken of. (Oh, and this supper was more special than a store-bought box of wafers and Welch’s Grape Juice, by the way… Ought not the Lord’s body and blood be represented by the freshest, purest things that we have available?)

And what about all the superfluities that have pervaded our churches? Let’s run down a list of things which we have added to the gathering of ourselves together which God never added:

1) kneeling altars
2) choirs
3) building programs
4) constitutions, by-laws, etc.
5) Sunday school
6) children’s/junior/wee church
7) Christmas programs
8) baptism ceremonies
9) membership rolls
10) “baptism for membership”
11) “letters of membership”
12) business meetings
13) secret sisters
14) youth groups
15) and many more, especially when the more liturgical churches are considered…

I’ve read “studies” of Baptist preachers wanting to defend their church organization which grasp onto the littlest bits of Scripture and evolve it into a whole way of doing things. The souls which were added to the number of the saved at Pentecost is enough for many to justify keeping a church roll or that baptism is required for church membership.

Why is it so difficult to pick up the Bible and apply its teachings wholly, without regard for traditions? Are we so afraid of running a church as the Bible describes?

Honestly, I think that we are. If we get rid of all the extra-pastoral programs such as youth groups, restrict women from teaching, put children under the pastor where they belong, ditch the fancy music programs and choirs, and put the focus on the word of God, the membership rolls will probably trickle. There is a reason why when a new church opens up, people flock to it. People like nice buildings. But if a church repents of its traditions, re-organizes, and promises an emphasis on Bible teaching and preaching, will that get more people in the doors? Actually, people will probably start leaving. Those carnal Christians who show up will leave because when the Bible is given to them in an unadulterated, unobscured way, they will feel its conviction.

And of course, we can’t offend people by doing that, now can we. Of course we can, and we should. Churches ought not encourage visits from people only looking for a religious fix.

Here’s an idea: On the Christmas and Easter services when people flock to the churches of God to celebrate pagan festivals, don’t preach the messages they expect to hear. Give your newfound audience the dose of God’s word that they need. Preach repentance, preach godly sorrow, preach the Gospel, preach what your audience needs. Not to discredit that portion of Scriptures, but everyone knows the story of Jesus’ birth (but far too few of us know it has nothing to do with December 25). Preach the message that needs preached.

Preach the Bible. Focus on the Bible. And even if a voice from Heaven tells you otherwise, you have a more sure word of prophesy in the Bible. Preach it. Follow it. Your numbers may drop, your income as a pastor may dwindle. Preach it. Follow it. Those who stay will be strengthened, and your assembly will be better off because of it.

And if they don’t, if your assembly is beyond repair or if they are simply trapped in carnal ways and man-made tradition, take the advice the Spirit gave to Timothy concerning his pastorate: “do the work of an evangelist.” Leave the assembly you’re at and go win new souls to Christ and begin again, hoping for better results.

As I wrap up, I want to touch on a few final things…

There is no biblical thing as an “associate pastor,” a “youth pastor,” a “couples pastor,” or any other nonsense. And while there may be multiple elders, there is no such thing as a “youth elder,” “couples elder,” or any such nonsense either.

Yes, I do believe that children ought to be in the “adult service” (which ought to be the “everyone service”). The pastor is over the whole church and is responsible for everyone, not just the adults. Children don’t need watered down versions of the truth, fancy pictures, or anything else. If they are incapable of sitting through a Sunday service, how do they sit through school? It is the fault of the parents for not raising children to love church, to hunger for the word of God, and to respect the pastor in his teaching.

And who typically leads children’s services? Women. The same women that churches won’t let preach to the adults they let loose on the children. Yet still God says that He suffers not a woman to teach within the assembly. He does, however, give instructions to elder women telling them to teach younger women to (not “how to”; just “to”) love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, to be chaste, to be obedient to their husbands (GASP!), and so on. It’s no wonder women are abandoning the admonitions of the Lord concerning dressing decently, keeping long hair or wearing a head covering, not taking authority over a man, etc. The elder women are no longer teaching them to do these things! And children who grow up being taught by women with short hair who only dress modestly on Sundays are going to grow up and believe that such things are unnecessary as their beloved Sunday school teachers felt that they were.

Find me a biblical church in my area, and I will fellowship there. However, I am convinced that there aren’t any. And I can’t “start one” without being a God-called evangelist, which as of yet He hasn’t revealed to me. So for me to “start one” would require a like-minded evangelist (i.e., one who believes the Bible) to come to my area, start a church, and somehow have me find out about it. Were I to do all that without being a called evangelist, I would be a hypocrite in light of everything I said above. And were I an evangelist, I wouldn’t be staying at the church, I’d be constantly moving to new areas, repeating what I did here.

It isn’t entirely impossible for me to be called to be a pastor, were an evangelist here to recognize me as such and to place me over a congregation. Yes, I’m young; so was Timothy–so much so that God Himself had to tell him to let no one despise his youth. Who God places in authority ought to be trusted, just as Josiah the eight-year-old king of Israel was. And were that to happen, I am entirely convinced that I would have to quit my job at Wal-mart. A pastor cannot be available to his congregation at all times if he has prior commitments. A pastor cannot be free to study the word of God as much as necessary with prior commitments. A pastor cannot be ready to preach, instant, in season and out of season, if he has prior commitments. There is a reason why the Lord has ordained that those who preach the gospel ought to be able to live of the gospel.

Okay, I’m done. Any comments you can give, please do so. And if you just happen to be an evangelist…

Update: Okay, so it wasn’t as “short and sweet” as I had anticipated… Thanks, Mike, for pointing that out; I had forgotten I put that.

Update 2: Not that I don’t appreciate the publicity, but this “poor guy” would like to know just what he has backwards… There’s a comment form for a reason. :)

13 thoughts on “Church Organization — Just Tossing This Out There”

  1. Rick,

    This has got to be one of the wackiest posts I have ever read. The
    trinity is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but I would assume you would adhere to it. But then again according to the logic in this post, I guess if you don’t see the word trinity in the Bible, you couldn’t believe it, because it is not in the Bible.

    Wait to you have children, and then let me know if you agree with the post you just wrote, about having programs for kids is unbiblical because you can’t find children’s programs in the Bible.

    You remind me of a post Phil Johnson just wrote about a guy named Darwin Fish http://phillipjohnson.blogspot.com/2005/09/why-is-distinction-between-essential.html You seemed to have a problem with just about everybody and everything. How did you get so judgmental? For you to say that you can not find any church in your area that is biblical is crazy, and that you need to start one so you can have a truly biblical church.

    According to Lev 15, if your wife is unclean during her menstrual cycle, and everything she touches is unclean and needs to be washed. Do you believe this?

    Deut. 21 — Says that if you have a rebellions child you are to take them out and stone them. Do you believe this?

    Deut 25 — Says that if your sister-in-law is widowed, you are supposed to take her as your wife and have sex with her. Do you believe this? If not why not….it is in the Bible.

    {{{Candleman}}}

  2. The
    trinity is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but I would assume you would adhere to it. But then again according to the logic in this post, I guess if you don’t see the word trinity in the Bible, you couldn’t believe it, because it is not in the Bible.

    It doesn’t matter if God is referred to as “a Trinity” or not; the Bible teaches that He is Three in One and thus is a Trinity. There’s ample Scripture to support that.

    Wait to you have children, and then let me know if you agree with the post you just wrote, about having programs for kids is unbiblical because you can’t find children’s programs in the Bible.

    I’d much rather my children (when I have them) learn the meat of the Word. If God didn’t find children’s services and Sunday schools (and even elementary schools, for that matter) important enough to mention, who is man to say they are important?

    God killed people in the Old Testament for worshipping Him simply because they were doing so in a manner inconsistent with His word. I’m not expert, but if God hated it then, He’s still going to hate it now. There is a reason He gave us His word; He told us how to worship Him. Even with “good intentions,” we shouldn’t think it wise to add to that, whether He’s allowing us to or not.

    You seemed to have a problem with just about everybody and everything.

    It’s amazing how much God has a problem with, but I guess it is easier to criticize our brethren for having the same issues. I don’t have a problem, first off; I attend a fundamental Baptist church complete with many of the superfluous things I mentioned in the post above. And I love it there.

    However, I love the word of God and the truth contained therein; therefore, I strive for a more excellent way, a way which comes into line with the teachings of the word, eschewing the superfluous traditions and methods of man.

    It’s interesting to note that beginning with twelve men, the entire world had the gospel preached to them within a matter of a few decades. They weren’t entangled with religion; they simply got the job done. There are far more who claim the name of Christ today, and can we say that the gospel has been preached to every sinner on Earth? No way! But they could.

    How did you get so judgmental?

    Why not? There’s nothing wrong with it. “Judge righteous judgment,” “prove all things,” “try the spirits,” and “sin not” are all commands which require judging on our parts.

    For you to say that you can not find any church in your area that is biblical is crazy, and that you need to start one so you can have a truly biblical church.

    There weren’t many biblical churches in Paul’s day, either; if there were, the Spirit wouldn’t have needed to rebuke and instruct so many of them on what they were doing wrong… And Scripture teaches that sin shall wax worse and that churches shall grow farther from the truth, so we should not be surprised that churches of today are becoming more and more removed from the teachings of the word of God.

    According to Lev 15, if your wife is unclean during her menstrual cycle, and everything she touches is unclean and needs to be washed. Do you believe this?

    Deut. 21 — Says that if you have a rebellions child you are to take them out and stone them. Do you believe this?

    Deut 25 — Says that if your sister-in-law is widowed, you are supposed to take her as your wife and have sex with her. Do you believe this? If not why not….it is in the Bible.

    Wholeheartily, and if I ever convert to Judaism I will practice that. Until then, I will rightly divide the word of God and let the commands given to the Israelites remain within Judaism. I am neither Gentile nor Jew. I am a Christian, and the word rebukes any who would bring such back under the yoke of the Law.

    Here’s a question for you: Why are you okay with compromising the purity of the church to allow for deviations from the model God gave us rather than encouraging a return to the practices and teachings that the Spirit actually taught us?

    Or, to put it another way, why criticize a brother for standing up for the word of God without ever giving a verse of Scripture showing where he’s wrong? The only time you used scripture was to strive about laws which I am wholly free from.

    Thanks for your comments, though.

  3. brother Rick,

    You need to find an assembly of Christians gathered unto the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. A directory can be found at gospelhall.org

    You have found truths in the Bible that many others have come to the same conclusions about. However, your knowledge of pastors/elders has been swayed by your Baptist experiances more than the scriptures. May I suggest checking out http:www.foolforhim.com/whatchurchdoyougoto.htm and an article by Mark Frees about the one-Pastor system [if you can’t find this from google, I’ll get if for you].

    sincerly,
    Chuck

  4. Chuck,

    I would love to find a Gospel Hall near here. Ever since Brandon first told me what a Gospel Hall/Plymouth Brethren church was, I was fascinated. But the closest ones it seems like are a few hours away in Ohio.

    I’ll check out those articles you suggested.

    God bless,
    Rick

  5. Chuck,

    I would love to find a Gospel Hall near here. Ever since Brandon first told me what a Gospel Hall/Plymouth Brethren church was, I was fascinated. But the closest ones it seems like are a few hours away in Ohio.

    I’ll check out those articles you suggested.

    God bless,
    Rick

  6. Wow I can’t believe there’s actually someone with the same beliefs!!!
    Currently my family and I are not attending any church. We just can’t find one that follows the Bible as it is.
    =(

  7. The only think i dissagree with is the trinity, because like someone wrote it’s not mentioned in the Bible. And I think the baptism should be made in the name of Jesus like the apostles did.

  8. It should be noted well that though the “Trinity” is not mentioned by name in the Bible, the concept is taught from Genesis to Revelation; “Trinity” is just a name ascribed to it, similar to ascribing “hypostatic union” to the concept of Jesus being both God and man simultaneously.

    Also, Jesus commanded Baptism to be done in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, but at the same time, no one ever baptized someone saying, “I baptize you in the name of…” like so often churches do. Baptism was not a rote ritual with a spoken script; doing something “in the name of” was a matter of heart. Similarly, praying or asking anything “in Jesus’ name” does not require one to say, “In Jesus’ name, amen.” It simply requires that to be the attitude of the heart.

  9. So what is the problem with the youth choir’s, and teaching children at an appropiate level and all that again.

    Its not in the bible.

    But surely not everything is expressly in the bible (the trinity for the begining) so why then does every practice of religion have to be expressly in the bible. I mean it like this, God changes, (we see that quite clearly as we progress along the books) and we are made in his image, and as such, we change as well.

    How can you say with certainity that our worship was never to change (while keeping the key elements in place, I’m not trying to make way for apostasy but youth choirs here). It would seem to be against ours and gods nature to never embrace change or admit wrongs (or accept salvation) so why can’t we have some diversity in our churches.

    I’m really glad you dont think your an evangelist, because quite frankly you would suck as one. The whole ‘if they dont like it let them leave’ bit is more than a little moronic. If the message of god is as important as I am willing to wager you think it is, then shouldn’t we make that message appealing. Even if , in making it appealing, we are putting hardships on the listeners, is it not better that they listen then turn away. Is it not better that they be on the right path (even the path where they may slip and stumble because of variations or honeyed messages) then to turn away from the lord entirely. If someone takes Jesus Christ as there personal saviour because of a women, is that all of a sudden ‘not good enough’ because quite frankly, I thought that was the goal. When you put the means above the end point, I can only call it hubris and dogma of the worst kind.

  10. There were a few priests in the Old Testament who offered “strange fire” in the worship of the Lord. It was “strange” because God had not commanded it. They took worship into their own hands — their hearts were right, but they were adding to God’s plan of worship. And God killed them for it.

    No, God does not change. The Scriptures expressly say that. Anyone who thinks He does change is showing misunderstanding of the harmony of the Scriptures. The same God who rained plagues down upon Egypt is the same God who is putting up with America today. And we see in the Revelation what shall happen when His patience is exhausted.

    And no, it’s not our job to make the message appealing. We’re to preach the Gospel so boldly that people will hate us, stone us, run us out of town. Jesus was so bold that by the time He was put to death, only a handful of people still followed Him — only about fifteen or so. It was very clear that the truth was so important to Jesus that He could not imagine dumbing it down or making it “seeker sensitive” to attract numbers. Hundreds walked away from Him because His doctrine was too hard.

    If we love Jesus, then we ought to care as much about His truth as He did so that we will not be enticed to modify it just to attract numbers.

    And we must love God enough to respect how He desired us to worship rather than inventing strange (read: extrabiblical) methods. His Word is complete and sufficient to guide us through all matters of spirituality, even worship.

  11. Rich, I have no doubt that you have read the scriptures, but have you listened to the scriptures.

    >>If we love Jesus, then we ought to care as much about His truth as He did so that >>we will not be enticed to modify it just to attract numbers.

    I never said that we ought to modify the truth of the lord, what I said is that we ought to make it accessible, because Jesus/god loves all of us and wants all of us to obey him. Much in the same way, two people can read the same writting and get two very different things from it (like you and me) the same truth can be presented in more than one way. If you believe that the good news has to get out there, but are not willing to get it out there. Who really has the inconsistant position.

    >>His Word is complete and sufficient to guide us through all matters of spirituality, >>even worship.

    Here, I would like to see a quote for the sufficient bit. I would say that his word is complete and necessary to guide us through all matters. Necessary does not preclude other efforts or measures to take. (Sufficient does not either, but Necessary makes it more clear. If it is sufficient to have 100 workers to do a task, and instead we have 150 does that change the sufficient nature of 100 works? No? Is it a bad thing to have more workers? Of Course not.

    To repeat.

    I never said that his truth should be modified, merely that it may be better understood with some explanation and community, which i feel are in line with the bible, rather than with stern admonishments about completeness.

    Sufficient does not preclude extra or over and above efforts.

    Go with the Lord

    Ps: I would say that the essence of forgivness is change. Before god would have sent us to hell and after, he would have accepted us into heaven. How is that not a change in god (Jews to Christians, Floods, to promises never to flood, Plagues and war to love, father to son. I disagree with you that god is not change, regardless of how harmoneous you believe the old testiment is to the new testiment.

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