Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian, aka “Dr. B,” was kind enough to pass
along to me an article he had written last fall that deals precisely with
what Frank Viola and George Barna tackle in Pagan
Christianity. Not yet available online, “Church Leadership that Kills
Community” was published in the Christians for Biblical Equality’s journal, Priscilla Papers (Vol. 21, No. 4, Autumn
2007).
The way we have structured our churches gets in the way of
being the church community. Dr. B mentions that positive changes have come
about recently, with more Christians focusing on what it means to be a
community. There is still a lot of ground to cover, however, since “the prevailing
models of church leadership are uncritically imported into the church as
constructs borrowed from the corporate business world or from secular systems
of administration” (5).
These ways of being the church are against New Testament
principles for community living. Dr. B refers to Mark 10:35-45, when James and
John, the sons of Zebedee, ask to sit in glory at Jesus’ side. Jesus responds:
“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over
them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be
your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the
Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many.”
He also references Matthew 18:15-20, where conflict
resolution is performed by the congregation. Church leaders should work their
way out of a job, bringing communities to levels where they are able to, for
example, resolve conflicts: “the basic job description of church leaders is to
develop the self-leadership potential of the congregations they serve” (5).
Later, Dr. B writes, “This is the authentic function of leaders: to develop and
release the leadership potentials inherent within local congregations” (6). Leaders should make themselves “dispensable enough to slip away quietly to
different fields of ministry” (6).
In the epistles to the churches, no appeal is specifically
made to church leaders; instead, the communities themselves are encouraged to
take on responsibility. Dr. B discusses Ephesians:
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers do
not represent functions of executive leadership in the body. Their task is only
supportive. The executors of the work of ministry and the persons responsible
for building up the body of Christ are the “saints,” that is to say, the
congregation. The leaders are there to equip, support, train, and encourage the
congregation to perform ministry. Again, the mission of leaders is to develop
congregational leadership. It is not top-down control but bottom-up
empowerment.
The guidelines in I Timothy and Titus are, according to Dr.
B, exceptions for churches, ones that are in unusual, crisis situations. The New Testament
preference is still a grassroots, whole-congregation-involved model.
Unfortunately, many evangelical churches today suffer from “leaderolatry.”
Being a Christian leader is not based on authority, but rather “instruction,
exhortation, and persuasion” (6). Leadership isn’t singular—it’s plural: “There
is no model in the New Testament for the one-pastor church” (6). Dr. B reminds
us that Paul, Timothy, and Titus were not pastors. Rather, they were temporary
advisers to local communities. According to the New Testament, church leaders
demonstrate authentic leadership by developing replacements for themselves (7).
I thought this was a very thought-provoking article, since
it’s hard for me to imagine our churches being set up any other way. It did
help me, though, since Pagan Christianity made me wonder how communities would have access to biblical and
theological resources. Since a one-pastor church isn’t the model, I wondered
about no longer having a seminary-trained leader who gets to specialize in a
lot of things that are unavailable to laypeople. And I don’t think embracing
this New Testament model of church structuring is a negative for vocational
pastors. I think it would be a positive change, since I’ve seen families in
ministry that live in a fishbowl and on a pedestal--almost unable to be themselves.
Churches have a lot of expectations and put a lot of burden on their pastors and their pastors' families,
so moving towards bottom-up, community-oriented leadership may be healthier.
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