The various denominations of the universal church of Jesus Christ differ in many ways from each other, the biggest being the interpretation of doctrine. The next biggest difference is the way their churches are run. The purpose of this series of articles is not to determine which one has the right leadership structure and which one hasn't, or to determine which one is the true church. The true church of Jesus Chist is, of course, not a denomination or a building, but it is the collective body of people from all nations and walks of life who have committed their lives to serving God following the example set by Jesus Christ himself. Members of that true church can be found in all Christian denominations. Jesus gave specific instructions as to how He wanted His church run. Some were given directly by Jesus to his disciples; others came through apostles like Paul, Peter and James. The application of them is clearly illustrated in the way in which the early church of New Testament times functioned. This pattern is still how God wants His church run today, and it is this pattern that this study examines.
Before Jesus died, His disciples asked Him about the management structure He intended to introduce after His kingdom was established, and what positions of authority they would each have in his 'Administration'. He answered them by saying: "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship (jurisdiction) over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors (working for the people's benefit). But you shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that serves. For who is the greater, he that sits at the table and eats, or he that serves the meal? Isn't it he who sits at the table and eats? But my role among you is as one who serves. You are the ones who have followed my example and continued with me in my temptations. And as my Father has appointed to me a kingdom on that basis (leading as a servant, and not by exercising authority over people) I likewise confer it onto you." (Luke 22:25-29).
Throughout the New Testament this princple of leading as a servant, and not by exercising authority over people, which Jesus first introduced here, is repeated over and over again.
1 Peter 5:2-3 - "Tend the flock of God that is your responsibility, not by coercion or constraint, but willingly; not dishonourably motivated by the advantages and profits belonging to the office, but eagerly and cheerfully. Not domineering (arrogant, dictatorial, overbearing) as Lords over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock."
2 Cor 13:10 - "Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction."
1 Cor 3:5-7 - "What then is Appllos? What is Paul? Ministering servants (not heads of parties) through whom you believed, even as the Lord appointed to each His task. I planted, Apollos watered but God was making it grow and gave the increase. So neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters ... he who plants and he who waters are equal".
Looking carefully at the answer Jesus gave to his disciples to their question about the line of authority in His kingdom, Jesus almost ignored the question. All He said was that if they wanted to be the greatest in his kingdom, they would have to be servants and not controllers, because in His kingdom, the least by the world's standards (the servants) are the greatest by His. So who was going run His church after He left? At no stage did he appoint any of the disciples to the role, nor did he indicate that the decision making process in His Kingdom was about to be transferred away from The Godhead. Confirming this, Jesus told his disciples that God the Father had chosen someone to be the Managing Director - The Comforter, The Holy Spirit - who would lead His church into all truth.
John 16:13 - "But when He, the Spirit if Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak His own message; but He will tell whatever He hears from the Father and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come. He will honour and glorify me, because He will take what is mine and reveal it to you".
John 14: 26 - "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
This choice is in keeping with God's continuing method of dealing with mankind. Every aspect of The Plan of Salvation, from its inception to its execution and maintenance, was instigated by God and has been established in such a way that it will continue to be managed totally by Him forever. The concept of Salvation for mankind was conceived by God the Father; the execution of it was performed to perfection by God The Son (Jesus); and now the management of it, including the recruitment of new converts, the teaching of truth, the delegation of God's power and authority in the Church and the readying of the Church for The Rapture, would also be entrusted only in the Godhead, via the person of the Holy Spirit. There's no need or room for anyone else to become involved in the management of His Kingdom; God has every aspect of its operation covered adequately. What Jesus was really saying here to His disciples is that all tthe management positions in His Kingdom have already been taken; the only positions left, which they and we are called to fill, are the servants whose task is to do The Holy Spirit's bidding.
This is a difficult one for a lot of people to come to terms with, particularly those who are in ministerial positions within the church. Some ministers act as though they believe that the Church and to some extent God's Kingdom would fall flat on its face were it not for their contribution, yet this could not be further from the truth. We want to believe that in order to fill our own need for acceptance and approval. We forget that it is by grace we are saved, through faith, not by any act of achievement on our part, otherwise it might go to our head (literal meaning!). Though many people do make major contributions towards the advancement of God's kingdom, it is only when they are operating in God's power and authority that this happens. Of ourselves, we have nothing to offer the Kingdom (our righteousness &endash; and the attaining of righteousness is what God's Kingdom is all about - is as filthy rags) and not one of us is indispensable.
Unless we operate under the instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit, anything we do for the Kingdom will more often than not only hinder the Kingdom. But even Jesus, throughout His ministry, operated under a strict policy of "Not My Will, Father, But Yours Be Done". He said He was here to do the will of The Father that sent Him and He did nothing unless The Father told Him. If it was necessary for Him to operate under those strict guidelines, and He was part of the Godhead with all the knowledge, wisdom and understanding that came with it, how much more ought we to do nothing unless it be under The Holy Spirit's instruction, given the influence of our sinful natures over our thinking, planning, and our actions and reactions towards others?
GOD'S MASTER PLAN
In the New Testament we read of three gifts or sets of gifts that God has given to His church by which it is to function and be administered. It is interesting to note that all three members of the Godhead - The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit - has each given a gift to the church and that their gifts reflect their function in the Godhead and their role in the salvation of mankind. The Father's gift relates to His role as the Authority figure who makes the decisions; The Son's gift relates to His role as the servant who does the physical work; The Holy Spirit's gift relates to His role as the facilitator who does the spiritual work. The three gifts are all different, but like the Godhead itself, they all work together in total unity towards the same goal.
1. The Father's Gift of the Holy Spirit
John 14: 26 - "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." The Holy Spirit is God The Father's gift to the church. Just as The Father Himself is the decision maker in the Godhead, so His gift is given for the sole purpose of being the decision maker in His church. The Holy Spirit's role is very much that of an Operations Manager; He makes the decisions and gives the directions. Being a spiritual function, His decisions and directions are made known to the church by means of His own spiritual gifts to the church.
2. The Son's Ministry Gifts
Ephesians 4: 11-13 - "He himself gave gifts, appointing some to be apostles; some prophets; some evangelists; some pastors and teachers". Just as, in His service to others, Jesus worked to a five-part plan - to establish His church; to speak God's word; to call mankind to repentance; to care for those He loves; to teach truth - so the gifts He has given to the church are the means whereby we can continue His work of service to others, following the same five-part plan. His gifts fulfil the function of the church, that is, to bring perfection to the saints, fully equip them to do the ministry of the church, to bring the church to a state of oneness and comprehension of the knowledge of God, and maturity in our relationship with God (Ephesians 4:12-14).
3. The Holy Spirit's Spiritual Gifts
1 Cor 12:1-11 - "Now concerning spiritual gifts ... there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit ... the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all ... to one is given a word of wisdom, to another a word of knowledge, to another faith, to another gifts of healing, to another the working of miracles, to another prophesy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of languages, to another the interpretation of these languages ... the same Spirit works all these things, distributed to each one individually as He chooses." These nine gifts are given by the Holy Spirit; He directs them, He operates them (those to whom they are given are merely channels or means through which He uses the gifts to make known his decisions and directions for the church He controls). His gifts are the means through which He communicates His directions and and instructions to groups and individuals within the church.
WHERE WE FIT IN
Now that we have examined God's master plan, let us now have a look at where we, the members of the church, fit into the picture. Under the plan, the Holy Spirit is given control of the church, training people for ministry, convicting of sin and preparing the church to be the bride of Christ. There are two areas in which we play a vital role in tandem with the Holy Spirit - the operation of the Ministry Gifts (No.2) and as channels for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (No.3). We will look at them separately.
THE MINISTRY GIFTS
According to Ephesians 4: 11-13, the four (some people see them as five) Ministry Gifts - apostles (to establish His church); prophets (to speak the word of the Lord); evangelists (to call mankind to repentance); pastors (to care for those He loves) and teachers (to teach truth) - are all 'physical' activities, that is, they involve physical action as opposed to spiritual. Their purpose is to bring perfection to the saints, fully equip them to do the ministry of the church, to bring the church to a state of oneness and comprehension of the knowledge of God, and maturity in our relationship with God (Ephesians 4:12-14).
The first thing we need to observe about them is that they are in fact gifts. We like to call them ministries, which infers that they are something we have generated or cultivated out of our own abilities, but the scriptures say they are gifts (they eminate from an external source, not from ourselves) bestowed upon us by Jesus (we contribute nothing towards their existence and they cannot be otherwise obtained) as part of our inheritance as a result of our being released from captivity. (Ephesians 4:7).
Verse 11 indicates three important things about these gifts:
It is through the Ministry Gifts that the Holy Spirit is able to implement His plan to bring the church to maturity, and it is from among these 'gifts' that those needed to 'oversee' the church in Christ's absence are selected. An important part of the plan is to keep the Holy Spirit in charge while those under Him remain as equals among themselves. This was clearly how Jesus saw it when, in Luke 22:25-29, He indicated that none would be positioned over another in His kingdom and the best way to ensure that happened was to instruct them to be servants to one another.
The Holy Spirit worked out a way He could use these people to run the church to work alongside each other as a single cohesive force, while keeping all equal to each other with none placed in a position of authority over another. The best way to understand how He did it and how the various ministies can work together yet independent of each other is by comparing the operation of the Church to that of a railway company.
Any railway company has five main divisions. The first division develops new lines and services. It plans routes, purchases land, lays the tracks and builds the infrastructure. In the church the equivalent is the Apostle.
Once the infrastructure is in place, trains are placed on the tracks. These are operated by the Engineers. They prepare the trains, maintain that they run to the timetables, employ engine drivers and guards to man the trains, and keep the lines of communications open between the trains and the head office. In the church the equivalent is the Prophet.
Once the trains are up and running, the marketing department prepares advertising campaigns to let the communities know about the rail service, where it goes, how much it costs to travel, when the trains run and sell tickets to travellers. In the church the equivalent is the Evangelist.
As the train travels down the tracks the passengers are looked after by an army of workers that includes chefs who cook the meals, stewards who serve the meals and drinks, attendants who ensure luggage is carefully stored away and cleaners who clean he traqins. In the church the equivalent is the Pastor. That word means 'servant', and is a reflection of the task they fulfil.
Back at head office the staff who man the trains are selected and trained in the various tasks they are employed to fulfil. In the church the equivalent is the Teacher.
In this example, each department operates totally independent of each other. No staff in one department is placed in authority over another yet they work together alongside each other in total harmony. This is achieved by all being answerable to Head Office rather than one person or department to another. The engine driver doesn't supervise the stewards as they serve the coffee, nor does the advertising department dictate to the guards how the luggage is packed away. The linesmen don't have a say in the design tof he advertising brochures and the chefs don't have input into how the booking office staff answer the phone.
God intends the church to be run the same way. The Holy Spirit is the Head Office and He manages the five departments. No department is answerable or in authority over anorther. Pastors are not answerable to Apostles over how they look after people who are hurting; Evangelists don't have a say in how the Teachers run their Bible Studies. Prophets done tell Evangelists what texts to preach on, and Pastors don't hear the messages from God that the Prophets do. Each get their own intructions as to how to fulfil their tasks from Head Office. None is answerable to another; all are answerable to the Holy Spirit.
Each, however, should submit to the ministry (not control) of the others. All need to listen to the Prophet as He is an important line of communication between God and the church; All need to listen to the Teacher as He is giving them a greater knowledge and understanding of their role in the church; All need to take advantage of the care and attention given by the Pastor, particularly when they are hurt or when need some special care; All need to support the Apostle as they blaze a trail for the church to go down, and the Evangelist as he brings in new converts.
THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS
The Spiritual Gifts of the Holy Spirit - a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, the gift of faith, the gifts of healing, the working of miracles, prophesy, the discerning of spirits, speaking different kinds of languages, the interpretation of these languages (1 Cor 12:1-11) - are given under the same terms and conditions as Christ's Gifts to the Church.
Chapter 12 indicates six important features of these gifts:
These Spiritual Gifts are given to all Christians to be used on a regular basis. They are not 'leaderrship' functions but 'membership' functions though ministers, evangelists and pastors, being also members of the body of Christ, are also given these gifts and have the privelege of operating in them.
1 Peter 4:10 (Amplified): "As each of you has received a gift, employ it for one another as befits good trustees of God's many sided grace (faithful stewards of the extremely diverse powers and gifts granted to Christians)." This verse clearly indicates that each one of us has received a gift of one kind of another, and that we should learn to be good trustees of it.
1 Cor 7:7 (Amplified): "I wish that all men were like I am. But each has his own special gift from God, one of this kind and one of another". Paul the Apostle is inferring that He'd like everyone to be like Him and operate in a number of gifts, but recognises that each one of us has our own special gift, one kind having been given to one person and another kind having been given to another.
1 Cor 14:26: "What then, brethren, is the right way? When you meet together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a disclosure of special knowledge or information, an utterance in a stange tongue, or an interpretation of it. But let everything be constructive and edifying for the good of all."
This verse leaves no doubt that gifts are not just given to church leaders but to everyone, and that their use in church meetings should be open to everyone, and that everyone should take the opportunity to operate their gifts whenever christians meet together. There is no instruction to get prior permission to operate in these gifts from the pastor or leader, and neither should there be as God has given The Holy Spirit, and not them, authority over the operation of the Spiritual Gifts in the church. These operations are manifestations of the Holy Spirit Himself (1 Cor 12:7). We should respect His right to say what He chooses to His people and His church, via whichever means He chooses, since He is the church's Operations Manager after all.
1 Cor 14: 27 & 29 says: "If some speak in a strange tongue, let the number be limited to two, or at the most, three, and let one interpret what is being said ... Let two or three prophets speak while the rest pay attention and weigh and discern what is said."
GUIDELINES ON THE OPERATION OF THE GIFTS
1 Cor 14: 22 to 33 give a number of guidelines as to the operation of the gives during times when the church is assembled together.
THE MISUSE, ABUSE AND RESTRICTION OF THE GIFTS
Verse 38 says that if anyone (this includes those who observe the gifts in operation, those running the services and those who operate the gifts) disregards these instructions as a command from God, he/she himself will be disregarded (see Matthew:7:20-23). I believe this warning is given to impress upon everyone, from the user of the gifts, to those who witness them in operation, to those running church services, that the operation of these gifts is in reality the Holy Spirit in action, doing what He wants to, how, when and through whom He chooses. It is His church and He presides over it as its Operations Manager. Any misuse, abuse or restriction of the gifts is a misuse, abuse and restriction of the Holy Spirit himself and will not be tolerated by God. Those who do this are described in Verse 38 (Amplified) as "one who God knows not". They are acting in diobedience to God and will not partake in a Heavenly reward (see Matthew:7:13-23). It is therefore imperative that the guidelines on the operation of the gifts as recorded in 1 Cor 14 are observed by all:
The Users of the Gifts: before speaking out, they must ensure that the Holy Spirit is the source of their prophesy (Verse 33), that it is an inspired revelation and not just something they themselves feel strongly about or believe that someone in the church needs to hear.
The Recipients of the Gifts: Verse 29 says the recipients
must weigh and discern what is being said. This means not to blindly
believe that anything given in the form of a Gift of the Spirit in
operation is of God. We are not to pre-determine that when a certain
person operates in the gifts, it must be from God or alternatively,
that it couldn't possibly be from God. These gifts are given by the
Holy Spirit as He chooses so don't be surprised if you see someone
operating in a Gift who you would not expect to see operating in that
gift.
1 Thes 5:20-21 says "Do not quench (surrpress of subdue) the Spirit,
but test and prove all things, and hold onto what is good". 1 John
4:1 says not to put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the
spirits to discover whether they are from God. The next three verses
then detail how to do that. This is the process of 'weighing' the
words spoken to determine whether they are from God, or from a
Deceptive Spirit or even from the person themselves. Verify that what
is being spoken lines up with what the Bible says and that it does
not contradict the principles taught in the New Testment by Jesus and
the Apostles. If a message has been 'weighed' and found to be of God,
then discern what the message is saying. Examine your personal
situation and see how you can appropriate what has been said to
improve your life and your relationship with God and others. At all
times remember that this is a method chosen by the Holy Spirit to
talk to you, so what is being said, once its has been analysed as
being from God, is God talking directly to you and needs to be heard,
understood and acted upon.
The Leader of Services: their role, besides being an observer and/or recipient, is not to control the operation of the gifts - that is the Holy Spirit's job (1 Cor 12;11) - but to make sure they are allowed to function as per the instructions in 1 Cor 14, , that is:
1 Thes 5:19-20 instructs us not the quench (suppress or subdue)
the Holy Spirit and not to spurn the gifts and utterances of the
prophets. Like 1 Cor 14, this is a command, not a suggeston. It is
also important for a leader to weigh up and discern what is being
said, not only for their own benefit but for the protection of the
church against false teaching. Some in the congregation may not be
spiritually mature enough or sufficiently grounded in the word to
discern accurately the spirits.
Prior to making any announcement of such misuse to the congregation,
two other people must also confirm the misuse of the gifts first, in
accordance with 2 Cor 13:1: "By the testimony of two or three
witnesses must any charge or every accusing statement be sustained
and confirmed". Then, correction of the one at fault should be
expedited in accordance with Galatians 5:1-3: "If any person is
overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual
should set him right and then restore and reinstate him, without any
sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive
eye on yourself lest you be tempted also." This correction must be
given after confirmation by at least three persons of an error or
misuse of the gifts, in accordance with 2 Cor 13:1: "By the testimony
of two or three witnesses must any charge or every accusing statement
be sustained and confirmed".
GOD'S ORDER OF SERVICE
As well as giving instruction in the operation of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 14 gives the "right course" (Verse 26, Aplified) for a meeting of believers to follow: "When you meet together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a disclosure of special knowledge or information, an utterance in a stange tongue, or an interpretation of it. But let everything be constructive and edifying for the good of all ..."
How different is God's way of running a service to the way many services in today's churches are run? There is no mention of a person standing up the front controlling what is happening here - perhaps because that's the Holy Spirit's job. The pastor or minister doesn't choose the songs that are sung and the scriptures that are read, he doesn't give all the teaching, pray all the prayers and perform all the other ministries (healings, word of knowledge, prayer of faith). These are all contributed by the congegation, of which the minister is a part, and therefore has the privelege to offer his contribution from time to time as the Holy Spirit chooses, along with the rest of the people. There is no pre-determined order of service; no one to seek approval from in order to contribute toward the service with a hymn, a teaching, a disclosure of special knowledge or information, an utterance in a stange tongue, or an interpretation; and no one except the Holy Spirit determining who will say or do what during the service.
If the gifts are operated in a disorderly fashion or anyone acts indecently, then those who Jesus has given to the Church as ministerial gifts - apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers - in their role as overseers can step in (following the guidelines given to them in Matthew 20: 25-28 and 1 Peter 5:1-7) to ensure things are done "with regard to decency and propriety and in an orderly fashion" (1 Cor 14;40). If a minimum of three people discern that a person's contribution is not inspired by the Holy Spirit and is a false word, in accordance with Galatians 5:1-3: "those who are spiritual should set him right and then restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentative eye on yourself lest you be tempted also."
There are many who would say, "But you'd never be able to run a church like that as there would be chaos", and in fact I have often heard that said. Even if there was chaos, and personal experience has shown me that there isn't, God has said that is how He wants His church run, so why do we question Him or His way of doing things? Do we ignore what He says just because we can't see it working or think we have a better way? I'm not too keen on the idea of dying to self, but I don't abandon it because I really can't see it working, or because it's too hard, or I've got a better way. God said it, we do it, it's as simple as that. The same applies with running His church. Anything less is disobedience and we've already looked at what happens to us if we go down that path.
When I was growing up in the late 1950s/early 1960s, I attended a church that ran its services, particularly on Sunday Mornings, exactly in accordance with 1 Cor 14. A pastor ran the service but the control was so loose as to be almost un-noticeable. He opened in prayer, closed in prayer and stepped in if things got a bit disorderly - that only ever happened once, as far as I can remember - and that was the limit of control he had over the service. Unlike many churches where people go to receive and to be fed, everybody came with the idea of giving and contributing. Some would go home and study the word for hours between services to ensure they had something of value to contribute, and in doing so became very skilled in their knowledge and understanding of God's Word. Others would gingerly give their first prophesy, and after receiving encouragement, would go home and earnestly seek the Lord for something of value to share with the church. Within a few months they would be standing up and prophesying or teaching with a God-given power and authority, ministering in a way they had never dreamt of before.
People would come into the services sick and go out healed. Sometimes God would reveal the sickness to members of the congregation who would spontaneously go over and pray for them; other times they would ask for the elders of the church to pray for them in accordance with James 5:13-15; others didn't have to do anything; they were healed simply by being there. People would go around confessing their sins and faults to one another and receive prayer (as per James 5:15). Many would be restored in spirit, mind and heart right there before our eyes. Everyone was too busy giving to each other and receiving from the Lord to act in a disorderly fashion. So strong was the fear of the Lord, no one dared step out of line and any who did operate with the wrong motives were quickly exposed and put in their place. There was no need for someone to control it all - God was in control and given the freedom to save, heal and restore those present who had a need, just as it was described in the Book of Acts.
I witnessed these things happening with my own eyes when I was a child but they don't happen any more. That's not because God has changed; it's because the church has changed. The previous generation had something mighty and powerful in God but our generation has lost it. We've taken the control of the church out of the hands of The Holy Spirit to whom it belongs and given it to men and women, or we have allowed them to take it, believing them when they tell us it is all part of God's order when it's not. Satan has hijacked large sections of God's church and rendered them powerless and has used the church's ministers to do it. As a result, God's church is sick. God has had to raise up people with special ministries to deal with problems and situations in individual's lives. These would be dealt with automatically were the members of the body given the support, encouragement and opportunity to operate in the power, anointing and direction of the Holy Spirit in accordance with 1 Cor 12 and 14.