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MentorNet
#58 Copyright
© 2008 by Galen Currah, George Patterson and Edward Aw Permission is granted to copy, print, distribute, post,
link, translate, plagiarize, even sell. Patterson recalls, “A Roman Catholic priest once scolded me
for starting ‘unauthorized’ churches in his Honduran parish. He argued that
our churches lacked legitimacy because no government had ever officially
endorsed them.” Many Protestants make similar assumptions without realizing
it. Western Christians often thank God for their freedom, rejoicing that their churches are not abused by a hostile government like in
many eastern countries. But have
well-intentioned governments in Western democracies also caused churches to
be organized inadvertently in a harmful way? Lord, grant us wisdom and
courage to answer this thorny question honestly! The
Situation We must admit some painful facts before we can think wisely
about state control: In
the East, illegal, non-registered churches in countries such as China, North
Korea, Bangladesh, Northern India, Myanmar, and others, are usually more
energetic and win more people to Christ than do registered churches that have
submitted to state control. In
the West, to get tax-free status and tax exemption for donors, governments
require churches to incorporate or to register legally, to form a board of
trustees that represents a church before the state, and to write bylaws that
embody policies that assure adherence to state requirements. (Even professional
scholars of ecclesiology often fail to discern how state-dictated policies
often clash with Scriptural guidelines for church organization.) The
naming of ‘officers’ for a specified term opens the door to an institutional
mentality and structure. For example: l
Although
Scripture affirms that gifts from God are permanent (Rom. l
Many
congregations assume that their legal status and church constitution gives
them the right to settle spiritual matters by majority vote in business
meetings. Thus, uninformed believers often make decisions of a pastoral
nature that should have been decided by godly,
experienced elders. How many churches have suffered seriously because of
petty squabbling during such business meetings! l
Church history
mentions no church building for almost three centuries after Christ. The Book
of Acts and Paul’s letters reveal that churches normally met in homes. The
word ‘church’ (ekklésia) often meant a regional cluster of tiny house
churches, which was neither a specific congregation nor the universal church.
State requirements for incorporation or registration invariably move
believers toward a ‘big church’ mentality. They need the trustees, a treasurer
and statutes associated with a body larger than a house church. Instead, a
‘simple’ church should try to stay small enough for its members to practice
the New Testament’s many ‘one another’ commands, such as “teach one another”
(Col. 3:16). l
Samuel Wang speaks
from his ample experience in Remedial Action Large churches can
operate on two levels, one level
that meets government requirements, and another level that provides
shepherding according to the New Testament. To implement these two levels will require
prayerful and perhaps painful adjustments; it is not easy to correct
long-standing traditions and procedures.
Small churches can unite as a regional body that is big enough to meet state
requirements, while still practicing New Testament guidelines. To do so
requires courageous leaders who strongly confirm and thoroughly apply
organizational principles from the New Testament. New Testament Organizational Guidelines Conscientious
shepherds must lead, or enable others to lead, small groups of some kind,
as mentor Jethro advised his son-in-law Moses (Exodus 18). Such groups need
to be small enough that all who are present can speak, exhorting, building up
and consoling one another (1 Cor. 14:3, 24-26). Shepherding
elders must share pastoral responsibilities between them. For every professional, full-time, highly-trained pastor, there should also be dozens of lay,
self-supported shepherds who care for their interactive small groups. A large
church should develop some kind of cell groups which
are tiny churches within the big church. Interactive
church body life as described in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4
requires that believers having different spiritual gifts serve one another in
a tightly-knit body. The institutional model of
church often cancels out such service by creating specialized programs and
departments, clustering those having the same gift. You must correct this
problem by forming cell groups that include believers who have different
gifts, and by fostering intensive interaction between groups. Church
elders have at least five responsibilities to their Lord Jesus Christ: 1)
to teach pure doctrine, 2) to safe-guard unity, 3)
to maintain order, 4) to keep finances honest, and 5) to protect from wolves.
The tempter appeals to human flesh and distorts those five responsibilities
into five fears, fears that sharing authority would 1) lead to false
doctrine, 2) cause divisions, 3) compromise quality, 4)
cost too much and 5) bring on criticism or persecution. Many churches’
bylaws stipulate legal duties of church ‘officers’ without even mentioning
their biblical responsibilities. Even the “leaders” themselves often become
trapped and severely impaired by the structures they build. A remedy is to
give much more attention and authority to the historically-proven,
biblical guidelines for overseeing God’s flock that consistently bring about
healthier churches. Resources
for Church Planting and for Training Christian Leaders Order P.
O’Connor’s Reproducible Pastoral Training, to multiply churches, from
a bookshop or via Download free CP
training software “Come, Let Us Disciple the Nations” from <http://www.Paul-Timothy.net/dn/>. Download free mentoring tools and
materials for new leaders from <http://www.MentorAndMultiply.com>. Obtain Train & Multiply®,
church planting and pastoral training course from <www.TrainAndMultiply.com>. Order Church
Multiplication Guide from a bookshop or at <http://www.WCLbooks.com>. To subscribe to MentorNet
or to download earlier messages, visit: <http://www.MentorNet.ws>. |