Leaven Leaven

Volume 2 Issue 1 Church Organization Article 3

1-1-1992

Authority and Leadership in the New Testament Authority and Leadership in the New Testament

James Thompson james.thompson@acu.edu

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Authority andLeadership

in the New TestamentBy James W. Thompson

Within the Restoration tradition, few havequarreled with the insistence that the governance ofthe church in biblical times provides the appropriatemodel for the contemporary church. Early leaders ofthe movement found in the church ofthe Philippiansand the Pastoral epistles, with the "bishops anddeacons" (Phil. 1:1; cf. 1 Tim. 3:1-10) mentionedthere, a model for church life which could be em-ployed in the church of an ages. However, consider-able disagreement exists today on the role andauthority of these offices, both in the New Testa-ment and the contemporary church. Some insistthat the early churches were highly democratic andthat their leaders possessed little authority beyondthat of their own personal example. Norman Parksargues, for example, that the "scriptural function"(of elders) involved the positive role of teaching,looking out for the welfare of the members andinfluencing conduct by their own good example."!Larry Richards, in A Theology of Church Lead-ership, also insists that the local leaders in the NewTestament had the primary purpose of leading byexample and not the authority to make decisions."

An alternative view which has functioned inChurches of Christ is that oflocalleaders as highlyauthoritative, ifnot autocratic. The body ofelders ofthe New Testament is perceived as a decision-mak-

James Thompson is Director for The Institute forChristian Studies. Austin. TX. He also serves as anelder for the University Church of Christ.

ing body and final arbiter on the doctrine and prac-tice of the church. This view has been, in my ownexperience, the dominant understanding of thefunction of the local leadership in the New Testa-ment.

The Problem on Appealing to theNew Testament

The Churches of Christ have always placedconsiderable significance on the governance andleadership of the local church. Indeed those bookswhich treat this topic, the Pastoral Epistles, haveenjoyed a special prominence in Restorationchurches. However, as wehave noticed, the churcheswork with different and sometimes conflicting para-digms of church leadership. In this essay I wish toobserve the dynamics of church leadership withinthe New Testament in order to address some of theissues of leadership and and authority facing thechurch today.

The fact that those who hold to various modelsofauthority an appeal to the NewTestament suggeststhat it is not an easy task to find a single functionalpattern of authority in the New Testament. Thisdifficulty originates, in the first place, from the factthat we come to the New Testament with our owncultural biases when we examine the way thatauthority functions. Those who find in the NewTestament an authority pattern that is "ofthe peopleand by the people" are likely to be influenced bywestern concepts of democratic traditions. Thosewho find the authoritarian model in the New Tes-tament are likely to be influenced by various au-

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thoritarian values.To come to the New Testament in search for

a functioning model of authority is difficult, in thesecond place, because the New Testament does notpresent a uniform picture of the leadership struc-ture of the early churches. While the Pastoralepistles and Acts portray a leadership structurewith a plurality of elders/bishops, such significantletters of Paul as Romans, Galatians, and theCorinthian correspondence donot refer to this struc-ture of leadership. In these epistles Paul treatsnumerous topics, but never mentions the presence ofelders, bishops or deacons. Even on such sensitivetopics as church discipline, the local authorities arenot mentioned. Indeed, both 1 Corinthians andRomans describe a church where "each" memberbuilds up the body of Christ through the exercise ofthe gift which has been granted.

To return to the New Testament to find amodel for authority today is difficult, in the thirdplace, because of the hermeneutical problem. Onesimply cannot transport the leadership patterns ofthe early church into the contemporary church with-out significant modifications. The house churches ofthe New Testament owned no property, had nobudgets, and had no permanent financial commit-ments. In that situation, authority would necessar-ily function in a significantly different way from theway it functions today. Unless the church is toattempt to reproduce the social ethos of the earlyhouse churches, therefore, one cannot simply re-produce the pattern of leadership which is found inthe New Testament.

The Necessity of New TestamentModels of Authority

Despite the difficulty of finding a definitivemodel ofauthority in the New Testament, we never-theless turn to the New Testament for answers toour own questions and for insights about the natureof authority. We shall look for those dimensions ofauthority in the New Testament which provide aunifying thread in the New Testament and can befunctional in the contemporary church.

Any study of leadership and authority in theNew Testament must begin with the recognitionthat all authority belongs to Christ, and that humanauthority in the communities of his disciples isderivative. Jesus commissions his disciples to "bindand loose in his name" (Matt 18:18), recognizingthat they have the authority only to act onhis behalf.Paul claims the apostolic authority to "punish everydisobedience" (2 Cor. 10:6); but even apostolic au-thority is subject to the "truth of the gospel" (Gal.2:5). The apostle Peter is confronted with his failure

Church Structure 5

to live by the gospel. As an apostle, Paul has no rightto "tamper with" the word ofGod (2 Cor. 4:2). Thoseapostles who fail to submit to the gospel are con-demned.

As an apostle, Paul is the father (1 Cor. 4:15)and mother (Gal. 4:19) of his churches, and thus hehas the right to come to them "with the rod" of

Any study of leadership andauthority in the New Testa-ment must begin with the rec-ognition that all authoritybelongs to Christ, and thathuman authority in the com-munities of his disciples is de-rivative.

punishment (1 Cor. 4:21). Nevertheless, Paul'sauthority is conditioned by the new dimension in hislife. He refuses to "lord it over" his congregations (2Cor. 1:24). As one who is "always carrying in thebody the dying of Jesus" (2 Cor. 4:10), he demon-strates an entirely new kind of authority. Whenothers challenge his claim as a servant of Christ, heresponds with a list ofhis sufferings (2 Cor. 11:23ff).His authority cannot be divorced from his willingnessto bear the cross of Christ.

The Beginning of Local LeadershipPaul's commanding presence, both through his

letters and his personal presence, left little place forthe developmentofa strong local leadership. Indeed,it is at Paul's command that the church is to "deliverto Satan" an immoral man at Corinth (1 Cor. 5:5).During his lifetime he is the authority over thechurches, and he is the one who provides authorita-tive teaching. Although he is only a "steward" ofthemessage (1 Cor.4~1),he writes letters to his churchesto give instructions on a wide variety ofmatters. InGalatians, for example, he speaks with authority inclarifying the content of the gospel. In all of theletters, he does not hesitate to give instructions onChristian behavior.

Those who argue for the "democratic" nature ofthe early communities often appeal to the absence ofreferences to local authority in Paul's letters as thebasis for a democratic understanding of the localchurch. This argument ignores, however, the com-manding presence of Paul, who left nothing to the

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will ofthe majority. It ignores, furthermore, the factthat authoritative leadership emerged already inPaul's first epistle, 1 Thessalonians. Here Paulinstructs the Thessalonians to "respect those wholabor among you and are over you in the Lord andadmonish you, and to esteem them very highly inlove because of their work" (1 Thess. 5:12-13). Aspecial group has apparently emerged. While threeparticiples (in Greek) are used to describe them, the

The language used for lead-ers in the earliest churchmay reflect the distinctivelynew Christian understand-ing of authority.

reference is apparently to only one group, as the useof only one article suggests. This group has author-ity that is recognized in the community ("esteemthem"), an authority that is based on their work.

The language used for leaders in the earliestchurch may reflect the distinctively new Christianunderstanding of authority. Here we note that theleaders are described only with verbs, suggestingthat their function is of primary significance. Here,as elsewhere in the New Testament, there is theavoidance ofterms suggesting power. Nevertheless,this earliest church is not without local authority.While everyone is engaged in admonishing (cf, 5:14),a special group of leaders "labor," "are over" thecommunity, and "admonish" it (5:12). Here we notethat authority is accompanied by the teaching min-istry. The words "labor" and "admonish" wereregularly used for the teaching ministry. The termrendered "are over you" in the RSV (proistemi)cannoted "caring authority" and "authoritative care."The term brought together the concepts ofprovidingfor the needs of others and the exercising ofauthor-ity over them. It is later used for the work of elders(cf, 1Tim. 3:4), and it was commonly associated withthe "caring authority" and "authoritative care" thatwas the work of parents.

The emergence of local authority is also to beseen in 1 Corinthians. Although the church isdescribed as the body of Christ with gifts that havebeen granted to "each" indispensable member, thisequality does not preclude the emergence of localauthority. Among the gifts that have been grantedto the church, Paul refers to those who are "admin-istrators" (kyberneseis). The term refers to the one

who steers a ship and provides guidance for thechurch. Later in 1 Corinthians Paul refers to thosewho have "devoted themselves to the service of thesaints," and then adds, "I urge you to be subject tosuch men and to every fellow worker and laborer" (1Cor. 16:16).

The Churches After PaulThe new dimension which one finds in the

Pastoral Epistles, which have provided the primarytexts for the understandingofleadership in churchesofChrist, is the anticipated absence ofPaul who willno longer be able to "comewith a rod." As Paul writesthese epistles, he anticipates that the time after hisdeparture will bring a severe test for the church.Timothy is to find "faithful men who will teachothers" (2 Tim. 2:2). The focus is no longer on theequality of the gifts, but on the preservation of thefaith. Here Paul challenges Timothy and Titus toappoint those men who will guide the church inperilous times. According to Titus, the elder must"be able to confute those who contradict sound doc-trine" 0:9-10). The church is an extended house-hold, and the bishop of 1 Timothy is one who "caresfor" the church in much the same way that hemanages his own household (1 Tim. 3:4). He actswith the authority that one might expect from thehead ofthe household in ancient times, establishingthe direction of the church.

Although the church after Paul appears morehighly structured than the churches establishedearly in Paul's ministry, we recognize lines of conti-nuity which extend from the earliest churches untilthe Pastoral Epistles. We note, in the first place,that authority was regularly associated with theteaching ministry. While leaders were not the onlyteachers, they were distinguished for the teachingwhich set the direction ofthe church. Indeed, theirprimary responsibility seems to be that ofteaching.

A second line of continuity in these refer-ences is the importance of active experience as aprerequisite for the Christian leader. The bishop inthe Pastorals is not tobe a "novice." In the same way,those to whom the Corinthians were to submit werethe "first fruits of Achaia" who had devoted them-selves to Christian service. Leaders were esteemedon the basis oftheir time ofservice, and they emergedand were highly regarded within the communitybecause of their work.

A third line of continuity within the leadershipof the early church is that, while the early churchesdid not recognize a hierarchy within their midst,they were never democratic. Actual authority wasconferred on those who had emerged as leaders.While the Christian story exercised its influence in

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reminding leaders that authority was not to beautocratic, those who were older and more experi-enced in the Christian faith "cared for" the church (1Tim. 3:4) and "steered" it in the appropriate direc-tion.

A fourth line of continuity within the NewTestament is the emphasis on the character of lead-ers. Paul's personal leadership is associated withhis willingness to be "exhausted" on behalf of thefaith (2 Cor. 12:15). Similarly, the focus in thePastoral Epistles is on the qualifications of theleaders, who are distinguished for their exemplarymanner ofliving the Christian faith.

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Reflections for the ContemporaryChurch

Despite the diversity of the New Testament,these lines of continuity suggest that there wereareas in which Christian leadership remained un-changing within changing circumstances ofthe earlychurch. While one cannot simply transport theentire social world of the New Testament into ourown day, we can learn from the New Testament thatthe early Christians deliberately separated them-selves from ancient forms ofleadership and accepteda distinctive Christian form of authority. Even inour own changed circumstances, those lines of con-tinuity which we find in the New Testament under-standing ofleadership can help us through our ownconfused understanding. I suggest the followingways in which we can bring distinctive Christianqualities to our understanding of leadership.

1. As a tradition, our discussions have too fre-quently turned only to the Pastoral Epistles in thesearch for the "qualification s"and structural patternsof leadership. Consequently, discussion has oftenfocused on the discrete and isolated qualificationsthat are mentioned (i.e., what does "believing chil-dren" mean?). We have overlooked the larger issuewhich is involved in the list of qualifications. Whenthe qualifications are taken together, we recognizethe New Testament's continuing emphasis on thecharacter and exemplary life of leaders. In oursearch for leaders, we need to recognize the line ofcontinuity from Paul to the Pastoral Epistles, inwhich leadership cannot be divorced from the de-votion and commitment of the leader. Leadersshould not be chosen simply because they meet thetechnical requirements for leadership, but because

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they follow the one who was a servant.2. In the second place, the New Testament is a

reminder that churches need the authority of thosewho have devoted years of service.

The will of the majority is no substitute for thewisdom of experienced Christians. Those of us whohave served in churches where issues were settledby a majority vote have seen the bankruptcy of thechurch where inexperienced leaders emerge to be"helmsmen" for the church. We continue to live afterthe demise of the apostles when strong leaders areneeded to guide the destiny of the church.

3. Because we live in a new situation wherechurches own property and control significant sumsof money, we cannot easily return to the simplertime when such responsibilities did not demand theattention of the elders. The role of the elders as"helmsmen" demands that they have the major rolein establishing the direction of the church. In thissituation, the "helmsmen" must make importantdecisions, for such decision-making cannot be di-vorced from their role as the church's teachers andleaders. While it may be inexcusable for elders tomake decisions that are autocratic, they neverthe-less make decisions affecting the direction of thechurch.

4. The elders ofthe NewTestamen t were chosenbecause of their knowledge of the Christian faithand their capability ofpassing it on. In this situationthey were primary teachers ofthe church. We makea mistake if the teaching of the church is reservedonly for professionals who have specialized aca-demic training. The church needs elders who havedistinguished themselves in their understanding ofthe faith and in their ability and willingness tocommunicate that understanding to others.

The contemporary church, like the church in thefirst generations, continues to face an uncertainfuture when strong leadership must emerge to as-sist the church in maintaining its identity. Thechurch has not rediscovered a biblical pattern onlywhen it has some structural similarities to earlychurches. Restoration churches need to recognizethat Jesus inaugurated a new form of leadershipwhich transcends cultural changes. The churchwhich lives after the demise of the apostles contin-ues to need for its survival those "faithful men' whoare able to teach others and whose authority isrooted in selfless love.

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