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The universal church has one head (Jesus, Col. 1:18), and its headquarters are in heaven where Jesus is (Matt. 28:18). The church's creed is the New Testament (Col. 3:17), its organization is the local congregation (1 Pet. 5:2), and the means of entrance into this body/church/kingdom is by faith through baptism (John 3:5; Acts 2:38, 41, 47; Rom. 6:3, 4; 17, 18; Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 12:13; Col. 2:12, 13; 1 Pet. 3:21). The local church, however, lives and works on the earth, and each congregation must be organized with leaders who can nourish it and help it grow. Unfortunately, many congregations either have no leader at all or their leader(s) does not meet the qualifications God has specified. The result is often tragic.
The wisdom of having each congregation independent and autonomous is illustrated thusly: Picture a large window in a schoolhouse that is composed of numerous small windowpanes. If a softball is misaligned to the misfortune of the window, it takes out only one pane that is easily and cheaply replaced. One windowpane compares to centralized control. If churches are controlled by one person or from one central location (other than heaven), then ALL churches will be led away from the teaching of Christ that was given through the apostles (Matt. 16:19). This is what happens if the universal church has one leader (all local congregations subject to one man’s authority, such as the Pope).
We should reject the Pope as a spiritual leader because he is just a man (1 Cor. 4:6; Acts 10:25, 26). When this is done, four possibilities remain: 1) the “preacher” or “evangelist” makes the decisions; 2) the decisions are made by the majority; 3) the decisions are made by the minority; 4) A plurality of men, who meet the qualifications given in Titus chapter 2 and 1 Timothy chapter 3, make the decisions for the church.
Let’s now consider each of the four possibilities above:
Is there wisdom in allowing the (“pastor”) preacher to make church decisions? What if he has no family and is not qualified to be a pastor, which is the same thing as shepherd and elder? What if he turns out to be a troublemaker, heretic or thief? Understand that the New Testament church, as directed by the apostles, was never governed by a single person, but always a plurality. This can be proven by searching the New Testament for the words “elders” and “elder.”
Where there are no elders, when a decision needs to be made, a VOTE is often taken and the “majority” make the decision. But what if the majority are novices in the word, and have no management experience and no understanding of the church’s needs? This could be the case if several people are converted in a short period of time.
Churches that reject the “pastor system” and that do not believe in voting but have no elders are forced to allow the “minority” to make decisions. This is sad because if anyone at all objects to a worthy endeavor it stops right there.
Allowing the Pope to reside over the universal church is obviously not the solution to church oversight, nor are numbers 1 – 3 above. Number four (qualified elders) is God’s arrangement. It should be believed, respected, and implemented. Unfortunately, many churches have no elders, either because there are not two or more (which is the pattern) men qualified or someone who is not qualified to be an elder has taken the lead and does not want to give it up.
If we are going to show our faith in God, we must do our best to arrange the local church governance as He has determined. “Faith is the victory,” but failure to obey indicates lack of love for the Lord, who said, “If you love me keep my commandments” (John 14:15). In addition, the Hebrew writer informed us that Jesus is “the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Heb. 5:9).
Failure to follow God’s instructions will result in a weak congregation that fails to effectively accomplish that for which it exists. Titus was instructed to “ordain elders in every church.” Evangelists today have a similar mission. Unfortunately, it is made to be virtually impossible in some situations because of objections by some members. Thus, the “minority rules” and the unscriptural structure remains.
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