Chapter Eleven: The Source of Authority in the Body of Christ

By Dr. Steve Davis

What you will get from this chapter:

1) What the ONE source of authority is for the church.

2) How and why a Pastor has Biblical authority over the congregation of God’s people.

3) Why “elected” leadership may STILL not have the loyalty of the people who elected them.

What is the source of authority in your church? The source of authority for the church is NOT the denominational handbook, book of discipline or any other manmade document. These may be excellent guidelines, and may offer some administrative helps for churches to operate by. But, they are only to be followed where they do not contradict or demean Scripture.  The enemy of the church does not tremble when we quote our doctrinal statements. The Word of God is the only sword of the Spirit. There is ultimately only one source of authority in the Body of Christ. That's the Word of God. Psalm 119:89: "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in Heaven."  Psalm 119:160, "Thy Word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever." Psalm 138:2 "...Thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy name." John 17:17  "Thy Word is truth."  2 Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

How and why a Pastor has Biblical authority over the congregation of God’s people. Hebrews 13:7 says  "Remember them which have rule over you, who have spoken unto
you the Word of God."  Clearly there are those in the Body of Christ who have the rule over some others in the Body of Christ, as was discussed earlier. A Pastor who is ministering the Word of God as it is written has authority from Heaven to carry out his task of preparing the people to appear before the Great Shepherd. On the other hand, if a Pastor is not speaking the Word of God, he does not have the rule over the people. The Pastor’s authority lies in his calling, anointing and ultimately in his ministry of the Word of God to his people. If a Pastor is speaking the Word of God the people had better get in line with his ministry. Be clear that they are not being in subjection to the man, they are in subjection to the Word of God. Those who have spoken unto you the Word of God, He says "whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation (or living)."

The people will be able to see the moving of God in the Pastor’s life, and what he is doing in the ministry. They will see where his ministry is taking them as a church; that it's taking them into the paths of righteousness.

Where is the authority? In the Word. Where is the Word supposed to be?  Romans 10:8, "In thy mouth and in thy heart."  The people submit NOT to the Leader as an individual person, but to the word IN the leader. That's shy the Leader's responsibility is to hide the Word in his heart that he might not sin, or miss the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Psalm 119:11) What if the Leader doesn't have the Word? Then the Leader doesn't have the authority.

That's why it's imperative that the leader has the Word in his heart and in his mouth. 2 Tim. 4:2, "Preach the Word; be instant in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine."  The Pastor who will be recognized as a leader will preach what God’s Word says, and have a heart full enough of the word of God that he finds it to be his favorite topic of conversation. Because of this, he is told reprove, or to correct his people when he finds they are missing the mark for what God is calling their church to be. He is to rebuke the ones who are going contrary to the Word of God, and to teach the Word in it’s fullness. He also MUST do it lovingly, with patience and using clearly biblical doctrine.

There is no leadership or authority without the people. "He that thinketh he leadeth but hath no followers merely taketh a walk." The Word of God is the basis of Pastoral leadership, and the  people in the congregation are the strength of the leadership. As a Pastor loves his people, prays for them, brings them the clear Word of God, and shows no fear of the people, and sets the example for them, the people will either change and follow him or they will leave the church. God will bring in people who are looking for strong Biblical leadership, and the congregation will grow.

Why “elected” leadership may STILL not have the loyalty of the people who elected them.  In some “lay based” movements, the people elect their Pastor (some on an annual basis!) to be their leader. They exhibit their mistrust and insecurity o the things of God by making only a tentative so-called commitment to follow this man for twelve months at a time. Even worse is when a Pastor accepts this vote of a lack of confidence in both the prayers of the pastoral candidate and the prayers of the congregation. This is why even those who elect their Pastors by the democratic process still may have a tendency to be suspicious of their chosen leaders!

Fear, suspicion and past disappointments with weak and compromising Pastors cause a people say, "We've got to protect ourselves from our Pastor! He may let us down! He might take us where the Lord would not have us go!” If our people are men and women of the Word, they are not going to be led astray or held back by a weak Pastor.  2 Corinthians 2:14 says,  "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place."  Our people will know the truth. God’s people are never obligated to follow any spiritual leadership, with authoritative rule over them, if the leader is asking them to do something contrary to the Word of God.

Some principles of authority from Romans 13. Verse 1: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God...."  It is no small thing to resist those who are in spiritual authority. The power is of God. When we are resisting them, we are resisting the ordinance of God. We are saying, "God, you don't know what you are doing. I've got a better way." That's called rebellion.  "...and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and you will have praise of the power. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must need be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake."  We move into obedience because we want to please the Lord and serve Him.

For example. You don't drive down the road constantly looking in the rear view mirror afraid a
policeman will get you if you are doing 55 miles an hour. The reason that you are not afraid of the policeman's power is because you’re not doing anything wrong. If there ever is an accident, the police officer is there to help. He's there for your good. The people who don’t like cops are the ones who are doing wrong. When we apply that to church leadership, we understand how our Pastors are given authority by God to help us in our walk with Him, and to make the Judgment Day the happiest day of our lives!

Equal, but with different responsibilities. We’ve looked at Hebrews 13:17 which says, "Obey them that have the rule over you..."  Some people say, "I thought we were all equal in the Body of Christ?" We are! We are all equal, there are no big shots in the Body of Christ. But, we do not all have the same responsibilities or callings. We have different offices and functions, according to our callings. As a citizen of the United States, you are equal with the President of the United States. You and he both have one vote. You are each one citizen. If you are a law enforcement officer, you have authority in areas that even the President does not have. As a law enforcement officer, you can carry a gun, you can arrest people and make life and death decisions, right on the side of the road! But the President cannot do that! But, how many of us have the authority of the President? We are all equal, but we haven't been placed in the same positions and do not have the same functionality.

Five categories of Elders.  Ephesians 4:11 "God has put some in the Body, apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, pastors to prepare the saints to do the work of the ministry."  These re categories of ministry that God raises up. Apostles are “sent ones,” Elders whom we call might church planters, or pioneer pastors. God sends them to initiate a group of people into becoming a church. Prophets are those Elders (male and female, by the way. The Apostle Phillip had four daughters who were prophetesses, in the Book of Acts. 1 Corinthians 11:4-5 talks about men prophesying as well as women prophesying in the New Testament church) sent by God to bring forth, to speak forth the Word of God. Evangelists are Elders sent by God to bring the good news to lost people, bringing them into the Kingdom. Teachers are Elders sent by God to teach principles of God’s Word to help people walk with the Lord in wisdom and faithfulness. And of course, there is the Elder that is called to be a Pastor, or shepherd of the flock of God.

God has given and ordained these Elders to appoint other Elders and to carry out the work of the ministry. Titus 1:5  “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:” SO, Elders appoint other Elders to minister the Word of God, and to counsel in spiritual things. Those that are appointed Elders, are then to recognize nominate deacons chosen out from the Body by the people.

"And He gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers."  Why did He give them to the church? "For the perfecting of the saints...." The word "perfect" means in the Greek, mature, wholeness or complete. These five ministries were given into the Body of Christ to mature the saints, to make them whole, so the people could do the work of the ministry. Spiritual leadership has been established to prepare the people, the members of Body of Christ to do the ministry. A main job of a Pastor is to teach the people what their responsibility is and what they can do in Christ.

Back to obeying the Elders in the things of God. As discussed in other chapters, God wants us to "obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves." How far are Believers to submit? Only in the areas that are in accord with the Word of God that bring them salvation and spiritual maturity. The Elder’s responsibility, (Hebrews 13:17), is to watch for the peoples’ souls, because they must give account to the Lord for their ministry. The people need to pray for them so that they can do it with joy and not with grief. If the Pastor is obeying Gods call to ministry and is being grieved by it, it is not helpful to the people he is ministering to.  If a church  wants the benefits of a man of God in their pulpit and, it needs to allow those in ministry to do it with joy so the church can grow and go forward.

Elders need prayer, and do be allowed to do as their conscience dictates, to be able to live honestly before the Lord without feelings of condemnation. Hebrews 13:18 "Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly." Until a church begins to function in proper order, it won't be as effective as God wants it to be. That's why the church needs to pray.

God will not bless a casual attitude towards His ministry. In Acts 5,  Ananias and hs wife, Sapphira lied to the apostles (and to the Holy Spirit) ad they were they were struck down. What was the reaction in the church? Acts 5:11-14 "And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as
many as heard these things. And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women).

The people began to reverence the things of God, miracles began to happen and the number of Believers was multiplied.  If the people are living right with God, they don't need to have any fear. But if they are operating in the church for their personal advantage or are undermining the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and His church, they are on dangerous ground.

 Copyright Steven L. Davis  www.stevedavis.org