The Congregation
Podcast Transcript: 1/29/24
We’ve been on the topic of church leadership for a few weeks. But we haven’t asked the question yet, what role does the church congregation play in all this. How does a congregation submit to the leadership of the church, while at the same time keeping that leadership and the overall church body accountable to Christ? Let’s get started.
The Apostle Paul addressed his letters, not just to pastors, but to whole congregations; he intended for the whole church to respond, not just individual leaders within the church. We can find a clear example of this in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13. The issue at hand was that there was a member in the church at Corinth that was sleeping with his father’s wife. Yikes! He says, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife.” Here, Paul is chastising the entire church for tolerating open, unrepentant sin. He says, “For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” In verse 13, he says, “Purge the evil person from among you.” This is a call to corporate accountability and action, calling the congregation to take responsibility for the issue.
In the book of Revelation, Christ, giving his revelation through John, addresses letters to 7 churches. He writes to “the angels of the churches,” that word aggelos is translated “angel” but just means messenger. Some Bible scholars believe this is speaking of the pastors of the churches, but it could also be some representative of the churches. If you look at the content of each message, Jesus is clearly speaking to the congregation of each church and means for the churches corporately to act on the word he is giving each one.
For example, to the church in Sardis, he says, “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent” (Revelation 3:1-3).
The congregation is responsible for keeping the church accountable, ensuring the church is faithful to teach the word, that she stays on mission, that she doesn’t harbor sin that would pollute the body, and that she listens for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The congregational voice and vote are powerful tools. With these the church keeps leadership accountable. If an elder becomes entrenched in unrepentant sin, for example, the other elders firstly, but then the congregation, must hold that pastor accountable. If elders lead the church down a path that is inconsistent with the teaching of Scripture, it is the congregation who must hold those leaders accountable. When a church member must be disciplined, it is the congregation who bears the responsibility to discipline the offending member. When decisions must be made that will affect the overall ability of the church to minister effectively to its members and to the community, the congregation must be the voice of accountability. Ok.
But now, let’s also address briefly what the congregational vote is not intended for. It’s not intended for protecting the status-quo. There are some church congregations who feel it their duty to make sure nothing changes. Well, that leads to stagnation. (Let’s be honest. A church should be making significant changes ever 5-7 years in order to stay on mission. But if the church becomes stagnant, it will be in decline and eventually die.) Keeping the status-quo isn’t protecting the church, and that should never be the congregation’s goal.
It is certainly not the congregation’s responsibility to control or manage everything in the church. We often get ourselves into this situation in committee-led churches, where various aspects of the church are siloed and controlled by individual committees (that’s an organizational model, but not a biblical one). This usually ends up distracting church members from the overall mission of the church. It also prevents unity around a common vision.
Speaking of vision, it isn’t the congregation’s job to direct the vision of the church. That’s the role of the eldership. It isn’t the congregation’s responsibility even to manage individual ministries in the church. That’s a work generally delegated to deacons by the elders.
Now, a church can err on the other side of this, I believe, if a church has no congregational voice or vote. I know of churches where there’s no mechanism for congregationally empowered accountability. There’s no way for the congregation to challenge anything the elders do or decide. I guess in that case, the only recourse a church member has is to vote with their feet, to leave the church. But that shouldn’t be the case. The congregation has a voice and the responsibility to stay true to her mission, to contend for the gospel, to listen and respond to the Spirit’s leading.
Let’s talk about how these mechanisms of congregationally empowered accountability will work according to our recommended bylaws, which will be presented on Feb. 11th. I’m going to read to you three separate paragraphs from the draft:
The government of this church shall be congregational in nature, and the final authority for the operation and management of the affairs of this corporation, spiritual and temporal, shall be vested in the membership of the corporation, which authority shall be exercised in the manner set forth in the Bylaws.
The River Church is to be recognized as a Jesus ruled, elder led, and congregationally accountable church in accordance with the principles laid down in the New Testament.
The Congregation is responsible for carrying out the mission of The River Church. They are also responsible for ensuring The River Church remains faithful to its mission as given by Jesus Christ and to its doctrines as laid out in Holy Scripture. A congregational vote will be required for any of the following decisions: (1) selling or buying real estate; (2) borrowing money; (3) approving the call of a new Senior Pastor; (4) approving the annual operating budget; (5) making changes to these Bylaws. The congregation may also bring any decision of the directional elders under review by following the procedure established in these Bylaws.
Our desire is, as best as we possibly can, to provide the powers of accountability necessary for our congregation to do what a congregation is meant to do. But at the same time, we do not wish to build organizational structures that aren’t biblical that tend to seize up the church and prevent it from accomplishing its mission.
So, it’s worth repeating, we want to organize our church and our church government in a way that is more biblically faithful. We desire that, in all the ways we’ve mentioned in these podcasts, our church would have organizational documents that follow biblical definitions, with form meeting function, following the roles and responsibilities given to us in the New Testament for Christ’s church. What does that mean? It means:
Christ is the ultimate authority and head of the church; we all prayerfully and humbly look to Christ to lead his church.
Elders are given by Christ to the church to shepherd, lead, and teach.
Deacons are servants of the church who manage and administer various ministries within the church.
And finally, the congregation is responsible for keeping the church accountable to her mission, for purity, and for the faithful representation of Christ in the community.
If we stay true to what Scripture teaches regarding how the church ought to be ordered, we can be assured that we will have good church government and will function the way God intends, accomplishing our mission in the world.
