Power, Control, and Authority
in the Church

The church has been the love of my life. The communion of the saints, the prayers and songs ascending in thanksgiving, praise and worship, the sermons preached with both passion and power—all this and much more, have been used by its Architect and Builder to make me the person I am, warts and all.

I have given my life to Christ in the service of the church. I have no regrets; I would do it all over again—only hopefully much better. I am neither cynical, bitter nor disillusioned. But neither am I naive or blind.

As one of its most unworthy and fallible members, I must say with a burden of love: the Lord of the Church stands on the outside of many of His churches. And does not this harmonize with John's vision of Christ on the island of Patmos? "Behold, I stand at the door and knock ..."(1) One doesn't knock from the inside.

Having had a wide variety of ecclesiastical experiences, I am convinced that the average church janitor, organist and board member exercises more power and control in the church than does the Head of the church, Jesus Christ.

Prior to His ascension to the Father's right hand, the risen, triumphant Savior announced to the Eleven Apostles: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."(2)

Authority is always delegated; power and control are self-motivated, man-dominated. One comes from above, the other from beneath. Jesus never spoke or acted on His own initiative: "Behold, I have come ... to do your will, O God." "The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works."(3)

Christ as the Savior and Head of the church and the Holy Spirit as its indwelling Presence, have been specially authorized by God the Father to provide the church with oversight and direction through its earthly representatives: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, elders and deacons.(4)

To provide it with a clear objective guide, the church has been given a God-breathed document—the written Word—as the authoritative manual for its life, conduct, mission and administration.(5)

Sadly, in our own day, too often we see the church cut off from its Head. Human traditions, local customs and self-appointed leaders have more power in a local congregation than does Christ and the written Word of God.

One of God's prophets for the twentieth century saw this problem far more clearly than I. Just a short time prior to his death in 1963, Dr. A.W. Tozer wrote an article entitled The Waning Authority of Christ in the Churches. Let me share a few cogent excerpts.

“The Lordship of Jesus Christ is not quite forgotten among Christians, but it has been relegated to the hymnal where all responsibility toward it may be comfortably discharged in a glow of religious emotion. Or if it is taught as a theory in the classroom it is rarely applied to practical living. The idea that the Man Christ Jesus has absolute final authority over the whole church and over its members in every detail of their lives is simply not now accepted as true by the rank and file of evangelical Christians.

“What we do is this: We accept the Christianity of our group as being identical with that of Christ and His apostles. The beliefs, the practices, the ethics, the activities of our group are equated with the Christianity of the New Testament. Whatever our group thinks or says or does is scriptural, no questions asked. It is assumed that all our Lord expects of us is that we busy ourselves with the activities of the group. In doing so we are keeping the commandments of Christ.

“What church board consults our Lord's words to decide matters under discussion? Let anyone reading this who has had experience on a church board try to recall the times or time when any board member read from the Scriptures to make a point, or when any chairman suggested that the brethren should see what instructions the Lord had for them on a particular question. Board meetings are habitually opened with a formal prayer or a "season of prayer"; after that the Head of the Church is respectfully silent while the real rulers take over.

“What Christian when faced with a moral problem goes straight to the Sermon on the Mount or other New Testament Scripture for the authoritative answer? Who lets the words of Christ be final on giving, birth control, the bringing up of a family, personal habits, tithing, entertainment, buying, selling and other important matters?

“For the true Christian the one supreme test for the present soundness and ultimate worth of everything religious must be the place our Lord occupies in it. Is He Lord or symbol? Is He in charge of the project or merely one of the crew? Does He decide things or only help to carry out the plan of others? All religious activities, from the simplest act of an individual Christian to the ponderous and expensive operations of a whole denomination, may be proved by the answer to the question, Is Jesus Christ Lord in this act? Whether our works prove to be wood, hay and stubble or gold and silver and precious stones in that great day will depend upon the right answer to that question.”

What steps can serious-minded Christians and church leaders take in order to honor Christ's authority and lordship in the church? Permit me to suggest the following.

Every church leader (elders, deacons, board members, etc.) must live in total submission to Jesus Christ, the Head of the church.

If the leaders aren't living in an authentic vital relationship to Christ as they should, then they should repent and get thoroughly right with God. If they fail to repent then they should do the honorable thing—resign their position. There are far too many backslidden, worldly-minded and self-centered leaders who are preventing the church from moving forward as God expects it to. They love the praise of men, cater to the carnal, compromise the Word of God, lack a passion for Christ, and are sinning in their personal life. They are a plague in the Body of Christ. Christ expects the church to be led by Spirit-filled, God-honoring, godly leaders. This is basic.

1 Timothy 3:1-13 is God's standard for every church leader.

And we need to do more than just pay lip service to this text. These qualifications cannot be viewed as options or simply a stated ideal. Four times Paul uses the word "must." And remember, these qualifications were first laid down for leaders in the first century church for men who had come to Christ from a pagan culture.

In our desire to be all things to all people that we might please everyone, we have forsaken the basics. The power of wealth, friendships, family relationships, the fear of saying no to anyone, and a host of other rationalizations, have paralyzed our ability to stand for anything. If our leaders don't measure up to the minimum stated qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1-13, they are disqualified for leadership.

How might we in an observable way recognize the authority of Christ in our churches?

When leaders meet together to conduct the business of the church, consulting the Lord by means of prayer and Scripture ought to be the norm.

A perfunctory opening prayer to a meeting is an insult to the Head of the church. The very essence of prayer is dependence. When we fail to take the authority of Christ seriously we don't feel the need to consult Him.

In a recent conversation with a Christian businessman, he told me that the leaders in his church had been conducting a series of meetings with a view to expanding the church's outreach and ministry. He said they were waiting upon God for clear direction. In his words: "This time we're not going to ask God to bless our plans; instead, we're waiting for His plans, then we know what we do will have God's blessing." Wise leaders.

By the way, are there any business meetings any more where church leaders actually get down on their knees to pray? Have we become so proud and self-assured that we can't bow before the Lord in a posture of humility? God help us! We are in such a rush to get to the important things: our agenda, our proposals, our motions, and our suggestions—that we have no time for Christ. Do I hear Him knocking from the outside trying to get our attention?

Rigid regularity should never be allowed to quench Spirit-spontaneity.

Structures, as essential as they are, must not be allowed to quench spontaneous, sovereign moves of the Spirit. Our agendas and orders of service should be developed with a conscious realization that we are always open to the Lord of the church to change anything we have planned.

Consider: the Book of Acts would never have been written as it was if the apostles and the early church saints had stifled the spontaneous moves of the Spirit. If the apostles had insisted on their pre-planned agendas, there would never have been the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, healings would never have occurred, doors of outreach and expanded missions would have been stifled, and fresh infillings of the Spirit would never have been experienced. The church would have been a sterile, well-structured religious institution, attractive to one's esthetical senses possibly, but fruitless and powerless.

One cannot be a student of the Bible without noticing that our God is a God of design and order. But neither can one read the Scriptures without being struck by the fact that the same God who designed what we call natural and spiritual laws is the same God who periodically invades His creation and church in order to work a sovereign spontaneous work. Blessed are the leaders who know this and minister accordingly.

Christ has not authorized anyone to dominate His church.

Depending on the personality and culture of the leader, some leaders may insist on their proposals being accepted by the group in a crude and aggressive manner, while other personalities may be more subtle in asserting their will over others. Either way the ark of God often stalls because a dominant, self-willed leader insists on having it his way or no way.

This was Diotrephes' problem—he had to have his own way. Hear what the Apostle John had to say about him: "I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us." Pride rejects duly delegated authority because it "loves to be first."(6)

Realizing leaders would be subject to great temptation in this area, the Apostle Peter exhorts the leaders of his day, "Be shepherds of God's flock ... not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock."(7)

If the Lordship of Jesus Christ is to be honored in His churches then the humility of Christ must characterize its leaders. I say this as one who I am afraid has often failed in this area. I pray I am gaining ground as I walk more closely with Christ. Pride insists on having its own way; humility is willing to recognize the wisdom and will of God coming through another brother.

What about it, my friend—is Jesus Christ the ruling authority in your own life and the life of your church? Or is the Lord of the church knocking at your door or the door of your church seeking admission? Is your church being controlled by self-willed, worldly leaders, who push their own selfish agendas and programs, or by Spirit-filled, humble men who consciously seek the will and wisdom of God in every meeting? Are your services characterized by a pervading sense of God's presence, or are they noted for a rigid formality, void of sovereign movements of the Spirit? Is the Lord of the church welcome in your church business meetings and services, or would you just as soon He remained outside, allowing you to continue to operate as usual?

Can you join with me in praying this prayer? O Christ, You are Lord, my Lord; I love to be controlled by You. Enable me to practice Your humility in every business meeting; help me to be conscious of your sovereign Lordship each time we gather in Your name. Help me not to want to lead others as much as I want to be led by You. You are Lord. Amen.

– Soli Deo Gloria –  

1. Revelation 3:20, NASB
2. Matthew 28:18, NIV
3. Hebrews 10:7; John 14:10, NASB
4. See Ephesians 4:11; 1 Timothy 3:1-13, NIV
5. See 2 Timothy 3:16, NIV
6. 3 John 9, NIV
7. 1 Peter 5:2-3, NIV