What Is Our Political Agenda?
(Eph. 4:11-16)
Today, we
live in a country, and in a world that seems to be in chaos because of the
politics of the time. Throughout the world there are different kinds of
political make-ups. In some parts of the world, there are dictatorships. In
other parts, such as in America
Of course,
there has always been one type of political system or another. In the time of
the Patriarchs, the head of the household was the law-giver. Then came the
Judges who didn’t actually rule the people, but advised them and gave them law
and order. Then came the kings, and with them came the whole can of worms. Just
look through the two books of Kings and the two books of Chronicles and see how
many times you find that this king or that king did evil in the eyes of the
Lord. And since the king was the most influential person in the nation, practically
everyone else would follow their lead.
What about
Christ’s Church? What type of political make-up do we participate in? Are we
governed by a dictatorship, where one man’s rules and desires are the basis for
the Church’s beliefs and actions? Is the Church an autocracy, where one man has
all authority? Is this the way Christ has arranged for His Church to be
governed?
Or perhaps
the Church is intended to be operated by a majority rule; a democracy where
everyone has an equal voice in the governing body? Where the men who are in
“leadership” positions are elected by the congregation, so shaking hands and
kissing babies is how they attain their position?
Now, I have
experience with both of these political concepts in the Church, so those are
the areas I want to begin my focus on this morning. First, let’s discuss the
autocracy; where one man has the rule.
If we take
a close look, it appears that in much of our world that organized religion has
become more of a social club than the church of the Bible because there is so
little real belief that Jesus exists as the actual authority.
Man, in his
arrogance has placed himself on the throne of God and his worship is for
himself. He is also continually after the worship of others. This is a
reflection of Satan’s deception of Eve. Ge 3:4-5 “The
serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the
day you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil.’” And there are those who believe themselves to be equal
to God today. Take a look at the Roman Catholic Church. This religion has taken
away the authority and deity of Jesus Christ and has given it to a man. They
claim that Peter was the first Pope and that Jesus said that the Church was to
be built on him. But let’s take a look at what Jesus really said.
In Matthew
16, Jesus had asked his disciples who the people were saying He was. After
they’d answered, He asked them who they thought He was. Peter’s response was, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus
answered, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because
flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I
also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;
and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
Now, I have to admit that the name
Peter is translated as “rock”. But is this the rock Jesus said He was building
His Church on? To find the answer to that question that removes all doubt,
let’s go to the original Greek.
First is the name Peter. The Greek
word is Petros. It means a piece of rock. Then the word for the rock Jesus
built His Church on. That word is petra
Head elder. I’ve heard that term in
our brotherhood, too. I’ve witnessed the head elder at work. The man who
believes himself to be THE leader of the congregation. He believes that the
congregation wouldn’t be where it is if it weren’t for him. And, unfortunately,
that assumption is usually correct. I’ve seen the stifling of the Church
because of the dictatorship of this one man, who is supposed to be an example
of servitude. Oh, there are other elders, but “you’d better not stand in his
path, boy”.
I know that it sounds like I’m
picking on elders, but that’s really not my intention. I’ve know some great men
who fulfilled their role as shepherds very conscientiously. Also, I’ve known some evangelists who had the
same illusions of grandeur. “I’m here to set things in order, and in order they
shall be!” Well, it is the responsibility of the evangelist to set things in
order, but in a loving and guiding way.
In either case, the Church is not
an autocracy with one man being the dictator. That is not God’s design, and if
it’s not God’s design, it’s not God’s Church. It’s a man-made organization that
caters to the will of the one man.
On the other hand, we could have a
system that doesn’t have one man in charge; it has all the men (and maybe even
the women) in charge. This is the system of “one person, one vote”. This is
what we call a democracy. In this form of government, the people have the
supreme power, and it’s exercised by them directly or by an elected
representative. In the case of the Church, these elected representatives are
typically the elders and deacons.
Now usually, I think democracy is a
great thing. We live in a country where, at least for most of our existence,
we’ve had the freedom to choose our leaders; not only to elect them into but to
vote them out of office; to speak our minds freely about the things our elected
representatives are doing right or wrong, and basically evoke our will upon our
government. We have freedoms in this country that are enjoyed by very few
people in any other part of the world. Democracy truly is a wonderful
thing…Usually. But is it such a wonderful thing in God’s Church?
“On the third Sunday of January
every year, we have a “vote”. What we do at the vote is elect elders and
deacons so we can say that we have “leadership”. Usually, before the vote, the
preacher will give a sermon on the qualification for elders and deacons just so
he can feel like he’s done his job.”
“After the invitation, we all stay
seated because that’s when the ballots are handed out. When we get the ballots,
it’ll say at the top, “The Apostate Church of Christ Leadership Ballot”. Just
under that, on the right hand side of the page, it has two words side-by-side:
“Yes” and “No”. Under that there’s a heading called “Elders” and another
heading called “Deacons”. Sometimes there might be some other heading like
“Superintendent” or “Assistant Superintendent” and maybe “Trustees”. Well,
under those headings are names of people who’ve accepted the nomination for the
position that they’re listed under, and to the right of their names, under the
Yes and No, are little square boxes to check.”
“So, we start the process of going
down through the names. This year, there are three names for Elder. As I look
at them, I’m trying to figure out which ones have been the friendliest to me
over the last year; which ones might know the most people; and which ones have
the most money because those are the ones I’m voting for!”
“After the elders, I vote for all the deacons. I might as well; they
don’t have to actually do anything. Any of them can be a deacon. I mean,
serving communion and passing the collection plate around isn’t like rocket
science. Really, half the church could be deacons as far as I care. As long as
they haven’t been divorced. You know, I’ve gotta draw a line somewhere. And you
can’t be divorced and then get married again because then you’d have more than
one wife. I mean, that’s alright for a regular Christian, but I think there
needs to be a higher standard for leadership!”
“As far as the Superintendent, the
Assistant Superintendent, and the Trustees are concerned, I couldn’t care less.
There are only enough names under each of them to fill the slots, anyway. I
just want to get this over so I can go home and watch the game. And besides, we
have a board meeting tonight after church. That’ll be more time I have to be
here.”
“And it always goes the same. All
the men of the church who show up tonight sit in the corner of the auditorium to
discuss the church business. We’ll elect one of the elders as the chairman and
another as the secretary. Then we’ll all vote on anything that has to do with
the church. It might be anything from the colors of the walls in the men’s
restroom to having the preacher not talk against denominationalism so much
because we really don’t want anybody to be offended, you know. But the one
thing that I really like about the board meetings is that no matter what, I get
to vote on what the church does. Ya, I know. We got elders. But the only thing
they do is make sure all the classes have teachers.”
Now, I have a question for you. Do
either autocracy or democracy have anything to do with God’s blueprint for the
Church? Is it God’s intent that one man should have supreme power over everyone
else or that the flock shepherd themselves? Well, I can say with absolute,
total certainty that the answer is definitely not!
You might ask how I can be so sure.
And I’ll say, “Let’s go to God’s word”. We’ll start by going back to our text.
Ephesians 4: 11-16 says, “And He gave some as
apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors
and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the
building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure
of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no
longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by
every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful
scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into
Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and
held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of
each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of
itself in love.”
There are some things I want us to
notice here. First is the fact that Jesus gave apostles and prophets who are no
longer needed, as well as evangelists and pastors (or elders as we would call
them) who are still needed. Secondly, why did He give evangelists and elders? For the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to
the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Does this imply anywhere
that they are to rule with an iron fist or neglect their responsibility by
allowing the saints to attempt to equip themselves? No, that’s not the role of
Christ’s gifts. Do you truly think that He would even endorse these things? His
desire is for us to be no longer children, tossed here
and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery
of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.
And that’s done by the leadership speaking the truth in love so that we grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even
Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every
joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes
the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
You see, the true structure of the
Church according to God’s plan is that Christ Himself is the Head of the
Church. Not some egotistical elder or preacher; not some voters who gather
around a table once a month, but Christ.
Autocracy and democracy are
man-made ideals. They are secular in nature and have no place at all in The
Church. God’s Church is to be a Theocracy where God is the Supreme Ruler. And
in this theocracy Jesus said, “All authority has been
given to me in Heaven and on earth”. Jesus is the one who rules the
Church! Not an elder; not a preacher. Only Jesus.
Remember earlier we talked about
Jesus telling Peter that on this rock, Peter’s confession of Jesus’ Christhood,
that He would build His Church? We have to remember that. That it is Christ’s
Church. He is the Owner, the CEO, and the Chairman! Those who are called the
church leadership absolutely must be His servants, subordinate to Him in all
things; taking instruction from Him and Him alone.
If we don’t get that right; if
we’re not a theocracy, how can we call ourselves Christ’s Church?
Joh 14:1-6 “Do
not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My
Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told
you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be
also. And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas
said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the
way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the
truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
The day that you stand to be
judged, there’s not one person on this earth that you’ll be giving answer to –
not me, not any man of this church, not any woman of this church. Only God!
Are you ready?
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