Authority in the Church - Glenn Conjurske
Introduction: Authority in the Church
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves.” (Heb. 13:17). This and other scriptures plainly teach that there is and ought to be authority in the church. Before we speak, however, of the scope and purpose of that authority, we must clearly establish the nature, the necessity, and the purpose of authority in general.
The Source of Authority
All rightful authority proceeds from God. “There is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God” (Rom. 13:1) — where the meaning of the words “power” and “powers” is “authority” and “authorities.” Any authority which any man rightfully possesses has been delegated to him by God, and is therefore an extension of the authority of God himself. God has established the authority of parents over their children, husbands over their wives, kings and magistrates over their citizens, masters over their servants, and elders over the church.
What is Authority?
What is authority? The authority of God consists of the right and the power to enforce conformity to his will, and this is the nature of all authority. The authority of parents over their children consists of the right and the power to enforce conformity to their will. So the authority of masters over their servants. So the authority of kings over their subjects. But since their authority comes to them from God, it must be understood that their own will is not the final standard, and it is an abuse of authority to make it so. Authorities themselves are under authority, as the centurion who said, “I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.” (Matt. 8:9). All human authorities are ultimately under the authority of God, so that their authority does not consist of the right to require conformity to their own will as such, but to their will as it is conformed to the will of God. Authority exists, and has been established by God, for the purpose of requiring and enforcing conformity to what is right. Nevertheless, in most cases where authority is abused, and used for selfish purposes at the expense of its subjects, God still recognizes that authority, and requires submission to it. “Servants be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.” (I Pet. 2:18). The same is true if authorities are ignorant and incompetent, so that those who are under them actually know better than they do. God still recognizes the authority of those whom he has placed in power, and requires submission to them.
Exceptions to Authority
To this principle, however, there are two exceptions. The first is that in every case in which any authority requires of us anything which we know to be wrong, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29). To that there is no exception. We are to suffer wrongfully under tyrannical authority if we must (I Pet. 2:19), but to do wrong we never have any right. The other exception is that no abuser of authority or incompetent authority is to be tolerated in the church of God. A father, a mother, a master, a king, may all of them be selfish and abusive, or ignorant and incompetent, and yet God recognizes their authority still, and requires submission to it in all things, excepting only that in which it would be sinful to comply. The only qualification necessary to exercise such authority is to hold the position which gives it to them. Not so in the church of God. There God lays down stringent qualifications for those who are to rule in the flock of God, and no man has any right to exercise authority in the church of God unless he meets those qualifications. Neither has the church any business to recognize the authority of a man who fails to meet those qualifications.
The Nature and Purpose of Authority
Authority exists for the sole purpose of enforcing conformity to a standard. Where there is no authority to enforce, there is no authority at all. Authorities do not exist merely to suggest and advise, but to require and enforce. Were it a mere matter of advising, a subject has as much right to advise the king, as the king has the subject. A wife has as much right to advise the husband as the husband has the wife, but she has no right to require submission of him. A child may suggest to his parents (providing he does so with proper deference and respect), but he may not require anything of them. Servants may give advice to their masters, but they may not require them to act upon it. The person, on the other hand, who holds the place of authority has the right to require and enforce.
Emblems of Authority
The Bible uses several emblems of authority, and these emblems clearly set forth the nature of authority:
Bands and Cords: “Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us,” say sinners who cannot brook the prohibitions of God (Ps. 2:3). Bands and cords are to restrict and restrain, and obviously to do so forcibly.
The Yoke: “Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour.” (I Tim. 6:1). “Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.” (I Kings 12:4). “Take my yoke upon you” — that is, submit to my authority (Matt. 11:29). The yoke is to restrain and control, to enforce the will of the driver upon the team.
The Rod: “If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with the rod.” (Ps. 89:31-32). “Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.” (Prov. 23:13-14). “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power [authority] over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.” (Rev. 2:26-27). “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” (Rev. 12:5). “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom” (Heb. 1:8) — where “sceptre” is the same word in the Greek as “rod” in the other scriptures. The rod is the obvious symbol of enforcement — of enforcing conformity to a standard by inflicting punishment.
The Sword: “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power [authority]? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 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.” (Rom. 13:3-4). “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, … And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Rev. 19:15-16). The sword obviously signifies the power to enforce by inflicting punishment, even to the taking of life.
The Purpose of Authority
And observe at this point, this God-given right to require and enforce conformity to a standard exists for two distinct reasons: for the good of the individual who is under the authority, and also for the good of the society of which he is a part. The parental rod is used for the good of the child, to correct him and deliver his soul from hell, but it also exists for the good of the family to which the child belongs, to prevent the unruly individual from destroying the peace and harmony, or ruining the name and prospects, of the whole family. The magistrate’s sword is also for the good of the individual, to deter him from doing evil, but where that fails, a greater good must take the precedence, and the offender be cut off for the good of the commonwealth. All of this is clear in the scriptures quoted above. The King of kings and Lord of lords comes with both a sword and a rod — a rod to govern and control, and a sword to cut off those who will not be governed. I shall have more to say on this when we come to speak of authority in the church.
The Necessity of Authority
Such is the nature of authority. What is the necessity of it? It is needed because many are ignorant of what ought to be done, and because many are unwilling to do it. The ignorant need a teacher, of course (and the rulers in the church must be “apt to teach” — I Tim. 3:2), but they need a ruler also. It may require a great deal of time and pains to bring the ignorant to understand what is good and right and wise, and are they to be left to do as they please in the mean time? Their own good, as well as the good of the society (family, church, etc.) to which they belong, forbids this. Children do not possess the wisdom of their parents. They do not understand as their parents do what is right and wise. Parents are therefore given authority to require them to do what is right and wise, whether they can understand it or not. Those parents who allow their children to do as they please, while they endeavor to guide and advise and persuade and instruct them to do better, fail entirely to exercise the authority which God has placed in their hands. Children ought by all means to be given guidance and instruction, but they ought first to be required to do what is right. This is necessary for the good of the child and the good of the family.
The Need for Authority in the Church
But there is another reason for the existence of authority, more compelling than that of people’s ignorance. If we could suppose every human being to know what the will of God is, yet we cannot suppose them all willing to do it. Every child who knows the will of his parents is not necessarily willing to do it. The yoke may be enough for those who are willing to submit to it, but for those who are not, the rod is in order. The power to enforce implies the power to punish. The parent holds the rod. The king holds the sword. I believe that there is only one exception to this rule, which is that, so far as I can see, Scripture gives no such power to the husband, and in the nature of the case there ought to be no occasion for it.
Confusion in the Absence of Authority
The necessity of authority among the people of God is graphically set forth in the last five chapters of the book of Judges, all of which C. I. Scofield’s Reference Bible very aptly labels “Confusion: civil and religious.” The reason for that confusion is set forth in the last verse of the book: “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Judges 17:6 says exactly the same thing also, and twice more (18:1 and 19:1) we are told that “there was no king in Israel.” There was confusion because there was no authority.
Authority in the Church of God
This confusion is apparently not to be attributed to the determination of the people to do wrong, for the Scripture twice tells us that “every man did that which was right [righteous, or upright] in his own eyes.” The difficulty was “in his own eyes.” He had no proper understanding of what was right. And it is evident that this is essentially the state of things we may expect to find in the church of God. The church is a society composed of the godly, and, except in the case of false converts admitted unawares, it may be assumed that the first principle of their lives is to do the will of God. Yet they may have very faulty notions as to what the will of God is, and they may be very conscientiously stubborn in clinging to those ideas — and to the practices which those false notions dictate. One conscientiously believes in laying up treasures upon the earth. Another conscientiously believes in worldly sports and recreations. Another conscientiously believes in polygamy. Another conscientiously believes in admitting the unconverted or the disorderly to the Lord’s table. One believes he should not work to earn his living, but trust God and spend his time praying. A woman believes in adorning herself in gold and silver and fine apparel. Another believes herself called of God to speak in the church. A man believes the same, though he has no gift or ability for it. They are all wrong, but they all think themselves right. They need to be taught, to be sure, but in the mean while are we to allow the church to be a scene of confusion? Not so, for God has established authority in the church, and that authority exists for the purpose of requiring conformity to a standard of righteousness, holiness, and order. This is the nature and purpose of all authority, and all who belong to the church are required by God to “obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves.”
The Responsibility of Those in Authority
Here we must again insist upon the fact that it is the responsibility of those who “have the rule” in the church to rule in the church — not merely to preach, to exhort, to advise, to counsel, to persuade, but to rule. “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour.” (I Tim. 5:17). He must be “one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity, for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God.” (I Tim. 3:4-5). This plainly indicates ruling by authority, as do also the words “obey” and “submit” in Hebrews 13:17. This means requiring obedience, enforcing submission, as is obviously the case when a man “rules well his own house.” I have known good preachers, with high standards, who failed altogether to rule or exercise any authority in their churches, and the churches were in a muddle of disorder, apparently having no standards at all. The business of elders is not merely to preach, but to rule, and the best of preaching cannot take the place of good discipline.
The Role of Elders and Church Discipline
How are elders to go about this business? Very simply. They must determine according to the wisdom which God has given to them what things are essential to the good of the church and the people in it, and require submission to those things. What if people will not submit? Then they prove themselves to be people of the wrong spirit, such as do not belong in the church, and they are to be excluded from it. Their presence in the church will foment discord and discontent, undermine the authority of the elders, and destroy the harmony and the testimony of the church. It is to be taken for granted that those who are humble and godly will submit to the authorities which God has established in the church. Those who will not do so are to be excluded from the church, both for their own good, and for the good of the church.
Authority and Accountability
There is room here, of course, for a great deal of abuse, as there is with all authority. This is so because in the final analysis every position of authority gives to its holder the power to enforce his own will upon those who are under him. In the church of God, therefore, the place of authority itself is protected by stringent qualifications, in order to assure that the will and understanding of the men in authority will be governed by the will and word of God. Some may wonder why God does not dispense with authority altogether, and instead of requiring the saints to submit to their elders, simply require all to submit to himself. He does require all to submit to himself, yet many have but a very limited understanding of what his will is, and others have little intention of submitting to it, though they are determined to remain in the church. A ruler in the church is there to insure that the will of God is done there, and of course he must exercise his authority in accordance with what he understands the will of God to be, though the people under him may have different ideas. Their understanding of certain things may be the exact opposite of what their elders think, yet they are responsible to submit to their elders.
Recognizing and Submitting to God-Given Authority
And here I must affirm that such a situation is precisely the reason for the existence of authority in the church. If everybody in the church, if every babe in Christ, understood as well as the elders do what the will of the Lord is, there would be no reason for the elders’ authority. When the babe in Christ and the father in Christ are perfectly agreed as to what is right (and both, of course, determined to do what is right), what possible occasion could there be for authority? What need to obey or submit? It is only when the shepherd and the lambs disagree that there can be any occasion for the lamb to submit and obey — and it is for such occasions that authority exists in the church.
The Necessity for Qualified Elders
But as said, there is room for a great deal of abuse here, either in the case of a Diotrephes, who uses his authority for his own ends, or in the case of a sincere man who is ignorant and unspiritual. For this cause God has placed some very precise safeguards around this position of authority. In the first place, the persons who are to exercise this authority are called elders. This assumes that they are men old enough to have some experience and wisdom, which will fit them to rule others. Age, however, is not enough. Scripture lays down some rather stringent qualifications for those who are to rule in the house of God, one of which is that he must demonstrate his ability to do so by ruling his own house well (I Tim. 3:4-5). All of these qualifications are obviously given to keep unqualified men out of the place of authority. The church has no business to put unfit men into authority, nor to acknowledge the authority of those who may be there.
Conclusion: The Importance of Authority in the Church
This is a very serious matter, for the church, and the individual saints who comprise the church, are commanded by God to submit to those who rule in the church, and to obey them. And this submission and obedience is in matters of the utmost consequence, for this life and the life to come. The church has no right to acknowledge the authority of unfit men, any more than it has to refuse the authority of those men who are fit, and whom the Holy Ghost has made overseers over the flock of God (Acts 20:28). The fact that the qualifications for elders are twice (I Tim. 3 and Tit. 1) so largely and carefully laid down in Scripture indicates that the church has a solemn obligation to know the men who are so qualified, and acknowledge the authority of them, and of them only. “And we beseech you, brethren,” writes Paul, “to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.” (I Thes. 5:12-13). And not merely to esteem them, for Paul says also, “I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints), that ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth.” (I Cor. 16:15-16).
This is not even necessarily a question of official position in the church, but of character, though it is to be presumed that those who have the character should occupy the position — and certainly none others should. All of this is of the utmost importance. The men who are in authority over you have the power to determine to what you will submit. You had therefore better exercise the utmost care in determining to whom you will submit, precisely as every woman ought to do when she marries. Nor are you at liberty, as she is, to determine that you will retain your independence, and submit to nobody. A woman is at liberty not to marry, but if she does determine to marry, she is not at liberty to refuse her husband’s authority. In determining to marry at all, she determines to submit to her husband. And in determining to identify with the people of God, you determine to submit to those whom God has placed in authority over them, assuming that such men exist. If there are such, whom the Holy Ghost has made overseers in the church of God, you must submit to them in order to submit to God, for God commands it. And as you must do this, so you may do it, for Scripture is clear and explicit in its statements of the qualifications. Yet so careless are Christians and churches about this matter, that the places of authority in many churches are filled by men who lack half the qualifications.