Church Order

Ephesians 4:11 It was he(Jesus)who gave some to be apostles,some to be prophets,some to be evangelists,and some to be pastors and teachers--1 Corinthians 12:28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles,second prophets,third teachers,then workers of miracles,also those having gifts of healing,those able to help others,those with gifts of administation,and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

 

Neither one. The church is pastor lead and congregationally governed.

Christ is the head of his church (Col. 1:18, etc.) and all believers are priests (1 Pet. 2:9).

Elders (pastors) are to rule well (1 Tim 5:17) and the congregation is to affirm the rule of the pastors (Acts 15:25; Philippians 2:2). </font>[/QUOTE]And conflicts across several congregations were settled by the council of Jerusalem. (Acts 15)

 

It states plainly in 1Cor 12:28 And in the church God has appointed 1st apostles-2nd prophets.....To not understand this is strange.Basic reading is a course I think Ive mastered."The dog was brown".What color was the dog? Brown.If you cannot read and comprehend this,you have reading problems,or you do not want to believe what the bible says,or it does not agree with what you want.As a person in journalism,I am surprised that you dont understand this Jason.You seem like a very smart person.1st apostles...is the bible outdated because we have not heard of any modern day apostles?Or perhaps the modern church does not want an apostle?I do not know,but I can read...God gave the church 1st apostles...Notice God did not have the sheep elect the shepard,He appointed an apostle.If Jesus is the same yesterday today and tomorrow,is the bible not also?

 

I apoligize if I offended you by replying to you so plainly.I was not intending to poke fun at your abilities,but if the scripture states something plainly,we can either try to"get around it"-count it as outdated-or try to believe it even though it does not make sense or seems like it contradicts other scripture.I have ran into this many times and am no expert at all.The scripture that TC gave must also be true as well as the ones I gave.Yes, I believe God still appoints apostles and prophets.In the past,some were killed by Gods people,and always were persecuted.I know of only one who claims to be an apostle and he will make you mad.I will back out now and let others answer these questions.Again I apoligize if you were offended.

 

J.Jump

I appreciate your question.

I am at a location without my Bible, but we do know that the Scriptures indicate that Christ is the head of the church. Not recognizing that is the greatest oversight that many churches are guilty of. From what I can tell in the Scriptures, he never did and never will relinquish that position.

I say this because there is a circle of baptist churches who hold to an extreme view of pastoral authority. They won't come out and say it, but their actions indicate that the pastor is "where the buck stops".

I once attended a church like this. You were expected to see the pastor before buying a car, having children, buying a house, etc. That type of church order is abusive and miserable.

Many baptist churches are ran by dictators that expect blind loyalty. Anything less is not tolerated. They have the heart of Diotrophes and it robs from and true church order that could exist under the headship of Christ.

 

TC,let me understand you,you are saying that God put in the church 1st missionaries then preachers then teachers?

 

So in your belief,there is no apostle leading the church today?

 

Also ,should a messanger be leading a church?Thank you for your wisdom.

 

I assume you have never pastored a large church to make such a comment. I assume you would consider Charles Spurgeon to have been over paid too? But certainly you have read the writings of Spurgeon to know what he writes about the pastor of a large church. The larger the church the more humble the pastor must be.