Christian Leadership

A Pastor is not a dictator to be obeyed without question; he is a leader and a friend whose example should help guide us. A leader welcomes questions because he is confident in his place in the Lord. He understands different people’s points of view and he uses his Biblical knowledge to draw people from all points of view and all backgrounds and all situations to Christ.

Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.

This is the main verse used by so called Christian leaders to suppress any questions coming their way. They want you to think that what they say is absolute and without error and so they try to scare you into thinking that if you question what they say, you are sinning against God. People who demand absolute, unquestioned devotion are in actuality weak minded people who are too frightened to face the questions that may arise from believers.

Let’s look at the Greek version of this verse. Instead of saying “obey your leaders”; it says to” be persuaded by the leaders”. Not to simply obey them without question, but to be responsive to their persuasion. In essence it is saying to not be so set in your ways and so hard hearted that you are not even open to be persuaded by your leader. And instead of saying “submit to their authority” It says to “defer to them” (your leaders) in matters that you do not understand. This means to go to them, ask them about a biblical verse or situation that you don’t understand. This verse really speaks of a dialog here, “Be persuaded” by the leader and “defer” to him when you don’t understand.

At times even Paul had to persuade other believers to go where he wanted to send them. This means that they questioned him. They might have said we don’t feel like going, or we feel God leading us in another direction. But did he scorn them for questioning him? Did he tell them that in questioning him that they are sinning against God? No, he simply went about the business of persuading them that what he wanted them to do was a directive from God and not from himself. That is a leader. When we question our leaders it’s not only beneficial for our own learning, but it keeps them on their toes and keeps them sharp

A Christian leader is not someone who just gives orders and expects us to obey them without question, but a leader is someone willing to persuade us, to convince us, the flock, that what he is saying comes from God and is scriptural and is imparted by the Holy Spirit.

So while one school of thought puts the responsibility on the congregation to just willingly submit unconditionally and without question to the Pastor, The other school of thought puts the responsibility on the Pastor to use his God given ability to persuade the congregation to follow his example and convince them that what he is saying and doing is from God.

True, the congregation has a responsibility, to seek God, to follow His word, to be led by the spirit. But it’s the Pastor’s responsibility to continually convince the prudent believer that his teachings are that of God and that they are inspired by the Spirit of God. When the first school of thought is in place, even good leaders will get corrupted. That’s why Jesus told us to seek. He didn’t say to give over all of our seeking responsibilities to the Pastor.

Always seek, always question if what you hear in Church doesn’t line up with scripture. Always strive for the next level, because there will always be a next level until we are face to face with Christ.