Leadership

We all need teachers and leaders to help guide us. But the Bible holds the answers, not the word of man.  Man redesigns things and wants them to fit into their views or a comfortable tradition with which they are already familiar. 2 Timothy 4:3  “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”  More on false doctrine below. (ref below 1)  The early church went astray when it began deriving its traditions from the Jewish traditions it had sprung from.  We are all equal at the foot of the cross, there are no special levels for men.  We endeavor to hold to the Word of God, the teachings of the Bible and not to the word of man.  “At some point in the second century, the idea began to develop that those who served the church in certain leadership roles were in fact a special priesthood - separate from the common people.  One of the most significant proofs that this development was not an original concept of the church is the linguistic evolution of the Greek word presbuteros (“elder”) that was adopted into the Latin language and eventually gave birth to our modern English word “priest.” (2)  Jesus is the High Priest (3) but we, who have been baptized into Christ, are the kingdom and priests representing Him. (4)  Therefore, the Bible teaches that as faithful, baptized disciples we are all priests, we all need to teach the Gospel and represent Christ. We are all part of the body of Christ.

That being said there are certainly those who know the Bible well, are better equipped to teach and should be teachers.  Consider Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-39). Acts 8:30-31 “Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.” The eunuch was open to learning and Philip was able to teach him, the eunuch was baptized and rejoiced. Philip was a disciple of Jesus, more specifically an Apostle.  We don’t have the Apostles physically with us anymore. An Apostle is a contemporary in Jesus’ time and the New Testament tells us who these men were, by name.  But the early church adopted the concept of Elders from their traditions. Elders are men selected to lead locally in congregations of the church. (Jerusalem - Acts 11:30; 15:2,4,6,22,23; 21:18; Lystra, Iconium and Antioch - Acts 14:23; Ephesus - Acts 20:17; cities of Crete - Titus 1:5)

We currently have support for leadership from The Charlotte Church. They send an Evangelist or an Elder to lead our worship and teach one Sunday a month. This is when we meet at the Hampton Inn & Suites. However, on most Sundays the message is preached from the head of a household. Since all of us are in our Bibles and preach only from the Word we develop our own messages from what we are each currently studying.

References

(1) 1 Timothy 1:3-11 “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.”

(2) Fleming, Andrew C. In Remembrance of Me: Enriching Our Understanding of the Lord’s Supper, p.155

(3) All of Hebrews, but for reference: Hebrews 9:11-12 ”When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.”

(4) 1 Peter 2:5 “...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Revelation 1:6 “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

Revelation 5:10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."

Revelation 20:6 “Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years."