I could give many examples of how the church in the West has moved a long way from the church that the Apostles founded and that we read about in the Acts of Apostles and the Letters of the New Testament. But on this occasion I want to focus on how leaders are appointed today in Evangelical churches (remember that Evangelical churches are supposed to follow the Bible when it comes to how they conduct themselves).
Before I do that I just want to remind you that there were two kinds of leaders in the New Testament church; Apostles and Elders. And the local church was led by a group of elders. There were no ‘one man bands’ in those days. Some churches today still have elders but they tend to have a lesser role compared to the main leader who tends to be called a Pastor and is a paid professional. The Church of England is a little different and so are some the other Evangelical denominations but the essence is still the same. And an enormous amount of power is put into the hands of this one Pastor, Vicar or Minister. Furthermore, the way that the Pastor is appointed is very different to the local elders. And it’s the way that Pastors are appointed that I want to focus on.
In most cases, when a local church wants to find and appoint a Pastor, the church will use the same methods that are used by the world. The first thing that they do is to write a job description, which usually explains what the applicant will be expected to do, the qualities they need to have and the qualifications they need. Then they will advertise the post and invite people to apply. And when someone applies they will be required to produce a CV and fill in forms which are designed to demonstrate their skills and qualifications. When the application is received, a selection process takes place and a short list of candidates is produced. Then the candidates will be invited for interview and references will be sought. And at the end of the process, the person who best matches the qualifications and skills set by the local church will be chosen for the post. Does this sound familiar? This is exactly how the world chooses managers for secular jobs. There may be some variations between denominations but in essence this is how it is done.
I would also like to mention something that most churches require of their Pastor’s and that is a degree in Theology. Now these degrees are largely set by secular universities who provide the necessary accreditation. They have a huge influence over what is taught by the theological colleges where potential Pastors go for their training.
But where do we find this way of appointing leaders in the New Testament? And where in the New Testament do we find the requirement for leaders to have Theology degrees? The simple answer is that we don’t because this is an entirely worldly way of doing things. Remember, we are told in Romans 12:2 not to conform to the pattern of this world.
So, how were leaders chosen and appointed in the New Testament? Let’s start with Jesus and the way he chose the Apostles. We have an example of this in Matthew 4:18-22. Notice how He didn’t do anything that I have described above for the appointment of Pastors. He just went up to them and called them to follow Him. So how did He come to choose them? Well, we’ll come back to that later. Now let’s have a look at what the early Church did when they needed to appoint a new Apostle to replace Judas. We read about it in Acts 1:12-26. Notice once again how they didn’t do anything that I have described above for the appointment of modern day Pastors. And finally let’s have a look at how the early church appointed apostles. We see this in Acts 13:1-3 when Barnabas and Saul were appointed. Up until this point they were both teachers but in this passage the church at Antioch appointed them to be apostles. And yet again we find that they didn’t do anything that I have described above for the appointment of modern day Pastors.
So, what can we learn from these three examples about how Pastors or any other leaders should be chosen and appointed in the church? Choosing and appointing leaders required two things; prayer and the Holy Spirit. There was an element of suitability for the job in choosing the leaders but overriding this was the leading of the Holy Spirit. In the example of Jesus, He was full of the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 3:16-17) and He only did what the Father wanted. However, He also had an ability that we don’t possess; He could read men’s hearts. So Jesus chose the twelve men to be Apostles because they had the right heart and because He was guided by the Holy Spirit. Then, when the eleven Apostles needed a replacement for Judas they prayed and they were led by the Holy Spirit through the casting of lots. And what did they pray? They prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry……” Notice that the choice was God’s, not theirs. And finally, in the example of the church appointing Barnabas and Saul to be apostles, the church at Antioch were worshipping and fasting when the Holy Spirit told them what to do with Barnabas and Saul. Before this happened Barnabas and Saul were teachers. But God had chosen them to be apostles so the Holy Spirit revealed this to the church.
Now it is true that those who were to be leaders needed to be qualified but not in the way we think of it today. Their qualifications were to have the right heart, to be true to the Apostles teaching and to be of good character. And in those days, after Pentecost, it was normal for them to be baptised with the Holy Spirit. When it comes to having the right heart, I mean that they were to have a servant heart and be totally dedicated to serving the Lord and not serving their own interests. And when it comes to being true to the Apostles teaching, I mean to the whole of their teaching and not just parts of it. And it means not erring from it. And finally when it comes to being of good character, I mean the standards set out in the New Testament. Please see 1 Timothy 3:1-7. However, when we are choosing and appointing leaders we can’t see into their hearts so we need the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us. And they must be God’s chosen leaders. So once again, we need to pray and seek the leading of the Holy Spirit. And if we have done this correctly then those that we appoint will fulfil all of the requirements I have stated above and will be fruitful in their ministry.
So, why don’t we do this and why do we use worldly methods instead? I believe that it is because we have lost the ability to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit and because we pay lip service to the New Testament. Because we have lost the ability to hear God speak to us through the Holy Spirit we have turned to worldly methods with disastrous consequences for the church. So, it’s time we got back to God’s way of doing it.