Church Heirarchy, part 1: Someone to Watch Over Me

“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah." (Matthew 23:8-12)

When you think of a "pastor"--what comes to mind?

Not any particular pastor, good or bad. Just a pastor, in general. What is that person? What do they do? What is their job and responsibility? What makes a good one? A bad one?

If you're like most people, you think of a pastor as the primary leader of a local church. In some churches, the pastor is the CEO, or final authority; but even if he (or she) doesn't have spiritual authority over the church, they are at least the most visible staff member--the one everyone looks to (and pays) for inspiration, leadership, and an example of mature Christianity. They typically need to function as the churches chief manager, counselor, and public speaker specializing in Bible teaching.

Regardless of the particular politics of a given church, the pastor (and pastoral staff) are usually expected to fill these roles and responsibilities. They are expected to spend more time on the business of the church than the "non-pastor" members. It is expected that they will devote their full-time efforts to leading and managing that particular church. They are also expected to live at a higher ethical standard then the typical "non-pastor" members.

The church member's job is to attend and participate, and pay for their pastoral staff to uphold these roles. The pastor's job is to uphold these roles; if they do not, they will lose their position. After all, that's what they're paid for, right? They need to be about the business of the church full time, because the "non-pastors" are already busy with their "secular" work. Somebody needs to make sure the church keeps running and growing. That job falls to the pastor, of course.

That's the predominant thought, anyway--that's what we have all been conditioned to think about pastors. Pastors (clergy) have been given more responsibility and authority than laity. They are "over" and the rest of us are looking up to them. So, if you're looking for God's direction, you really need to check in with your pastor. They have the position of authority; they are your spiritual covering; they are your 'teacher'; they have been given the wisdom.

So what's the big deal? I see at least two really big problems with this:

1. It puts certain "specially qualified and approved" people in the unbiblical role of spiritual Teacher and Father-figure--roles which belongs only to God.
   
2. On a practical level, it does more harm than good to the people involved. Take a look at these stats from The Fuller Institute, George Barna, and Pastoral Care, Inc.
   

• 90% of the pastors report working between 55 to 75 hours per week.
• 80% believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families. Many pastor's children do not attend church now because of what the church has done to their parents.
• 33% state that being in the ministry is an outright hazard to their family.
• 75% report significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry.
• 90% feel they are inadequately trained to cope with the ministry demands.
• 50% feel unable to meet the demands of the job.
• 70% say they have a lower self-image now than when they first started.
• 70% do not have someone they consider a close friend.
• 40% report serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.
• 33% confess having involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in the church .
• 50% have considered leaving the ministry in the last months.
• 50% of the ministers starting out will not last 5 years.
• 1 out of every 10 ministers will actually retire as a minister in some form.
• 94% of clergy families feel the pressures of the pastor's ministry.
• 66% of church members expect a minister and family to live at a higher moral standard than themselves.
• Moral values of a Christian is no different than those who consider themselves as non-Christians.
• The average American will tell 23 lies a day.
• The profession of “Pastor” is near the bottom of a survey of the most-respected professions, just above “car salesman”.
• Over 4,000 churches closed in America last year.
• Over 1,700 pastors left the ministry every month last year.
• Over 1,300 pastors were terminated by the local church each month , many without cause.
• Over 3,500 people a day left the church last year.
• Many denominations report an “empty pulpit crisis”. They cannot find ministers willing to fill positions.

And if this is happening to the leaders, how is that affecting the churches they are leading? How does it affect morale? The community life of the body of Christ? Spiritual growth? The mission of the Church?

Incidentally, these are not just statistics to me. They precisely describe my own experience as one who has been both a pastor and a former pastor. Maybe you can relate too; the numbers of us "ex-pastors" out there is growing every year!

Here's why I think church hierarchy (i.e. the Clergy-Laity system) sucks: The idea of putting a person in charge of God's church does not come from God. It comes from the human desire to have a human leader.

We crave structure that we can understand and see with our eyes. As a result, we naturally assign people these roles of spiritual leadership, even though God specifically told us not to. And we all suffer for it.

This isn't a new problem, by the way; the same thing happened with the people of Israel, didn't it? God wanted to lead the people Himself, but they didn't want that--they wanted a human leader, much like the kind they had seen over other nations. he prophet Samuel warned them of the consequences of this, but they insisted:

But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.” (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

This set a pattern that held for generations--with mixed results, and many, many tragedies for God's people. When Jesus finally came to reiterate God's view on this topic, he put it this way:

“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah." (Matthew 23:8-12)

Later on, in the early life of the Church, the apostle Paul warned against Christian believers aligning themselves under particular church leaders:

Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! (1 Corinthians 1:12-13)

When the Roman Emperor Constantine gave Christianity a government-approved presence in the 300s A.D., he effectively gave God's people back the human leaders they craved. After this, churches became local organizations, each with their own dedicated building and their own human leadership--just like the government, just like the local pagan religions, just like "the nations" that Israel looked to. And this basic form, with some revision, has remained with us to this day.

Nowadays we say things like, "I am a Lutheran," "I am a Southern Baptist," "I go to Pastor _______'s church," or "I am a part of the _________ church family." What is the implication of all of these statements? They all imply that we find our spiritual identity under one particular group, organization or leader. But there is still only one Body, and only one Leader.

I figure that for many people reading this, the burning question might be: But doesn't the Bible teach that the Church has leaders, pastors, elders, etc.? Don't we as sheep need shepherds to guide us? The answer is, yes; but more on that next time...

Please understand that I'm not saying "pastors" are unbiblical; they are one of God's gifts to the Church. Beyond that, many people who are pastoring right now are great, godly people with a passion to serve God's Church. I am not against any people, especially those who have committed themselves to the call to ministry. I'm saying that how we've turned pastors into a clergy class, which has authority over the laity, is unbiblical.

The churches we know and experience today are more often operated like a government, a business, or a military organization. In those kinds of organizations, it's normal to have a top-down flowchart of command. It's what we all know, understand, and are used to.

But it's not how the body of Christ works.

I know this topic may be a tough sell for some. You may be reading this disagree with me, and that would be fine. This is my blog, you can write yours. Conversation is a good thing. I am not the be-all and know-all. I am only speaking from my own perspective, my own experience, and my own understanding of God's word.

In part two of Church Heirarchy, I'll focus more on the solution than the problem. If this clergy-laity thing sucks, then what doesn't? How can we as followers of Christ begin to trust our true Leader more and more, so we can follow where He's leading?

Thanks for taking the time to read through and consider this, and please feel free to sound off with any thoughts you might have about Church Heirarchy.