Of all the subtle changes that have wrought havoc in the Church in this century, none has been more damaging than its professionalization. The world’s business methods and management principles have found a welcome there. What concerns me more is the attempt to rationalize this new marriage by suggesting that Babylon’s rules of business are rooted in Scripture. Will such an attempt survive close scrutiny?
Of course the Father’s business is to be taken seriously and not treated like a hobby or a whim. Is it left to us, though, to lean to our own understanding and decide the organizational structure of His business? Man’s work is organization, becoming more ungainly and complicated as time passes. It is this influence which has resulted in the ecclesiastical empires that abound today and from which simple gatherings of God’s people have been preserved until now.
God’s Word is order. He established it at the beginning and it remains sufficient and efficient. There is world order, church order and home order. Each is clearly explained in the Word.In the world, there are government-subject, employer-employee, and believer-unbeliever relationships. In the Church there are elder-flock, brother-sister, and Christian-Lord relationships. In the home there are husband-wife, parent-child, and sibling relationships. These have remained constant since God established them and each sphere of responsibility in each relationship is carefully explained. Of course, as the simple order of Scripture is adjusted, neutralizing the man-woman order in the Church and inserting new categories that complicate the basic elder-flock order, new organizational schemes must be introduced to compensate.
The problem is not the divine order set in the Body, but a lack of spiritual exercise. If each member sought the directives of the Head, the whole Body would be built up (Eph. 4:15-16). Where there is a paucity of exercise, man’s substitute is to organize. By programs and pressure, efforts are made to mobilize the listless Church. The resultant flurry of activity is taken to be spirituality.
The root of the Greek word which Paul uses for “exercise” has as its primary sense, “to strip down.” We are to lay aside anything that would keep us from a pure conscience (Acts 24:16), a godly character (1 Tim. 4:7-8), a mature grasp of Scripture (Heb. 5:14), or benefiting from the disciplines of God (Heb. 12:11). Is not this the problem of the Church in North America? Encumbered by the things of this world, she has lost sight of the next. Satisfied with a little milk, she has lost her appetite for meat. Careless about sin, it seems she couldn’t care less about holiness. The problem is not a lack of “organize” but of “exercise.”
Much has been made of the so-called “Jethro principle.” Reference is to the suggestion to Moses by his father-in-law to delegate responsibility for Israel’s “Small Claims Court” to other wise and incorruptible judges. Now I would not want to be critical of Jethro’s plan; it is nowhere condemned (or commended) by the Lord. It would be unwise, however, to carelessly apply this to solving the shortage of under-shepherds among assemblies. When there was a need — not for wise men to adjudicate in civil matters, but men imbued with the Spirit — God did not leave it up to the people (as in Exodus 18) but took matters into His own hands (Num. 11:16-17). A similar situation developed in the early Church. When deacons were to be appointed to handle temporal issues, it was “choose you”; but when elders were needed, it was the Lord who raised them up.
Furthermore, there is a clear difference between delegation and discipleship. The Lord Jesus warned the apostles against imposing the world’s management style on the Church. “And so shall it NOT be among you,” He said. It was not supervisors He wanted, but servants.
Much damage has been done by confusing elders with executives. God did not intend elders to be decision-makers but discerners; not making up their own mind, but seeking the mind of God. We thank the Lord for businessmen who make the tough choices so they can also be busy for Him. We are grateful for those who apply themselves with all diligence to the Father’s business. It is a shame to be careless about the things of God. Let us, however, resist the pressure to adapt the world’s hierarchical structures, fund-raising and marketing techniques, and yardsticks of success.
It is not, after all, business as usual.