Sermon Tone Analysis

If the biblical evidence argues for a congregational polity, that is- the evidence in the NT shows the church as a whole, or the congregation making all the decisions in the church, then were does that leave the authority of the pastor?

How can a pastor lead or shepherd the flock, if the flock is the one making all the decisions?

And there is Scriptural evidence of pastors ruling or leading the church.

How does the idea of elder/pastor/bishop leading or ruling in the church, if it is the congregation that makes the decisions in the church?

To understand this dilemma, one must understand what pastoral authority looks like, and what it does not look like.

Does the pastor of a church have any kind of authority over the members of the church?

If so, what authority does he have?

What does that authority look like?

I.

The pastor does not have the authority to force his decisions on others

I Peter

Specifically in v. 3 Peter forbids the elders/pastors/bishops in terms of their authority, to lord it over God’s heritage.

Or the idea is that Peter is forbidding pastors the kind of authority that forces their decisions on the rest of the members of the church.

The verb for “being lords over” means “to become master over” or “to gain dominion over” or “to subdue”

For the pastor the sense is that they cannot rule over the congregation in making and enforcing decisions by force or decree.

II.

The pastor’s authority is bound up in teaching and preaching the Word of God

Debated verse- some find Scriptural support for elder rule from this verse.

They would argue that this verse teaches two different kinds of elders- ruling elders and teaching elders.

Thus, the church should be ruled by ruling elders not the congregation.

This interpretation creates four different groups of elders/pastors- Ruling elders, those who rule simply and those who rule well.

And teaching elders, those who teach simply and those who teach well.

The problem is this verse is ambiguous- it could mean one of two things.

Do you remember our hermeneutical rules that we covered several weeks ago?

How should we handle ambiguous passages?

We let clear passages interpret ambiguous passages.

And we especially do not base theology on ambiguous passages.

The other interpretation is to understand the word “especially”- be counted worthy of double honor, “especially” they who labour in word and doctrine.

We understand this to mean “namely.”

Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, namely they who labour in the word and doctrine.

So what we have here is not two different kinds of elders (not ruling elders and teaching elders).

Instead you just have elders/pastors.

And every elder or pastor has authority in the church, that is, every pastor has ruling authority in the church.

The question what does that authority look like, or where does that authority come from?

Namely, it comes from laboring in the word and in doctrine.

So the rule of a pastor, the authority of a pastor is not by force, it is rather a moral authority that comes by means of labouring in the word and in doctrine.

This interpretation creates only two categories of elders as opposed to four.

You have elders who rule simply- they merely handle the word and doctrine, and you have elders who rule well- they labour in the word and in doctrine.

By the way, this is the biblical evidence given for the idea of rank amongst pastors.

This is why we have the title “senior pastor.”

All pastors are worthy of honor, but most often there is one pastor whose job is primarily to preach the word.

And he spends most of his time reading and studying the word.

And it becomes evident to the people that he labours in the Word and in doctrine (he doesn’t just teach the word and doctrine, he labors in it and teaches is it well).

The one who does this, Paul says, is worthy of double honor.

Occam’s razor states that the simplest interpretation is to be preferred, or don’t multiply entities unnecessarily.

So the probability that Paul is referring to only one kind of elder here is to be preferred.

But again, this text is ambiguous and we should not base church government on an unclear text, especially when we have so many clear texts of congregational rule.

Those text should inform our interpretation on unclear texts.

What you need to take away from this passage is that the rule of the pastor- the authority of the pastor is primarily moral and it is bound up in his ability to labor in the word and in doctrine.

Other passages that teach this:

The pastor is one who is to admonish believers and that is connected to what it means for pastors to be over you in the Lord.

This means that the teaching in the pulpit is not to remain abstract or to remain in the pulpit.

Instead the pastor’s teaching is to be applied to real life situations.

III.

The pastor’s authority is bound up in his example of living out the Word of God

This is according to how the Apostle Paul ministered to the churches.

I Cor

Phil 3.7

Paul also gave Timothy and Titus the same command.

1 Tim 4.

Clearly, the example of the pastor is of utmost importance.

And any pastor who is not so effected by his own laboring in the word and doctrine that it doesn’t also change every part of his life, is severely lacking in his authority in the church.

Really, that is how the two elements of the pastor’s authority should come together.

And we have a great example of this concept- the idea of teaching and example as being the pastor’s authority- in .

One of the qualifications of a pastor is the ability to rule his own house well.

The reason being that if he cannot rule well his own house, how can he rule well the church of God?

It is important to keep in mind what a household looked like in Paul’s day.

Yes there was the typical family- husband, wife, small children.

But there were also adult children, elderly parents, in-laws, servants, and sometimes guests.

When we think about having children in subjection with all gravity what do we typically think of?

With small children it is possible to simply crack the whip, or to bark orders and to simply force obedience.

Sometimes this is necessary, and sometimes it is simply easier to force compliance.

But, the man who is head of the household cannot do this to adult children or in-laws, or guests.

His leadership would have to involve instruction, persuasion, coordination, and illustration through example, all bathed in an attitude of sacrificial interest.

Paul’s implication is that leadership in the church would be even more difficult.

Why?

In the home, at least sometimes, the father can crack the whip, or make decisions unilaterally.

But, in a church, the pastor does not have this kind of authority.

The only authority a pastor has is morally- skilled preaching and teaching of the Word, and a passion to put into practice the Word of God in every area of his life.

So it seems clear, pastors do not make the decisions for the church- they cannot simply impose their will.

Instead pastor’s teach and preach the Scriptures is such a way as to prepare the church to make wise decisions for itself.

It’s like the Father bringing to bear the Word of God in their adolescents son’s life and being a consistent model for the truth- its a moral authority.

Pastor passionately preach the Scriptures and they live out their faith so transparently that their congregation can see by their example how Biblical principles come to bear upon life.

They do this all in a spirit of gentleness, patience, and meekness that resists becoming tangled up in pride and quarrels

IV.

A pastor has no authority of his own

When properly understood, this is a liberating principle for the pastor.

I have no authority in and of my own self.

My own opinion counts for nothing and should carry no weight in the church.

Pastors and churches get into a lot of trouble when this principle is not understood and followed.

The pastor operates strictly with the authority of Jesus Christ- and authority mediated only through the Word of God!

Christ is the head of the church- his authority is the only authority that matters.

My own personal opinion is no more authoritative that the opinions of anyone else in the church.

The authority of a pastor is in the proclamation of the Scriptures, and he labours in the word and in doctrine, and he rightly explains their meaning, and he brings the truth of Scripture to bear upon the personal lives of his people, and he illustrates the truth of the word through his own personal example.

BUT- when the pastor has done these things, the church, God’s people are morally obligated to submit to him and obey him.

To be clear, you are NOT submitting to and obeying the MAN, you are not submitting and obeying because of the OFFICE, your submission and obedience is directed to the Word of God!

And I want you to understand this important Scriptural truth.

If you fail to do this, if you fail to submit and obey the authority of Scripture, rightly brought to bear on your life by the teaching ministry of the Pastor and by his example, you will find yourself in a less that advantageous position one day when you stand before the Lord.

The idea of this verse is not that pastors will give an account for their themselves.

They will have to do this, but that is not what this verse is teaching.