Who Governs the Church if We Follow the Bible?

Who governs the church ought to matter a great deal to all those who want to be Christians and Christians
only by following what the Bible says. I know of no other way to be just a Christian, that and nothing
more, other than to follow the Bible as closely as humanly possible. That means one must ignore the
traditions of men in religion and must ignore all teachings that cannot be found in book, chapter, and
verse in the New Testament.

Too often men just inherit the past in religion. We were all born into a world full of denominations and
the Roman Catholic Church. If we are not careful we just inherit a religion from either our parents or our
wife or husband and claim it for our own all the while assuming it must be pleasing to God. The truth
often is the one whose example we are following after likely received his/her religion the same way.

One of the easiest ways to test one's religion is by comparing how the church of which he is a member is
being governed compared to the teaching of the New Testament on the subject. The New Testament is
very clear on this matter making it simple to find the truth and thus simple to see whether or not we are in
a church that is a New Testament church. If it is not we ought to get out of it.

"Christ is head of the church" (Eph. 5:23 NKJV) and whatever is done in the church or anywhere else is
to be done "in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Col. 3:17 NKJV), meaning by his authority. Jesus has all
authority, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth." (Matt. 28:18 NKJV) We cannot
step outside the authority of Christ found in his word and set up a way of governing the church to suit
ourselves. Well, let me revise that a little – we can but if we do we are in rebellion against the head of the
church and against the one whom God the Father gave all authority to. We disrespect him and his word
when we do so and involve ourselves in sin by supporting such a set up.

Christ did provide for government, oversight would probably be a better word, within local congregations
of churches of Christ (Rom. 16:16). As just stated, in the prior paragraph, those who would be governing
within a local congregation were given no rights to step outside his word, to add to it, to take away from
it, or do anything that would take away from Christ's headship of the church. His word, his authority, has
to be respected by those who would be appointed as overseers of the local congregation in a locality.

While the apostles lived they had authority in the church (they still do through their writings). To disobey
an apostle who was speaking the word of God by inspiration was the same as to be in disobedience to the
one who gave the inspiration – God himself. The brethren at Corinth who received instructions from the
apostle Paul were not free to disregard those instructions because he was not present with them and was
not one of them. However, the apostles were only 12 in number, could not be everywhere at once or
know about every group of brethren in every hamlet throughout the Middle East, Southwestern Asia, and
Southeastern Europe nor were they going to live forever.

Church oversight or leadership was needed on the local level. This God provided for in the appointment
of elders in the churches, each church having a plurality of elders with no one single elder being the boss
elder. In Acts 14:23 when Paul and Barnabas were on their first missionary journey the text says, "So
when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the
Lord in whom they had believed." (NKJV)
Paul wrote to Titus, "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are
lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you." (Titus 1:5 NKJV) Where there was a
church, a congregation, there were to be elders appointed provided there were men within it that met the
qualifications that Paul gave to both Timothy and Titus for the appointment of such men. One can read
about these qualifications in1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.

Now please read carefully and understand that the words elder and bishop refer to the same individual.
This is easily seen in Titus 1:5 where Paul tells Titus to appoint elders and then in verse 6 begins giving
him the qualifications for such men going on through verse 9 but refers to these men in verse 7 as bishops
– he says, "For a bishop must…" (compare Titus 1:5 with Titus 1:7). These bishops were not like bishops
in the Catholic Church today but ruled with other like bishops, or elders, in the local church only.

They did, however, rule in the church. This can be seen in 1 Timothy where Paul says one of the
qualifications is that an appointee must be "one who rules his own house well … for if a man does not
know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?" (1 Tim. 3:4-5 NKJV) In
the book of Hebrews we are instructed to "obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they
watch out for your souls, as those who must give account." (Heb. 13:17 NKJV) The elders were to take
care of the local church of God of which they were members and from which they had been appointed
ruling it in accord with God's word.

In the book of Acts, chapter 20 verse 17, Paul called for the elders of the church of Ephesus to come meet
him at Miletus (read it for yourself). One of the things he said to them was this, "Therefore take heed to
yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the
church of God which He purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28 NKJV) Several comments are in
order on this passage.

Take note that they had a flock to oversee and that flock was specific - the Christians in the church at
Ephesus from whence Paul had called them to come to Miletus. They were elders in the church at
Ephesus. He did not tell them to go and try and oversee the flock at Colosse or the one at Derbe or any
other such place. The flock they had been appointed to oversee was specific – it was the flock at Ephesus
and nowhere else.

The modern day idea people have of a bishop, as in Catholic bishop, is nowhere found in the Bible.
Remember that an elder is a bishop, they are one and the same (Titus 1:5 compared with Titus 1:7).
There was no such thing as single bishop rule over even a single congregation let alone over multiple
congregations spread out over a wide area. As is the case with most of Catholicism, no Bible required,
none wanted for authority, will be ignored if found, and burned if we could go back to the Middle Ages
and ownership barred from the public. (As you can tell I am a politically correct person – right? But, you
have to remember Catholics claim authority for the church and thus do not need Bible authority from their
point of view.)

However, the Bible foresaw the development of Catholicism and of the bishops seeking of greater power
than what was granted to them. Paul, in talking directly to the elders at Ephesus (and remember an elder
is a bishop, one and the same) said to them, "Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking
perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves." (Acts 20:30 NKJV) Now no one can deny
what Paul said and no one can deny who he was talking to when he said it.
The second thing I want to note from the Acts 20:28 passage is the fact these men were to be in charge of
the church at Ephesus as overseers. When decisions needed to be made and plans made for the specific
work of that church it was their duty to see to it and to oversee it. It is not the purpose of this article to go
into all the work of an elder so I leave it at that. Our purpose is to define who is to do the governing of
the church.

Thirdly, they were to shepherd the church of God of which they were made overseers. The word
shepherd refers to their duty to guard the flock, feed, and care for it. They were "pastors" of the church as
per Eph. 4:11. But, please note that they were pastors in the plural, not the singular. The idea men have
today that one man can be the one and only pastor of a congregation is unscriptural. Such a character
cannot be found in the pages of the New Testament. No New Testament congregation ever was led by a
single person, not one. If you have a pastor in the denominational sense of the way the word is used
today you are not a New Testament church in your organization and government. Find the church that
had a single pastor in the New Testament. That is a challenge. It cannot be done.

The truth is the word "pastors" (as per Eph. 4:11, the only place where it is found) means shepherds and
the Greek there (poimenas) should have been translated by the word "shepherds" to be consistent. To
prove that the word pastors as used in Eph. 4:11 is the same as "shepherds" see how the Greek is
translated in that passage in the English Standard Version which I here quote. "And he gave the apostles,
the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers." (Eph. 4:11 ESV) See also Young's Literal
Translation which also uses the word "shepherds" instead of "pastors." Barnes, the well known Bible
commentator, says this is the only place in the New Testament where that particular Greek word is
rendered "pastors" rather than shepherds. My own research has found the same.

All of this contrasts greatly with the way most churches today are governed. In the New Testament each
congregation was totally self-governed by men appointed as elders after having met the qualifications that
were given by the Holy Spirit via the apostle Paul's instructions to Timothy and Titus for such. There
were no national or international bodies that ruled all the churches. There were no Popes or rule by a
single man designated as "the pastor" as per some denominations today. Each congregation through its
elders made its own decisions about its work based on New Testament teaching concerning what that
work was and how it was to be done.

God made the provision to govern the church this way, not me. Do not grow angry with me for simply
pointing it out. It is his way. Man has to decide whether they are going to abide in God's way or go their
own way. There is little doubt but what most will go their own way for that is their preference – my way
or our way, not God's way. What this simple little study does do, even if it does not change minds, is
show one whether or not he/she is in a New Testament church. You do not have to judge anyone to do it.
All you have to do is look at the church's government. Who governs the church where you are at?