SUBMISSION TO PASTORS
Heb. 13:7, 17
Morning Meditation 02/28/13
A dear friend of mine ask me to comment on Pastoral rule, deacons and plurality of elders. I am going to depersonalize this and send it out as a meditation since is contains information which may be a help to some.
There was a plurality of elders in the early Church. But they did not occupy an office. There was one time I had twenty-two preachers in my church. You could say I had a plurality of elders!!! But they had no more authority than any other man in the church. So to try to prove there is an office of elders in the church because there was a bunch of preachers present is grabbing for something that is not there.
Next. The deacons were ordained out of a need to take care of the proper distribution for food that was being handled by the church for the poor. The office of deacon was created after the Lord started the church, after the church was baptized in the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and because of a particular need. There are rules for the ordination of deacons. When the need arises (the feeding of the widows and the distribution of food for the poor) I believe this is a proper office. But there is not one Scripture in the Bible that even hints that it is the deacon’s job to take the offering, handle the money or serve the Lord’s supper. Now if the church wants to ordain deacons and create the office and use it for something other than was originally intended, it is their business and I believe they have the liberty to do that. But if that was being handled right in the churches, why is it that one of the main sources of problems in the churches is the deacons? You couldn’t run fast enough to ordain me to be a deacon. I would create a sonic boom as I made my exit if the office were offered to me!!!! I do not want to inherit the name and reproach that has been brought to that office by those who thought they were ordained to share management with the pastor.
God has always worked through a leader. That leader in the New Testament is the pastor. The pastor should listen to his men. What they say should be important to him. But he ultimately has the burden of finding the will of God for the church and come before them, offering what he believes God wants done. Every time I did this at Shady Grove, the men felt that what I was suggesting was right. I discovered when I found the will of God, God had also worked on their hearts to cooperate. It took a few years after I became pastor to teach and establish this kind of leadership. But we did not have a split because of the gradual process. I did have men come and leave because we would not ordain them as deacons or recognize the ordination that they had received from another church. I guess they thought I was a one man show because I did not work with the deacons. The amazing thing is that I worked with all the men.
I believe that one of the problems that causes resistance in the church over pastoral leadership is the inherent rebellion that every Christian has with submission to authority. Wives rebel against the authority of husbands, husbands rebel against the authority of Christ and we all have a problem with the speed limit!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But it all goes back to distrust and jealousy over the leadership God has provided. This is the exact problem that Aaron and Miriam had with Moses.
Now let me get to the Scripture: Heb. 13:7 says, “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.” The word “remember” (mnemoneuo) means “to be mindful of, to remember, to call to mind, to think of and feel for a person or thing.” This word in the New Testament is not just a mental act. It is a memory that is connected with an appropriate action. A good commentary on this is 1 Cor. 9:7-18. It is a verb and is a present active imperative. The present tense is an on going action which means to continually remember your leaders in acts of love and do things appropriate to show your support. The word “them” is plural but does not necessarily mean over one at a time. Or, it could refer to a pastoral staff in a large church where a pastor has associates. The word “rule” (hegeomai) means “to lead, to rule, to have authority over.” It is a strengthened form of the word “ago,” to lead. So it is to lead with authority. The words “who have spoken unto you the word of God” identify the “rulers” that are to be remembered.
The words “whose faith follow” (mimeomai) mean “to imitate.” The pastor who teaches the Word of God should so practice it in his life that those who hear also have him as an example of the message he preaches. It is a present middle imperative verb. The present tense means that it is to be an on going thing. The middle voice is where the subject (those who follow) will be helped by the action of following him. The imperative mood is not only a command but expresses urgency. It is urgent that we follow our leaders. If we do not follow our leaders, we will follow someone else. Many in the U.S. are following TV personalities rather than their local pastor and they are as confused doctrinally as a termite in a yo yo!
The words “considering the end of their conversation” is an appeal to copy the goal of a godly life. The word “considering” (anathaoreo) means “to look at attentively, to consider well, to observe accurately.” The present tense means to keep on looking attentively. I found this comment on the word “end.” Heb. 13:7 refers not only to the end of physical life, but the manner in which they closed a well spent life as exhibited by their spirit in dying.” -Online Bible in Strong’s.
Now drop down to Hebrews 13:17: “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”
The word “obey” (peitho) is a present middle imperative from a word meaning “to be tranquillized, to be persuaded, i.e., to be induced by words to believe.” I had to look twice at that definition which uses the word “tranquilize.” A positive response to the preacher of the Word of God will tranquilize the hearer. What a glorious thought. And what a true thought. The word “rule” is the same one as in verse 7. It is present tense and refers to their present pastor.
The words “submit yourselves” (hupeiko) means “to resist no longer, but to give way, yield (of combatants).” This has a real application when you consider that those who submit to pastoral authority must bring their old sin nature into subjection. They must submit because the flesh wants to resist. A spiritual pastor cannot lead a carnal church. They just won’t do what Paul is telling them to do here. That is, they won’t without repentance.
The words “for they watch for your souls” is the reason for submission. If a pastor has to struggle to lead a group of rebellious Christians how can he watch for their souls at the same time. He will be completely distracted by trying to maintain leadership. The words “as they that must give an account” reveal the awesome responsibility that a pastor carries on his heart as he pastors his flock. The deacons will never have to give an account for the church. The church is not their responsibility. A board of elders is never said to have to give an account for the church. It is not their responsibility. The local church is the responsibility of the pastor (one man) and he will give an account. He should always keep this in mind and the people to whom he ministers should keep this in mind.
The words “that he may do it with joy” describe a pastor’s delight. I pastored all but nine months of my 42 years in the ministry (at the time of my retirement from the pastorate) and I can say most of the time it was an overwhelming experience of joy. But there were times when I had members that took the joy out of the experience. When one rejects your pastoral authority and ignores your presentation of truth, it is described in the words “and not with grief.” The word “grief” (stenazo) means “to groan or to sigh.” I have “groaned” because of my inability to help someone who really needed help. I could see it, they couldn’t or wouldn’t. And they refused to respond positively to the Word that I taught. It is like a father who is doing the best he knows to bring up a son who thinks he knows more than dad. He refuses all the admonitions and instructions and goes out into a life of trouble. All of which could have been avoided if the son had only listened to the loving admonitions of a father who was simply exercising his God given responsibility.
The words “for this is unprofitable for you” tell the story that is repeated over and over again. The only way the pastor can profit a listening person is for that person to submit to him and his teaching. If he refuses, what he hears will not profit him. But I want you to notice carefully it does not say it will not profit the one who has the rule. God will reward the faithful pastor just as if the unruly person had obeyed. God does not hold the pastor responsible for the rebellion on the part of the hearer. He does not hold him responsible for the rejection of the truths that he preaches.
There are many other verses that could be explained on this subject. How could a pastor “reprove, rebuke with all longsuffering and doctrine unless he had the God given authority and responsibility to do that?
God has always used a man. I’m talking about a man at the top. There has to be a place where the buck stops. There are many who would make a hen pecked preacher out of their pastor by taking his authority away and give it to a bunch of men who have not been called or gifted for the job. I used to tell people that I was not a dictator of my church but I was here to make sure no one else was either. Jesus is the Head. And the Head of the church works through a God appointed human leader whom he has appointed. The letters to the seven Church of Asia were addressed to the pastors.
May the Lord bless you.
