Why Our Current System of Church is So Listless (Rev. 3:14—17)


For decades now I have attempted to convince those who insist the way our churches function today is God’s plan is simply not true. I began realizing it several years ago, but only today did God give me, what I believe is the most powerful argument yet against our current system of practicing church. I argued for many years that Paul, almost always referred to the “church in your house,” in his letters; and that is true. Those who presented the counter argument made no attempt to deny that fact, but they simply concluded (incorrectly) the current evolution of body of Christ into the monstrosities we like to call the church was natural. They argue it is the natural evolution of anything that is as important as the church to grow into something better. What utter, unmitigated foolishness. The most disgusting and least biblical argument I have ever heard is that the mega-church and many mega-denominations can do so much more for missions and their communities than can the small home church. That’s much like Gideon’s excuse that he was not the man to do God’s work because he was from a small, insignificant family in Israel (Judges 6:15). Both arguments hold water like a three hundred gallon barrel with a two hundred gallon hole in it. All one has to do is read the story about Gideon’s misadventures with the mighty God of Israel to grasp his complete lack of understanding about God’s way of doing things. He began with 22,000 men and ended up with 300. And those 300 men were divided into three groups who killed 120,000 mighty swordsmen from the Midianites, Amalekites, and sons of the east in one battle. We may logically ask, “Why did God tell Gideon to send home 21,700 warriors and engage the enemy with only 300?” The bible gives us the simple but powerful answer. It was so only He (God) would get the credit for the results. I’d like to humbly suggest the one thing that has been the Achilles heel of the mega-church in America is the proclaimation of its leaders that it needs to be mega to do mega things for the kingdom of God. It has thus, more times than not, left God’s will lurking in the shadows while it demonstrates how much man can do without Him.

Listen and listen carefully. It seem obvious to me the major reason our current system of practicing church is such an abject failure is that it both ignores the biblical admonition found in I Corinthians 14:26-33 and it requires man to invent and perpetuate the one man circus we have come to call weekly sermons, the highly ineffective monologue (the ancient Greek’s way, adapted by the church in 386 A.D., to present man’s philosophy to the masses). Rather than God speaking through His prophets (note the instruction in I Cor. is plural) each week as the church meets, man speaks from his own vain imagination, which he has had to diligently train in order to continue performing his one man show week after week, month after month, year after year, and sometimes for decades. And, even when current brain research confirms it’s the absolute worst way for man to learn, we continue the practice. I have wanted to ask for clarification or add a comment countless times while listening to countless preachers preach countless and mostly boring sermons for the past 38 years. Several times, when asked to fill in for a missing preacher, I have asked the audience to feel free to interrupt me and ask for clarification about anything I say in an attempt to get a dialogue going. Most congregations have looked at me like I was crazy.

I suggest the thing that made the first century churches so alive and vital to the welfare of the communities where they functioned was simple. When they met, they got messages from God because they expected God to speak through His prophets during those meetings; and strangely enough, He did. I’ve discovered most churches I have been in for more than a couple of week’s have had several men who were just as capable as the “senior pastor’ of speaking on behalf of God to His people. I have also discovered, much to my consternation and dismay, those men are seldom allowed to share the wisdom God has given them for the most obvious of reasons. Men who have spent years in school acquiring a degree, a certificate of ordination, and the weight of the mighty seminary or Bible College behind them are too intimidated by anyone who knows as much or more than they do about God’s word to deal with it effectively. Unfortunately, most seminaries and bible colleges apparently spend most of their time teaching their students how to manage a church than how to listen to God’s voice and study His word. I say that because of the fruit those colleges bear. I have been in hundreds of conservative and liberal churches in 38 years, and I can testify from experience that few of them had men in the pulpit who had much wisdom to preach that came from God’s word.

The number who download their messages from the internet is becoming an epidemic of epic proportion. The number who develop a topic and then use a few verses from God’s word to support some vain, humanistic philosophy has, for my entire Christian life, been in the overwhelming majority. I was dumfounded to learn recently that it is a commonly accepted practice for contemporary preachers to go to the internet, download a good message, memorize it, practice using good speech technique, and deliver it as if it were a message God gave them in their own quite time of bible study. Seminaries are even teaching their graduates how to tear up at the appropriate time to really get the attention of their listeners.

The simple, sublime truth I pray churches in America will one day come to realize is that God’s churches function better when a group of ten to twenty couples get together around a table or in a living room of someone’s home and allow God’s prophets to speak. I have personally been in such settings many times in the past 38 years and can attest to the incredible learning that takes place in those settings. Probably, most of you reading this will consider my comments nothing more than an annoying puff of smoke. Unfortunately for the church in America, they are solemn words of truth (I Cor. 14:26-38). Paul ends his instruction on the topic with these sobering words, “If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment. But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.”

So, consider ignoring anyone who presents an argument against God’s intended plan and purpose for His church. Stop listening, for any extended period, to the vain ramblings men pose that violate the clear teaching of God’s word on the subject of the church. If you are attending a mega-church, you don’t necessarily have to leave it. Just make sure to get into a small, intimate bible study with a group of men and women who love God and who study His word diligently. They might even come from the church you attend. Just refuse to rely on one man’s speeches from a pulpit week after week to be the sole source of your learning about God, His plan and purpose for your life, and His church. There will likely be at least two or three men who are the prophets spoken of by Paul in any small group that starts as the result of anyone seeking to engage God’s original plan for His church. Let them be the real source of your learning. You’ll be amazed at how blessed you will be and how quickly you will grow in the grace and knowledge of God and His word. And don’t try to convince the “senior pastor” of the church you attend that you learn more in your small group than you do from his weekly sermons. He’ll not likely appreciate your honesty. His vanity will, more likely than not, get the best of him. He may even try to figure out how to get you excommunicated from “his” church.

I will close with the following; “Thus says the Lord, ‘It won’t be long before the true church, as it exists in America today, will have to go underground. It will have to meet in homes or private facilities that function as something else during the week. The time is soon coming when government, even in America, will control what preachers can preach. It has already begun in many communities. That will require those who refuse to bow the knee to Baal (the spirit of anti-Christ) to begin meeting secretly. They will continue to preach in the streets, which will result in many of them being arrested and imprisoned for extended periods of time. Finally, once the anti-Christ has gained sufficient power, he will begin executing those who defy him.’”

Please post a comment at the end of this article if you read it, even if you strongly disagree. I would appreciate knowing how many did actually take the time to read it.

God’s Elder Must be Free from the Love of Money

Chapter 12

Again, this is one of those areas where I have been sorely lacking for at least two full decades. As a new believer, I had no problem because I didn’t make much in the way of income. Then, along came Satan. I got a real job, making pretty good money and voila! I got sidetracked. My wife and I currently make nearly $90,000 a year and that ain’t hay. But I have never quit studying God’s word. That is the only thing that saved me (figuratively speaking). As I continued reading God’s word, I became aware that I was forfeiting my calling to preach the word for the love of money (Matt. 13:22). Please trust me brethren when I say, we who are called of God are not exempt from the temptation of those who are not. The difference between us and them is that we listen when God speaks.

I have such a yearning to be faithful to my calling today, that I haven’t a doubt in a million that God has indeed placed this yearning in my soul. I am free from the love of money. My love of money ceases when it fails to allow me to preach the word in season and out. When, at the end of the rainbow, money fails to produce fruit, it has failed to produce God’s purpose. When God’s word says God’s Elder in God’s church must be free from the love of money, it means plain and simply that God’s Elder must be free from the love of money. There is no human counterpart to such freedom. It is beyond the wildest imaginations of man’s heart. God’s Elder must be free from the love of money!

The Elder Must Manage His Household Well

Chapter 13

“He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),” (I Tim. 3:5). Probably one of the most difficult tasks of all for the Elder is knowing how to keep his household under control with dignity. In an era in American jurist prudence when there is a greater propensity to charge parents who apply biblical discipline in the home with abuse than to punish children who commit murder, it is difficult to imagine things are going to get any better. Certainly, The clear indication from this verse is that, not only must the Elder be the husband of one wife, but that he must be a husband. One who is not married, or who has not been successfully married (not divorced, but possibly widowed) qualifies to serve as an Elder. Likewise, it seems apparent the Elder must have had children. The challenge of being a godly husband and father has few equals in this life. After 34 years as a husband, foster dad, uncle, and uncle-in-law, I still struggle with some of the most basic principles of loving but firm leadership as taught in God’s word. It is one thing to be a leader; it is quite another to be a leader who can lead, keeping those he leads, under control with all dignity. Even the word control has been demonized today by those would prefer anarchy.

Those who would lead as dictated in God’s word are often called “control freaks.” When a husband insists his wife allow him to be the one who interprets God’s word in the home and she proclaims something like, “God’s living in me too,” we see the perfect example of Gen. 3:16b, “. . . yet your desire shall be fore your husband, and he will rule over you.” The phrase is the same one used in Gen. 4:7 where God is talking with Cain when he says, “. . . sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” It is the bent of woman, when she yields to self-indulgence, to attempt a coup on the authority of the husband. And godly women are not exempt from this daily temptation. It is the most basic tenet of rebellion against the plan of God for creation. In all of Satan’s arsenal, his most effective tool is deception. In America especially, he works overtime to convince the Christian woman she is positionally equal to her husband. After all, she is an American; and America is a democratic society where everyone is equal. Satan used the same strategy unsuccessfully with Jesus in Matthew 4.

There is no question God’s Spirit resides in the born-again woman just as He resides in the born-again man. There is also no question that the one who refuses to subject himself to the indwelling Spirit of God is in direct rebellion against God’s word (I Peter 3:1-6). Anyone claiming to be living a life in subjection to Jesus as Lord who does not, at the same time, live his life in subjection to Jesus’ word is clearly living a lie (I Jn. 3:24; 4:15). It is required of the Elder in God’s church to keep his household under control with all dignity. An inability to do that simply means he will not be willing to go against the political and religious thinking of a given culture to administer God’s word accurately in His church to His flock. Any man who does not have the intestinal fortitude to stand against the pressures of society in defense of God’s word, has no business being an Elder in God’s church.

The church cannot be obedient to God’s word and remain politically correct. And it cannot afford to cave to the pressures of the culture in which it finds itself. While God’s people, for example, do not have to wear clothes that make them look like they purchased them at the Salvation Army, they do need to dress with dignity, converse with dignity, act in a dignified manner, and, at all times demonstrate by their chaste behavior they are children of the King. These are the things about which Paul (under the power of the Holy Spirit) was speaking when He commanded us to be separate II Cor. 6:17).

If a man has not gained the respect and admiration of his wife and children, he does not yet qualify to be a leader in God’s church. I think it is worthy of note that an Elder might indeed have a son who is in jail for criminal activity. He must not have a son who is committing sin against anyone within or without the body of Christ who is not being appropriately disciplined for such sin. The son who got involved in drugs, and as a result is in jail, is being kept under control. And while some would argue that is not with dignity, I must disagree. The best father in the world cannot prevent any member of God’s creation (even his own child) from rebelling against God and His word. And Elder must deal with such rebellion as demanded in God’s word if he is to continue to qualify to hold the office of Elder. He must resist the temptation to fear what man can do to him if he administers God’s word in his home.

Some states today are actually seeking to pass legislation making it illegal for parents to administer corporal punishment. Beloved, that is when it is time to obey God rather than man. Elders in God’s church do not make excuses for the ungodly behavior of their children. They apply God’s word of discipline, which will sometimes involve the use of the rod (Prov. 29:15). I shudder in fear and trembling when I hear any man of God brag he has never lifted a finger against his child. And the one who proclaims a father should never discipline his child in anger doesn’t know God very well. There is such a thing as righteous anger, and God administers discipline often while righteously angry. Anyone who doesn’t believe Jesus was angry when he overturned the tables when the money changers were using God’s house for profit is living in la la land (Matt. 21:13). It is the worst kind of ignorance, which brags about refusing to discipline the rebellious child with the rod, because it breeds contempt in the heart of the child who thinks he can do anything without fear his father will ever use it. Proverbs 13:24, 25 reads, “He who withholds his rod, hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.” So, contrary to what Doctor Spock, Dr. Townsend, or Dr. Dobson tell us, God’s word says it is the father who withholds the rod who actually hates his son. And it is also the ungodly man who does not make sure his wife realizes she is not to teach or exercise authority over man in spiritual things in the home or the church. I have written an expose on that subject called God’s Role for Women. It is readily available for free for anyone who asks. You can contact me most of the time at 1-406-488-1447 or email me at purkey@midrivers.com.

Finally, it is clear that one who cannot manage his own household will never be able to manage God’s household. The church, filled with strong personalities and men and women filled with God’s Spirit, is a magnificent thing to behold when those strong personalities are brought under the guidance of godly Elders. When not under that godly guidance, it is either an impotent, lackluster, lukewarm body just waiting to be buried, or it is a building filled with carnival like activities once, twice, or several times a week. Jesus never danced in the aisles of the synagogues. None of his disciples ever slew anyone in the Spirit. He never smacked anyone on the forehead to heal them. And while there is absolutely nothing wrong with raising our hands in praise shouting for joy, rolling in the aisles and hopping up and down like a bunny rabbit is a clear failure to maintain control with dignity. A child hops up and down with he gets a new tricycle. Mature adults don’t do such things. It isn’t dignified; and thus, it isn’t godly.

The Elder Must Not be a New Convert

Chapter 14

It’s especially interesting here that God’s word does not define what it means by the term “new convert.” Therefore one can only interpret new it is light of what is old. This reasoning is the best case for situation ethics I have ever espoused. Of course however, we are not dealing with ethics here. But we are dealing here as nowhere else in scripture with the idea that Elders will, of necessity, be the eldest men available in a particular geographic area. Unfortunately, that might mean an Elder in a church in Rapid City, South Dakota might have been a Christian for two or three decades, while an Elder in a church in Shelby, Montana might only have been a Christian two or three years. In other words, I think this verse clearly means that the Elders of the local body must be those who have been walking with Jesus the longest in a particular group of believers.

I Tim. 4:12 indicates Timothy must have been rather young. No one knows for sure what that means. If Paul was eighty when he wrote the letter, one who is fifty would seem young. And nothing in the text indicates Timothy was an Elder in Ephesus. I rather doubt he was. He was a church planter and an evangelist who usually traveled with Paul. The point here is that a new believer is not yet ready to handle the incredible authority that goes with Eldership. A new believer, no matter how old he might be physically, spiritually is not ready to deal with the responsibility of leadership in God’s church. When new believers receive such anointing, they often become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil (I Tim. 3:6). God’s Elder must not be a new convert.

The Elder Must Have a Good Reputation

Chapter 15

The obvious reason the Elder in God’s local church must have a good reputation with those outside the church is stated in the verse, “so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” Several years ago I had an unpleasant experience with a member of a country western band I played with. That person is so incredibly immature that he has taken the opportunity numerous times since that event to attempt to make life miserable for me publicly. He has failed to do that, nevertheless, his response to that insignificant event has served to remind me how critical it is we carefully guard all things we say and do no matter when and where we are. We must realize the world is full of sociopaths. Great multitudes of people who appear to be perfectly normal are not. What is important about Elders is that they recognize ungrounded satanic assaults against a fellow Elder. Once more we see why the Elder in God’s local church must meet stringent qualifications as indicated by His word before he is anointed to the ministry. And beloved, seminaries and bible colleges have no biblical authority to do ordain men into ministry. The anointing of Elders is entirely the ministry of the local church. It is essential, if a man desires to be an Elder in the local church that he live above reproach. That means he must live a transparent life in which he makes no attempt to hide any of his activities. The Elder can’t be one who occasionally experiences road rage, yells at his wife for taking too long to get ready for church, curses his children for spilling milk at the church picnic, smacks his son for breaking a plate, writes an editorial defaming the name of a community leader, refuses to care for orphans and widows, allows his wife to dress inappropriately in public, defends the veracity of his children when they have obviously committed criminal acts, or looks upon a woman to lust after her.

So the Elder in God’s local church must have a good reputation with those outside the church. If church leaders are not exemplary citizens, lost souls will not likely be drawn to Christ. And it's expecially difficult to effectively teach what one does not live.

Titus’ Instruction about Elders

Chapter 16

Moving to Titus 1:5-9, we discover some nuances which are a little different from those found in Timothy. Elders are commanded in Titus to be “above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion, above reproach, not self willed, not quick tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospital, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict.” We will ignore instructions like the Elder must be, the husband of one wife, above reproach, not quick tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, hospital, because we have already addressed them in Paul’s admonitions to Timothy. We will address the issues of “not accused of dissipation or rebellion, and not self-willed, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, and holding fast the faithful word which is accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict.”

It is not possible to completely separate the meaning of Paul’s instructions to Timothy and Titus. Both are meant to be conclusive. In other words, Timothy did not need to hear the instruction Paul gave to Titus to select godly men to lead God’s church in Ephesus, and Titus did not need to hear Paul’s instructions to Timothy to know how to select godly Elders on the isle of Crete. That said, we have the luxury of having Paul’s instruction to both Timothy and Titus. Therefore, we are expected, according to the admonitions of Romans 15:4 and I Cor. 10:11, to apply them both to our thinking when we select Elders in God’s local church today.

The Elder Must Not be Accused of Dissipation or Rebellion

Chapter 17

Like Paul’s instruction to Timothy, the Elder must have a good reputation with those outside the church. But this instruction goes even further to define the lifestyle of the one who desires to be an Elder in God’s church. The idea of dissipation here carries with it the concept of temperance. Here, it means, the Elder must do all things in moderation. He must not be one who drinks excessively, gambles at all (gambling is sin because it violates the tenor of Proverbs 20:21), spends six hours on Sunday watching football games(demonstrates obsession), watches any sexually explicit “R” rated movies (sexually immoral), misses a fellowship with the brethren to go hunting, fishing, playing a sport (demonstrates incredible lack of insight into what is truly important), or dreams about owning something he doesn’t need for basic sustenance (demonstrates an idolatrous attitude). Doing any of the above is excessive and that is what dissipation means.

Rebellion is a little easier to identify, but it is not so easy to rectify. Please allow me to clarify. Rebellion is any action or activity, thought or act that opposes the revealed word of God. Please allow me to clarify further. The man who refuses to lovingly teach his wife about the need to cover her head when praying or prophesying publicly is rebelling against the revealed will of God (I Cor. 11:5, 6). The man who refuses to use the rod to discipline his children appropriately for inappropriate behavior is in direct rebellion against the revealed will of God (Prov. 19:18). The man who allows his under aged children to attend sporting events when they should be attending church is in direct rebellion against the revealed will of God (Prov. 22:6). The man who does not set the example in his home and community for purity and holy living is in direct rebellion against the word of God (I Thes. 4:11, 12). The man who does not commit a significant amount of time daily to the study of God’s word, prayer, and the ministry of his gift(s) to the body of Christ is in direct rebellion to the revealed will of God (I Tim. 2:15; I Pet. 4:10; I Thes. 5:17).

Granted, all of these sins are forgivable, but sins they are, and no man who “practices” them qualifies to lead God’s church. The Elder in God’s church must not be one who practices dissipation and rebellion. He may be one who unintentionally gets caught up in one such thing on a rare occasion. But he must be one who confesses such activity and repents of it immediately upon being confronted with it. God’s Elders are not men who never err. They are men who immediately recognize their responsibility to deal with sin appropriately when they become aware they have committed some trespass against God or another of His creatures. Occasionally, I don’t become aware I have offended a brother or sister for months (in one case it was years) after the fact. In such cases, it is essential that the Elder in God’s church seek God’s immediate guidance in how to appropriately handle such a matter.

I am currently in an ongoing long distance battle with a brother in Christ over sin he has committed for decades, and he refuses to deal with bitterness and anger he has harbored for some who have mistreated him in the past. I have been unsuccessful thus far in convincing him of his need to forgive those individuals and ask their forgiveness for his unforgiving spirit against them. The bitterness he harbors against them is a sad but classical example of the warning found in I Corinthians 11:27 against partaking of communion with unconfessed sin in one’s life. His anger and bitterness is literally killing him. It is eating him up from the inside out. He literally stopped growing spiritually over 22 years ago when he divorced his wife, moved in with his girl friend, and disconnected with his children and most of his family members.

Finally, after over twenty years of trying to get him to see his sin, he disconnected with me too. I continue to pray for him, but he is a perfect example of a man who has been a professing Christian for nearly forty years who hasn’t walked with Jesus for over twenty of those years. He is definitely not Elder material. Living six hundred miles away and not knowing where he attends church, it is not possible for me to implement the Matthew 18 follow up principles. I have continued to pray for him daily and must be content to leave him in God’s hands. Of course, that is the best place one could possibly leave anyone since God is the one who loves him as no other.

The Elder Must Not be Self-Willed

Chapter 16

We already addressed the issue of being above reproach, so we will move to this idea of the self-will. We should understand that the modern liberal theological rubbish about man needing to love himself before he can love others is entirely without biblical support. Nowhere in God’s word are we told that a man must love himself. As a matter of fact we are told that one must deny himself if he is to be like Christ (Matt. 16:34; Mk. 8:34, Luke 9:23). Apparently this is a really important truth because Matthew, Mark, and Luke recorded it in their gospel accounts. It is self-love (self-esteem), that causes one to be self-willed. When one spends his waking hours thinking about how he can get the things out of life that make him comfortable and leave him with a feeling of having been successful, he has no time to be concerned about the needs of God’s flock.

I saw the most incredible example of this trait just the other day as I sat in on a conference with a teen-aged girl, her mother and father, her doctor, and a couple of other teachers and administrators. This 15 year old girl turned on the tears and wailing sobs of distress every time she was confronted by teachers about her lies and cheating. Her doctor, a local female medical doctor, rubbed away the tears from her eyes while consoling her for her inappropriate behavior, suggesting that maybe she should see the problem from a different perspective. Seven full grown adults sat around picking their noses while this fifteen year old juvenile delinquent put on the most blatant example of self-will I think I have ever seen. It took all I had to refrain from laughing hysterically.

While we don’t ever have to worry about that girl becoming an Elder in God’s church, her behavior is a prime example of what an Elder cannot be. It is also an example of a father who could not be an Elder in God’s church as long as he refuses to take his rightful place as the head of that family and discipline that child appropriately. She is an embarrassment to her family and any who have the unpleasant opportunity to watch her throw her temper tantrums every time she get appropriately disciplined by any adult for behaving like the juvenile delinquent she is. And all of this is because her father has refused to be a godly leader in his home. The Elder in God’s church cannot be self-willed.

The Elder Must Not be Quick-Tempered

Chapter 17

This is one of those traits God calls sin that contemporary psycho-babblers call a lot of other things. Some excuse such behavior and try to control it with drugs because they define it as a sickness rather than a sin. Bi-Polar syndrome, split personality, manic-depressive, all try to excuse the man who will not control his temper as one who is unable to do so. Of course, there is a sense in which psycho-babblers are not too far from the truth. Man, without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, is in fact, a slave to his father, the devil. And losing one’s temper quickly is, in fact, a manifestation of demonic activity. I’m quite sure most of us have seen it. I’m also sure many of us have manifested such behavior at one time or other. Prisons are filled with those who manifested this kind of behavior at least one too many times in their dealings with others.

It is a scary thing to behold a man who can’t control his temper. I’ve seen everything from a Christian man yelling at a referee for calling a penalty against his son, to one man attempting to kill another in uncontrolled rage. As strange as it may sound, I believe suicide is often the result of one who cannot control his temper. I believe it is also the peak of self-centeredness. When one commits suicide he turns his uncontrolled anger against himself and in his final act of self-centered egotism, mistakenly thinking he is committing his final act of self-control, he ends his physical life. This trait is arguably one of the most destructive traits known to man. It is destructive whether it manifests itself in a great military leader (it seems Napoleon was a quick-tempered man), or a kindergarten teacher.

Quick tempered men usually get angry and quickly begin throwing things and yelling obscenities at those they claim to love. I know a quick tempered man who once threw his wife’s sewing machine through a plate glass sliding door for some relatively minor thing she had done to anger him. I know a quick-tempered man who once ended up with bruises all over his body for challenging someone larger, stronger, and much less inebriated than he was. Being quick-tempered is a human trait that Satan uses quite successfully to ruin multitudes of lives daily. God’s Elder must not be one who is quick-tempered. It is a self-destructive trait that seems to have no end. Men who are quick tempered need to get nouthetic counseling about how to deal with such foolishness. It can manifest itself in everything to slapping a child for doing something inappropriate to murder. While God’s word makes it clear that children must sometimes be disciplined with a rod of iron, it does not condone a parent giving a child a black eye for breaking a plate. Some seem to confuse defiance of authority with being clumsy. One is abominable sin; the other is a state of being.

King Saul was a quick-tempered man. He almost murdered David more than once by hurling a spear at him (I Sam. 18:11). Proverbs 25:28 reads, “Like a city broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit.” The list of tragedies directly or indirectly related to those who have demonstrated their ability to enter a state rage for insignificant reasons is endless. I am currently counseling a young man who is his fifth day of lockdown (isolation) for his inability to control his temper. And, by the way, he is in jail in the first place for doing the same thing. James 1:19 warns us, “. . . everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;” I sometimes think a violent, uncontrolled temper is worse than the most addictive mind control drug on the market. In my own life, my ability to enter a state of uncontrolled rage at the slightest provocation as a youth got me into more trouble than I care to remember. God’s Elder must not be quick tempered.

The Elder Must not be Self-Willed

Chapter 19

We have a lot of unbiblical jargon we throw around today thanks to people like Freud and Jung, but biblical terminology is much more descriptive and direct. I don’t wonder why psychologist and sociologists wish to ignore bible terminology. They would have no jobs if the truth were known. The simple fact is that a multi-million dollar trade has been conjured up from their utterly foolish diagnoses of the condition of man. God’s word, contrary to what psychologists would have us believe, tells us self-will is sin. It is the same thing as being self-centered. Satan, his band of fallen angels, and all of those who are lost are, by nature, self-willed. Being self-centered is the opposite of being God-centered. Scripture does not anywhere say that we are to love ourselves. It does establish that we already do that sufficiently. The command is to love others “as” we love our selves. Some would make that into two commands when it is only one.

Psychologists have spent over a hundred years convincing us that our children need to have better self-esteem, another catch word for being self-centered. As would be expected, such foolishness is diametrically opposed to the commands of God. It is the antithesis. God’s word is a book of antitheses and Satan is the primary source of all doctrine contrary to it. Any and all doctrines (psychological precepts) not directly gleaned from God’s word are the doctrines of demons. Therefore, it is without biblical support to teach our children of their need to have more self-esteem. Doing so is teaching them the doctrine of demons. It is little wonder our schools are so messed up.

God’s word teaches the Elder in His church must not be self-willed. He must be one who desires the welfare of all others before his own; and he must be one who desires God’s will above all. When God’s church is led by such men, it will experience revival as none of us can imagine. I’m quite confident few churches on planet earth since the first century have been led by such men. I am also confident, we are soon entering an age in the history of the church when that is about to change. I believe the church, just before the ushering in of the tribulation (Rev. 11:1ff), will explode into the living body of mighty warriors God has intended it to be from the beginning. It is clear that during the first three years of the tribulation, the real church will have returned to ministering from house to house because the false church will have made a covenant with the anti-Christ (Rev. 13, 17, 18).

When Elders are not self-willed, they are able to hear the Spirit of God when He speaks to them about church matters. When Elders are not self-willed, they are able to discern God’s perfect will for His local body of believers (James 1:5). When the local body knows God’s perfect will, all that is left is for them to decide is whether or not they are going to follow it. When the Elders are not self-willed, the majority does not win (the subject of the last chapter of this book). God is the only majority His church has any obligation to acknowledge. I will deal with the matter thoroughly later, but it is essential to understand no church of God should ever be run by a vote of the congregation. That is a principle that has taken countless congregations down the path to impotence and fruitlessness for centuries. There is absolutely no basis in God’s word for congregational voting on church issues. That is a doctrine of demons.

The antithetical teaching of scripture with regards to the will is that there is Satan’s and there is God’s. When man does not do God’s, he is doing Satan’s.

The Elder Must be Sensible (Titus 1:8)

Chapter 18
Our on-line dictionary defines this as “showing sound judgment.” We used to call it having common sense, but it seems that such sense is no longer common, so we cannot use that meaning any longer. I humbly suggest one of the most profound indicators that we are living in the final hours of history is the total lack of common sense in the general population.

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; (II Tim. 3:1-5)

Man’s obsession with his own welfare has caused him to lose any ability to make godly sense of anything around him. For even the Christian to show sound judgment in all he does, he must make sure the only obsession in his life is to know God and to know His word. The moment a godly man takes his focus off of God, he takes the chance of ending up like one of the godliest men in the history of man ended up (II Samuel 11). King David took his eyes off of God long enough to lust after another’s wife. He took her for himself, lay with her, had her husband killed in an attempt to cover up his own sin, lost the child born of that adulterous affair, temporarily lost his kingdom to his other son, had most of his wives and concubines raped by that son in the sight of all Israel, and eventually lost that son on the battlefield. If David’s tragedy doesn’t get our attention sufficiently, we should probably take our spiritual temperature to make sure we are connected to Jesus.

God expects the church Elder to be sensible. He will not be the one who makes decisions hastily, but by the same token, he will realize quickly when something is God’s will and will act upon it. In other words, he will not ask God if it is His will that he help the poor, an orphan, a widow, a blind man, a crippled man, or a lame man. God has already made it clear that such people are to be the number one priority of any who claim godliness (James 1:27; Luke 14:12-14). By the same token, he will not assume because a man is carrying a white cane that he is blind. And he will not be quick to give of his finances to everyone who asks (II Thes. 3:10). It is not sensible to give money to a beggar who reeks of alcohol. A drunk who refuses to work for a living is not a poor man. He is a leech on society and should be given the chance to get a job, not a handout. I recall an excellent example of what an elder should not do. Several years ago a young man my wife and I had been helping recover from financial and emotional collapse came to us one day and asked for $300 to go to Wyoming for a job interview. I knew he had personally been binging on alcohol for several weeks prior to that request. He had rejected sound council on numerous occasions. I refused to give him money telling him I would gladly help him again if he was ready to repent and be accountable. He basically told me to get lost and went to an Elder of the church we attended. That Elder (a relatively new Christian) gave him the money instantly without any thought to calling me, though he knew we had been working with this young man for months.

I have watched great multitudes of well meaning Christians incorrectly conclude that lazy gluttons, who are too lazy to work, are the poor and downtrodden of our society. A wise man once said, “These worthless fellows should be encouraged to find a job, care for themselves and those over whom God has given them responsibility, and quit complaining about how tough they have had it. No one makes it through this life without hitting major obstacles along the way. And it’s time we quit coddling these lazy, gluttonous bums and told them to get a job.”

The Elder Must be Just (Titus 1:8)

Chapter 20
A just man is one who is guided by truth, reason, and fairness. Nearly thirty-five years ago, I worked under the tutelage of a pastor who stated to me that he would not teach any bible doctrine that would offend any of the members of his congregation. He told me it was more important to keep God’s church together than to teach any doctrine that would divide them. He also suggested when I matured I would understand. Well, it’s thirty three years later, and what I do understand is that he will give account to God Almighty for his refusal to put the absolute faithful and unbending exposition of Scripture first in his ministry. I would not want to be in his shoes when he stands before Jesus and gives account of himself. Thank God, I knew enough, as a three year old in Christ, to get out of that church. God’s Elder must never compromise an iota of truth for a ton of unity.

It truly saddens me when I recall the number of pastor/teachers and Elders in God’s local churches with which I have been acquainted who have been willing to compromise truth. More importantly, if I understand anything about God’s word, those men will not be receiving the “Well done, good and faithful servant,” accolades from Jesus when He returns and receives them unto Himself. I’m afraid, unless they have repented of their faithlessness, they will be cast into the outer darkness where there will be a weeping and a gnashing of teeth. God is truth and He expects His Elder to be a guardian of that truth.

When one is just, he is also reasonable. Many conclude one with a high school diploma is, by default, smarter than one without that diploma. And, if that’s true (which it is not), then the one with a bachelors degree is smarter than the one who only has a high school diploma. The concept of intellect is somewhat allusive. More importantly, all of the book learning one can acquire in a lifetime cannot make him godly. And one can have a PhD in astro-physics and not have an ounce of common sense or godly wisdom. I am currently dealing with a man every day who is entirely devoid of reason. He has ten or twelve men, some several years his senior, who have many years more than him solving problems he is attempting to solve, and he refuses to listen to any council they have to offer. He is an unbeliever who, by his arrogant attitude, perfectly demonstrates the reason unbelievers are horribly lacking in reason, common sense, or godly wisdom.

Life is not fair. Thank God! From both a theological and a secular point of view these two statements are true. Life is not fair, but God’s Elder must be. In dealing with matters regarding the church, God’s Elder must be fair. That simply means, he cannot be one who makes a decision for personal gain or to please someone he thinks he should please. His only concern is to make the decision that honors God and furthers the kingdom. Nothing else matters. If his wife, best friend, or the laundry delivery guy is angry at him for any decision he makes, so be it. He still must be fair.

We have a real problem in America understanding the concept of justice. The reason of course is that we believe democracy is more important than justice. Somehow we have gotten it into our heads that justice demands we give a person a “fair” trial. I place the term “fair” in quotes because we have distorted it so, we haven’t a clue what it actually means. According to God’s word, when two or three people have watched a man murder another, there is nothing just about giving him a trial at the cost of twenty million dollars of taxpayer’s money. That is not justice; it is insane. We, in America, have become obsessed with the concept of democracy to such a degree that we have lost all sense of justice. God’s idea of justice is that when two or three have witnessed the crime, it is confirmed and punishment for it is to be carried out immediately. One could probably buy the state of California several times each year with the money we spend in America dispensing our idea of justice. We seem determined to make the connection between justice and democracy. First of all, democracy is not God’s idea; it is mans’. Heaven will not be a democracy. It will be a pure theocracy. Second of all, dispensing justice simply means making sure the wrong person is not punished for a crime.

We are so confused about the complete lack of connection to democracy in America that we actually think it is justice to allow a man to go free who has confessed to a heinous crime because someone didn’t read him his Miranda warnings before he made the confession. We’re so confused about justice that we allow a child rapist to go free to rape again because a convincing psycho-babbler claims he only did it because his father beat him as a child. It is also critical to the whole concept of justice that we make sure the right person is punished for the crime. The only just outcome in a criminal trial is the appropriate punishment administered immediately upon the conviction of the one who has committed the crime.

God’s Elder must be just because there are many times weekly that members of a church need to get counsel about how they can be just in a given situation. God’s Elder must be just because there are occasions when members of God’s flock need to be disciplined and the Elders are responsible for implementing such discipline. God’s Elder must be just.

The Elder Must be Devout (Titus 1:8)

Chapter 21
The term devout comes from the word devoted. The dictionary uses words like religious piety, piety in prayer, and strongly committed to an ideal. It is clear from the many other descriptions of the qualifications of the Elder this is just another in a long line that indicates the Elder is to be the stalwart of the local church. He is to be the example that all boys and men in the church want to copy. He is to strive to be as much a symbol of Christ devotion to His bride as Christ Himself. It is at this juncture I believe it is important to distinguish between the Elder and the preacher or pastor/teacher. I suggest they may performs entirely different functions within the hierarchy of the church. While all elders must be apt to teach, a pastor/teacher may not be an Elder. It’s important to note that may not have been the case in the early church. I believe it is the rare pastor/teacher today who can also be functioning as an Elder in the local church, because, in my humble opinion, most seminaries are not preparing their graduates for the task. Of course, the problem arises when it has become necessary, in the minds of most church leaders today, to call a pastor/teacher from some distant land of nod to begin with. In Acts 6 we read,

It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

I am fully aware we generally conclude these were the first deacons, but that interpretation isn’t necessarily correct. For that matter, I think the point is moot here. Acts 15:2 definitely makes the distinction between the apostles and the elders. I guess my most ardent argument for separating this function is the manner in which I have seen it abused for so long in churches in America. Teachers who graduate from seminary naturally tend to think they have more qualifications than anyone in the congregation to lead; that may or not be true. If it is true, it is the pastor/teacher’s responsibility to correct that problem with solid, bible based teaching. Nothing in the description of the Elder demands he be the teacher. As a matter of fact, the phrase indicating he should be apt to teach, in my humble opinion, indicates he is most likely not a person with the gift of teaching. The KJV translates the word “a lover of good men.” The ESV translates it, “a lover of good.” It is obvious this qualification means these leaders of the local church are to be chosen from among those who demonstrate daily they are fully committed to the ministry of the church. The Elder must be devout!

The Elder Must be Self-Controlled (Titus 1:8)

Chapter 22
Its interesting Paul tells Timothy the elder must keep his children under control with all dignity, but doesn’t include this requirement for the man himself. I’m not sure it is anything more than just interesting as the requirements are certainly just as demanding as recorded in his letter to Timothy. As neither Timothy nor Titus had access to the completed word of God as we do, it does us little good to speculate. The word he used to Timothy, “temperate”, is so similar in meaning they could easily be used interchangeably. This requirement does cause me to reflect on the diagram used by Dr. Bill Bright in the tract his ministry produced for evangelism. In that diagram, he suggested that when one is living a godly life, the self was off the throne of one’s life and Jesus was on the throne. When the self took over, Jesus was still in the circle of life, but He was not in control or the individual’s choices. I have struggled with that idea for decades. I concluded quite a number of years ago that concept is not biblical. I’m not aware of any time in history when God made the choice for one of his children to do His will. I believe the biblical idea is that the Holy Spirit’s position in the life of the individual’s life is presence not dominance. His presence in our life enables us to remain in continuous and uninterrupted awareness of God’s will for us at any given juncture. The bible teaches clearly in this one passage of Titus that self-control is not only possible for the true disciple of Christ, it is required if he is being obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit who is living within him.

There is a serious disconnect here, in Christian circles, regarding the concept of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Most of our charismatic brethren insist speaking in tongues is “the” sign that one is filled with the Spirit and that one cannot be filled unless he speaks in tongues. I have written an entire book on the gifts of the Spirit where I debunk that foolishness thoroughly, so I won’t belabor the point here. It is categorically absurd to suggest such a thing, and only serves to prove the one who teaches it hasn’t spent a whole lot of time critically analyzing what God’s word has to say on the topic

Of course, there’s also the same kind of disconnect in conservative, evangelical circles. Please allow me to clarify. Those whom God has called are, at a point in time regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God so they can understand the gospel message and respond to it. When, having been regenerated, we decide to turn our lives over the guidance of God for all of eternity, repent of and confess our sin, confess Jesus as Lord, believe God raised Him from the dead, and get baptized in obedience to His word, the Holy Spirit literally enters into the body of the new believer and takes up residence. That has been the act the bible calls the baptism of the Holy Spirit since the completion of God’s word. We begin our walk with Jesus by studying His word, fellowshipping with the brethren, praying, sharing our personal testimony and eventually the gospel when we are able to do so, and making sure every area of our lives brings glory and honor to the name of our God. When we sin, we confess that sin, claim God’s forgiveness which He provided at Calvary, and continue walking in the fullness of His indwelling Spirit. His Spirit, abiding in us, uses His word, which we have been studying faithfully, to guide us into truth. That simply means He gives us the wisdom and the power to make and do all of life’s decisions that keep us dead center in His will.

In other words, when we are told to be filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18, it doesn’t mean we are to be controlled by the Him as if we were robots. It means our decisions will be based on known principles found in God’s word, and the Holy Spirits function in our life is to remind us of those principles as we make the hundreds of decisions each day requires. When a true disciple of Christ manifests self-control as instructed in this passage about the qualifications for elders, it means he is living under the divine guidance of the Spirit of God day by day, moment by moment. I recall as a new believer how I would have temporary lapses of godliness, and I, during those times would do ungodly things. Of course I still have such lapses today, but they are fewer and much shorter lapses as I mature in my walk with our Lord.

It is difficult for me as one who wholeheartedly believes in divine election and preordination to make such statements, but I believe, in the final analysis, even the will of man falls under the umbrella of God’s perfect, unalterable providence. In other words, there are times even today when I do that which is self-serving. There’s no doubt those are times when I am in control of myself. But in the biblical sense, this is not that self-control as demanded in the life of the Elder. In fact the opposite is true. When the Elder manifests godly self-control, he is so in perfect tune with God the Spirit that his presence in a room draws others to the person he claims to worship, Jesus Christ. I believe in Acts 19 we see an exemplary view of this idea when the seven sons of Sceva confront the demon possessed man who replies, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” Even the demons recognize the one whose life is exemplified by this idea of godly self-control. This man, possessed by the demon, jumped on seven full grown men and whupped (spelling intentional) them all. The point here is that the demon recognized Jesus, and he recognized the servant of Jesus, Paul, who lived a life of such self-control that he was literally famous, even in the world of the fallen angels.

Self-control is an elusive term in America because we have placed so much emphasis on the idea that it means we are free to do whatever we please as long as it doesn’t involve physically harming another. In America we believe ego maniacal behavior is good. As with all other bible doctrines, the bar for true followers of Christ in this, the church age, is much higher than it has ever been in the history of man. Self-control in the biblical sense involves such things as not even thinking about committing adultery, not even thinking about coveting a brother’s wife, livestock, farm, BMW, or home, not even thinking about winning the lottery, and not even thinking about living in self-indulging luxury. The very moment any of these kinds of thoughts enter the mind of the Elder, he demonstrates he is Elder material by immediately quoting the appropriate verse to the devil, the source of these thoughts, and just as immediately moving on to more productive thinking. I speak from experience, because I have awakened in the middle of the night on more than one occasion and had to do just that. Our arch enemy tries to catch us at our weakest moments (when we’re asleep), but Jesus always guards us. He always provides us with a way of escape. He never allows us to be tempted beyond our ability to overcome the temptation (I Cor. 10:13), even when we are sleeping.

When the elder goes shopping for a car, he chooses the Ford rather than the Lincoln. He chooses the Monte Carlo instead of the Cadillac. He chooses to shop at Mervin’s rather than Saks Fifth Avenue. He seeks out people in the church to invite over to dinner during the week who can’t afford to invite him back. He looks for people who need help, so he can demonstrate God’s care for them. He’s available day and night to counsel anyone experiencing traumatic life experiences. He opens his home (assuming he has an extra bedroom) to people in temporary financial difficulty. He supports orphans and widows, both financially and in his daily prayer life. He chooses carefully anything he watches on television or listens to on radio. He avoids even the appearance of evil. He gets so busy doing God’s work, that he doesn’t have time to waste much on fruitless activity. These are the kind of evidence that a church should be seeking in the life of the one chosen to be an Elder. The Elder who manifests self-control in the biblical sense, is the one whose life is overflowing with good works done in a quiet and unassuming manner. He is the man who never seeks to draw attention to the things he does day in and day out that bring glory and honor to our Lord. God’s Elder is self-controlled.

The Elder Must Hold Fast the Faithful Word (Titus 1:9)

Chapter 23
I don’t believe there is a more meaningful requirement to me than this one. For thirty-seven plus years I have had to hold fast the faithful word against seminary graduate after seminary graduate who were pastor/teachers of local churches. I believe it is appropriate here to provide specific examples as a way to strengthen any of you who may be reading this who have had to do likewise. It began, for me with my first ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ. Dr. Bill Bright was highly regarded as one of the stalwarts of evangelism in the seventies. He forbade anyone to promote speaking in tongues or even any moment of doing so for anyone involved in Campus Crusade for Christ. That is a direct violation of I Corinthians 14:39, so my wife and I left that organization. I went from there to Claremont Covenant Church in San Diego, California to serve as the youth pastor. After a year of ministering there, I came into a face to face confrontation with the senior pastor about women speaking in the church. He told me he agreed that the bible indeed teaches that doctrine, but he was not about to teach it for fear half of the church would leave.

From there my wife and I moved to Buena Park and I enrolled in BIOLA, one of the foremost conservative colleges in America. After two years of attending bible classes where I got training in reading books about the bible rather than reading the bible, I realized I was studying the opinions of hundreds of men and women in church history, most of whom, it appeared hadn’t spent much time reading the bible themselves, so I left that school and went to work for the largest security firm in Southern California as the personnel manager. A year later I was asked to leave that job because I placed Proverbs 26:27 on our bulletin board after someone in the company tried to suggest I had done something unseemly. That verse tells us, “He who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.” I then decided to become a police officer. After twelve years as a street cop, my last chief told me I had two choices: 1. Leave Jesus home when I came to work; or 2. Retire gracefully. I told him I could never leave Jesus at home when I came to work because He is indelibly inscribed on my soul and His Spirit was residing within me. I retired medically with the state paying for my retraining in another field. That chief got fired shortly thereafter. I was a public school teacher for approximately nineteen years. Recently, the principal of our school began an all out assault on my character. He did so, because I opposed him every time he demonstrated he was going to allow our children violate one of the most sacred of biblical admonitions that children should honor their elders (Lev. 19:32). He was non-renewed and then rehired. Holding fast the faithful word is not an easy task. It was never intended to be. I believe it is exemplified in Revelation 3:8-10,

I know your works. Behold, I have set before you and open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down at your feet and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth.

The critical truth for us to recognize here is that this church which displayed little power, kept the word. There is nothing more important for an Elder than to keep the word. At all costs he must keep the word. He must categorically refuse to compromise one iota of the truth. He must not yield, for a moment of time, to the temptation to think anything in this lifetime is more important than keeping the word, without spot or wrinkle. He must insist with every fiber of his being that God’s word is the final authority on all matters pertaining to this life, death, the resurrection, and the coming kingdom for the true disciple of Christ. He is responsible to declare the doctrines of God to the local church without wavering. That requires that he knows the word of God, the main reason new believers can never qualify for the position. He must be one who has spent years in an intense study of the sacred scriptures. That wasn’t necessarily always the case in the Apostle Paul’s time because they didn’t have the entire scriptures printed as we have them today.

I believe I have the Spirit of Christ when I say anyone who does not spend an intense number of hours each and every day in the study of God’s word does not qualify for the position of Elder in His church today. We have the indisputable word of God at our fingertips in a multitude of translations. I personally own eight different translations and have owned the infamous living bible paraphrase. I have worn out at least six different bibles whose pages were falling out from use. I don’t say that to draw attention to my own intense study of God’s word; but I do say it to point out that anyone who seriously studies God’s word will have to replace his main study bible often. I wore out my John McArthur NAS study bible in less than a year. Either they don’t make them like they used to, or I studied harder that year than ever in the past. It is not a matter of pride; it is a matter of being committed to knowing God’s word adequately that one can “exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict.” (Titus 1:9) The elder in God’s church must hold fast the faithful word, and he cannot do that if he doesn’t know it. Therefore, by implication, he must be one who studies the word diligently. He must be one who rises early to study it before he begins his day’s tasks, prays about what he learned in his studies as he begins his day’s work, considers throughout the day the things he learned about God during that mornings study, looks for opportunities to share what he learned with others in need, and when retiring for the evening, considers whether or not his day bore fruit for the kingdom of God as a result of his walk with Jesus.

When the elder holds fast the faithful word, the kingdom of God is increased, false doctrine is exposed, false prophets are sent running, false manifestations of the Spirit are quelled in the church, orphans and widows are attended to, and the finances of the local church are distributed in a manner that brings glory and honor to God. God’s Elder must hold fast the faithful word.

Elders Must All Agree

Chapter 24
This chapter makes more sense to me than all the others, yet there are only a few verses in the entire bible that support its basic premise. I want to propose a biblical concept that is entirely foreign to people born and raised on a democratic society. I believe the entire sense of God and His word support this idea, though, as I already indicated, only a few verses speak to the issue directly. I believe it is entirely unbiblical to suggest in God’s church the majority should rule. It is utter foolishness to have a congregational meeting and allow everyone in the congregation vote on whether or not to call someone to pastor the church. Of course that act alone comes from centuries of hiring professional seminary graduates to do what the local church should be doing in the first place. The local church is the biblical training ground for new pastor/teachers, elders, deacons, deaconesses, evangelists, prophets, and apostles. If a pastor leaves for whatever reason, there should be several men in the congregation ready to take on the task of preaching immediately. I suggest the biblical model is different than the one we practice in America in the first place. Few men in the church are capable of standing before a congregation week after week and preach effectively. I suggest the biblical pattern is found in I Corinthians 14:26-40. I urge you to read it over and over. Those verses indicate several men should be speaking each time we meet together to study God’s word and hear a tongue, a teaching, a revelation, a word of wisdom, prophecy, encouragement, psalm. They also tell us that women should keep silent in the church.

God’s word demands that the decisions for the functioning of the local church be made by its leadership. In Acts 6 we see the first application of the practice. In both Timothy and Titus we see why these men must meet such stringent requirements. It makes no sense they would have to meet such requirements if they didn’t have the responsibility to take care of the financial and spiritual welfare of the local church.

Please allow me to present what I believe was the biblical pattern established throughout the Roman Empire by the apostles as they started churches in every region they visited. As soon as churches were started, Elders were chosen from the Jewish converts who were the more biblically adept and morally excellent members of the new churches. The Elders ruled the church in a region. Fellowships of Christians met in homes throughout the region, with at least one elder present in each home when the church met. The Elder’s responsibility was to make sure proper doctrine was being taught, church funds were being properly distributed, and the church functioned in an orderly manner. Elders rotated from church to church. The regions where Elders functioned were always small enough so Elders knew church members in the area personally and intimately. An area ruled by this group of Elders was referred to as the local church. There may have been forty to fifty groups meeting in homes in a region that were under the guidance of one group of Elders. Upon occasion, this local group of believers met together somewhere where they could all join together to worship and hear an itinerant preacher like Paul.

I currently live in Richland County, Montana. I envision approximately 45 home churches in the county developing over the next decade. If each of those home churches has one elder in attendance when they meet each week, it means there would be approximately forty-five elders responsible for the work of the ministry in Richland County. There is absolutely no need for regions to follow political divisions. I only used that example because it helps us understand the concept of regional control and rule of Elders in the local church. In places like Los Angeles, a region might only be five city blocks. Several biblical concepts are adhered to when the church follows this biblical pattern for growth. The most significance of which is both its strong point and the reason most Americans reject the idea, i.e., accountability. In America we promote self-confidence and independence, answering to no one about our actions. We think what goes on in our house is no one else’s concern.

That spirit of independence is what gets Christians in trouble. Watching inappropriate television programs, reading inappropriate literature, drunkenness, and immoral activity can go on for years in homes without church members ever knowing about it until it is so out of control the individual engaging it leaves the church altogether. By the time the Elders are aware of it, it’s often too late to correct a problem that could have been caught in its early stages and dealt with in counseling. When the church meets weekly in small intimate groups in homes, the intimacy that develops from those meetings makes it both difficult and usually undesirable for one to cover ungodly behavior. In the properly run home church setting, the members have the overwhelming sense of family that enables them to share their failures and get the assistance they need to correct ungodly behavior.

The home church is not an extension of the local church, it is the local church. We need to get it through our heads that we don’t go to church. By that I simply mean that, though it might well be called the small group ministry of the local church, it is still a meeting of the body of Christ when it meets. In other words, we don’t go to church, we are the church! If Christians in America did a mass exodus out of the mega-structures they have built to honor themselves, and returned to the way the church worshipped for nearly all of its first four hundred years in existence, it would release billions of dollars on a national scale to help brothers and sisters worldwide, many of whom don’t enjoy one decent meal a day. The thought that huge denominations and mega-churches can better handle the needs of Christians in other countries is ludicrous. For every dollar the mega-church sends abroad it wastes a hundred. For some mega-churches that figure is likely in the thousands of dollars wasted for every one sent overseas.

When problems arise or decisions have to be made about the local region, the Elders meet and make those decisions. And, I believe it is critically important that all decisions of any significance in God’s church must be made by a unanimous vote of the Elders. The simple truth is that God’s Spirit will never disagree with Himself. Therefore, Elders who are filled with God’s Spirit will always agree about any issues dealing with the running of His church. Therefore, it goes without saying that any dissent in the making of a choice for the local church must be interpreted as one of two things: 1. The dissenting voice must belong to one with unconfessed sin in his life; or 2. The dissenting voice is the only one in the group of elders who has no unconfessed sin in his life. In I Corinthians 1:10 Paul said, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you , but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” The majority never rules in God’s economy. As a matter of biblical fact, the majority usually went astray, needing the godly man to get it back on course. Paul’s trip to Rome is an excellent example of that truth. The centurion in charge of delivering him to Caesar listened to the majority and nearly died along with the entire 275 other persons aboard the ship (Acts 27). Moses and the Israelites demonstrated over and again when the majority rules chaos and death are often the result.

When it comes to matters about bible doctrine, church organization, function, and discipline Elders must be unanimously in agreement. While all Christians are told to walk in the fullness of the Spirit continually, it is abundantly clear they do not do so. It is ludicrous, if not comical and irresponsible, to suggest that twenty people who do not meet the stringent requirements of the Elder would agree on anything of any significance. Literally thousands of married Christian men and women get divorced each year for their failure to apply this same simple principle in the home. God has appointed men to rule in the home, and He has appointed Elders to rule in the church (Gen. 3:16; I Tim. 5:17).

If the Elders meet the requirements as indicated in Timothy and Titus, they will be men who walk in the fullness of God’s Spirit, listening to His voice as He speaks to their hearts about matters of the kingdom. They will understand when there is disagreement about any of those matters, the one or ones in opposition may be the ones in tune with God’s Spirit, so until there is complete agreement, a decision cannot be made. The idea of one man rule in the church is entirely foreign to the teaching of scripture. There are no King Davids of the church who alone know what is best for its members. If dissension occurs often and in obvious violation of God’s word, it likely means an Elder or Elders have been selected to fill that task who don’t meet its demands.

That’s when I Timothy 5:19, 20 comes into play, “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.” Contrary to what most preachers proclaim, God always holds leadership more accountable for their actions than the general congregation. The offering of a leader for sin in Israel under the Old Testament economy was different than the offering for the common people (see Lev. 4:22ff). James 3:1, a verse I quote often, indicates a teacher of the word will be held especially accountable for the accuracy of his teaching. This concept of orderliness and the hierarchy of authority permeates the word of God from Genesis to the Revelation. Elders who violate the sacred position to which they have been called are to be confronted immediately and at first quietly. If they repent and quickly resolve any short comings in their ability to lead, the matter is over. If they do not, they are to be rebuked in the presence of all and immediately relieved of their leadership responsibilities.

Depending on the severity of his actions, he may or may not ever be entitled to lead God’s flock again. I suggest there are some actions that disqualify one for life from taking this position of leadership in God’s church. I believe acts like adultery, homosexuality, murder, or sexual abuse of anyone, are the kinds of things that are so heinous they disqualify a person to take up a leadership position in His church. I have no biblical authority for such a conclusion. It is a gut feeling I have after decades of studying His word. Certainly, if it has been twenty or thirty years since a person indulged such activity, it is likely he has worked through it biblically and is no longer a prisoner to its trickery. That is why Elders should be persons who are mature both physically and spiritually.

Elders must be spiritually mature, physically aged men who have had a lifetime of dealing with life’s problems and have spent many years in an intense study of God’s word so they know how that word can be effectively applied to those problems. They must be men who can recognize false doctrine or teaching immediately and are willing to quickly expose the one teaching it. They must be unwavering in their intent to keep the bride of Christ pure, without spot or wrinkle. We see this analogy between the church’s relationship with Jesus and the wives relationship to her husband in Ephesians 5:25-27.

In America we have been deluded into thinking the majority should have its way. We have designed a rather magnificent document, our Constitution, that sets out the general guidelines for majority rule while, at the same time, protecting minority rights. It is called the system of checks and balances and separation or powers. It is a better system than the ones in countries run by kings and military presidents, because those countries are ruled by ungodly kings and military juntas. It is likely the best kind of system to assure government doesn’t violate the basic rights of its citizens. It has taken centuries for it to come to the point where it is about to prove such government is futile. The very ideals it holds so dear are about to bring it to its knees. Our tolerance for a diversity of religious thought is the evil that has bred hatred of true godliness in this country. Elders in God’s church know well the danger of false doctrine and religious thinking that is, even in the most trivial way, contrary to the revealed will of God.

When a local church is ruled by a contingency of men who meet the stringent requirements of elders, it adheres to every jot and tittle of God’s word. Its leaders set the example for the rest of the flock to follow. When one becomes ill in this church, calling for these Elders accomplishes much (James 5:13-17). When God’s Elders pray over a man who is infirmed and anoint him with oil, the Lord raises him up (James 5:15). When an unbeliever enters any one of this church’s meeting he is convicted by all, because the Holy Spirit is manifesting Himself powerfully through the teaching of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor/teachers. This is the church where the elders rule well. They gently but firmly lead the flock in a way that causes an entire community to take notice of how its members love and care for one another.

This is the church as it functioned for nearly 400 years. I suggest until we return to that pattern, the Church in America will continue to stumble over itself, fight amongst itself, dishonor God, and just generally bring disrepute to the magnificent name of our Lord Jesus.

Epilogue

I have spent several decades studying God’s word intensely. In the process, I have spent hundreds of hours considering the issue of church leadership. As I indicated in the opening words of this study, several decades ago I read a book that spoke quite biblically to the issues I have addressed here. I forgot who wrote it, so I have been unable to locate it so I could give appropriate credit for thoughts that were not original with me. Of course, they weren’t original with that author either. He got them from God’s word, which is why I was so impressed with his book on the topic of church leadership in the first place. The point is that the overwhelming majority of churches in America are not being run by men who meet God’s requirements for leadership. I have ministered long term in at least twelve and visited probably well over a hundred in three plus decades, and I have only seen one or two that demanded the Elders meet the test of I Timothy 3 and Titus 1. I’m relatively sure there more in America, but the numbers must be miniscule when compared to the number of buildings filled with people two or three times each week of the year, masquerading as Christians. For that matter, most churches don’t make any attempt whatsoever to function as the bible declares they should function. Most have numerous boards assembled out of anyone who has any qualifications or just wants to do something for God.

The number of people attending meetings in mega-church structures each week in America who have no commitment to serious bible study and prayer must be staggering. The home church concept is not alive and well in Richland County, Montana. I am expecting that to change soon, but I have failed to make any significant impact in my own area of responsibility in the last year for reasons unknown to me at this time. There are several things I suspect are hampering its growth, none of which I can prove even to my own satisfaction. Primarily, I know without doubt one of the major problems is the complete lack of godly men who have committed their lives, long term, to the intense study of God’s word. We have so perverted the gospel in America that I’m not sure many people would recognize a correct presentation of it if it hit them right smack dab in the middle of their pea-pickin’ brain. Please forgive my temporary lapse from sober-mindedness, but I think my attempt at a little humor there really did make the case rather poignantly.

It’s kind of like the problem one encounters when he remodels a home as compared to building one from the ground up. It’s usually easier to start from a blank drafting board than to figure out how to deal with all of the structural problems of a currently standing home. When one begins tearing down walls of homes that have been standing for more than a decade, he usually finds structural faults that would never be allowed by today’s building codes. It often takes significantly longer to repair damage done by improper building in the first place than it would take to build from scratch. In the same way, despite the massive numbers who are discontent with the church as it functions in America today, they are so indoctrinated into its current form, they cannot conceive of it functioning any other way. Cleaning out the structural damage done by hundreds of years of incorrect thinking is a massive undertaking. Certainly one the Spirit of God can handle, but it seems He has not chosen to do so yet in Richland County. I suggest one event will soon change the equation.

I believe, very soon in America that Churches will be denied the non-profit status that has allowed them to build huge mega-structure entirely free from taxes. Already city councils and county boards are denying churches the right to build in many areas of the country. They are refusing to allow church groups permits to use large parcels of land within their jurisdictions to build churches and parking lots from which they will receive no taxes for running their respective governing bodies. They are using building codes to prevent Christian groups from building in areas where they could be getting huge tax benefits. The more valuable land becomes, the more likely this method is going to be used by local boards and commissions to declassify churches as non-profit corporations. Personally, I don’t think they should have ever been granted tax free status to begin with, but I’ll refrain from addressing that issue any further lest I digress too far from the point.

When church leaders meet the requirements of Timothy and Titus, the church functions in an orderly fashion, people are added to the church daily who are being saved, false teachers and false doctrine are dispelled quickly, entire communities turn from sin, the crime rate in those communities drops significantly, and the kingdom of God is exemplified in the lives of those who call themselves the church. We see all of these things happening as they were recorded by Luke in his writing we call the Acts of the Apostles. When church leaders meet God’s requirements for leadership, God church grows so fast it hasn’t time to stop and build buildings. When church leadership meets God’s requirements godliness is the central theme of a community.

The fact that fires engines, ambulances, and police cruisers scream by hundreds of mega-churches in America on Sunday mornings while tens of thousands sit inside those mega-structures in comfortable pews listening to the sermon of the week should cause that little light bulb to go on in our brains. It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to realize something is wrong with that picture. One doesn’t need a degree in quantum physics to figure that one out.

If this study has helped you in any way better understand God’s plan for the local church, I would be pleased to hear from you. I will not use your contact information in any way to try to ask you for money. You can feel free to contact me at the places indicated at the end of this study without fear I will seek to bleed you to death financially. If you have any desire to support any of the ministries in which I am involved, you will have to contact me for that purpose using the contact information provided on my website.

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you with every good thing that you may do his will , working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.



God Bless,
Brother Dave
Pastor/Teacher (James 3:1)
Maranatha Ministries (Col. 4:15)