The Fallacy around Male Headship in the Home and in the Church

COMPLEMENTARIANISM - A FORM OF PATRIARCHY Complementarianism is a belief that limits the roles of a wife to those that won't infringe on her husband as head 'over' her. As such, Complementarianism is a form of patriarchy, but, unlike full-blown Patriarchy, which has women subject to men in every area of society, this version is…

Are there Apostles in the Church Today?

The term apostle is used throughout Scripture, but is it a role that is still found in the church today? To explore this possibility, let’s consider what the Scriptures have to say. The Twelve Generally we associate the term apostle with the twelve disciples that Jesus called apostles during His earthly ministry, see Luke 6:13.…

No Rank, only Roles in the Body of Christ

Leadership is determined by the extent you influence regardless of rank. And, contrary to how most local churches and denominations have been structured and governed, the New Testament church did not use or require hierarchy when it came to leadership. The elders, whether apostles, prophets, evangelists or pastors and teachers, had no rank in the…

Church Leadership

Understanding, applying and getting to experience real New Testament Church Leadership is a huge challenge to the Church in this day and age. This is because we are so easily clouded by years of church traditions, tempted by the world’s form of leadership and are also often sadly unclear about the nature of New Testament…

Hierarchical Leadership – The Main Hindrance in the Body of Christ Part 4

Part 4 - No Rank (Go here for part 1, part 2, part 3, part 5, part 6) To justify the existence of leadership in the Body of Christ, some say that it is found throughout the biblical narrative. While it is true that leadership is seen throughout the Bible, we need to recognize that hierarchical leadership…

To Whom are Leaders Accountable?

Everyone in the Church is answerable to the whole body in the light of God’s Word and no one should be above another. Notice, Peter was questioned by the “circumcision party” for his involvement with the Gentiles. He was answerable to the whole body, even if those who questioned him were wayward. And it is…

Does the Bible Support the Position of a Senior Pastor?

In Acts 15:19 it appears that James is the leader in the church in Jerusalem when we see that he makes the final statements after the church has debated the issue of circumcision among the Gentiles. However, when we read in the translation "my judgment" it is not to be likened to the expression of…

Who Calls the Shots (Decision Making) in the Body of Christ?

I really can't believe, nor see it written, that the Lord would have left His deity, become a man, suffer as much as He did and die for us only to give the running of the church into the hands of a few decision makers who could get it right or wrong. Just imagine, "Oops,…

Rank or Respect

These are my comments taken from LinkedIn XPastor Group in answer to "How much control should the Senior Pastor have? Other than God, should the pastor be answerable to anyone?" Personally, I believe that single pastor and pastor/board leadership cannot be justified biblically and I’m afraid that the longer we persist with this paradigm the longer…

Shepherds of the Flock

In one sense all elders are pastors, but not in every sense. The terms elder, bishop, overseer and shepherd are synonomous terms, and are synonomous with the term pastor. However, this is not always exactly true.  Context dictates a terms meaning. Many in the church, because of their character, knowledge in the faith, life experience and ability to…