Who Has Authority In The Church?

Recently, I was talking to a pastor friend who bemoaned the fact that certain television evangelists have more authority to some of his members than he did. The truth is this is very common. I work with pastors all the time who struggle to have pastoral authority in the church. Today, I feel that I have a good amount of pastoral authority, but it isn't complete. I had to fight hard to get what I have, and I will never be seen with proper authority by some in the church. The simple fact is that some in the church have never been pastored, and they don't want one.

So why is it so hard for pastors to be seen with proper Biblical authority? The easy thing to do is blame the people. There is always some woman or man who has a tight reign over an area of ministry, and they are unwilling to give it up. Many times we blame it on the deacons. Many deacon boards see themselves as the board of directors, and it is easy to point fingers at their abuse of power. I often hear pastors blame certain families. In many churches, there are families that have a lot of say because of their history.

Now I guess it is time to make everyone mad at me. All of these things I mentioned, in the above paragraph, are bad and unBiblical. However, there is a reason these things exist. The reason is due to the fact that pastors haven't done their jobs. I don't mean "you" pastor, I mean all of us as a group.

Proper Biblical pastoral authority starts with trust. Pastors who leave their pulpit every three years cannot build the trust necessary to lead. The average pastor jumps from pulpit to pulpit every two to three years. This leaves the congregation without proper leadership. Thus people step up into leadership positions out of need. Why is that deacon board out of control? Because past pastors allowed it to happen. Why is that one family such a thorn in the Church? Because past pastors didn't lead them not to be.

So What is the lesson here? If you are a church member, and you want your church to run as the Bible said it should; support your pastor with all you have. Do not speak negatively about him to other church members. You need to make certain your children never hear you bad mouth him. You need to make certain that you encourage your pastor to lead, and when he does applaud and support him.

Now pastors, the problems of the local church will never get fixed if you leave every time it gets difficult. Sometimes we have to fight, scratch, and claw our way into Biblical authority. To break up the strong holds of the church, it will take more than a couple of years. We have been told that the grass is greener on the other side, but we need to realize that the next pulpit will have the same problems as our current one unless we fix them.

The Church is hard. However, she is also the most wonderful thing the world has today. Her mission is glorious. She is the light of the world. She is beautiful. She is loved by God. Never let us forget the greatness of the local church. Yes, there are some problems. Let us pray, that God will make us and use us to be the problem solvers.