There is a growing emphasis on church membership right now and “being under the authority of the local church.” This can seem laudable in many ways, but there is a very important emphasis which often seems to be missing when people talk about this. Without this emphasis, people will inevitably misunderstand. The missing emphasis is […]
Sam Storms on Insecurity in the Pastorate
Sam Storms, from his post What I Wish I’d Known: Reflections on Nearly 40 Years of Pastoral Ministry: 10. I wish I’d known about the destructive effects of insecurity in a pastor. This is less because I’ve struggled with it and more due to its effect I’ve seen in others. Why is insecurity so damaging? […]
John Owen on Hebrews 13:17
It is becoming more and more common for people to point to Hebrews 13:17 as giving pastors and elders in the church an almost unlimited authority to tell other Christians what to do — not just in affairs of the church, but also in their personal lives. This is a complete misunderstanding of the passage. […]
The True Nature of Elder Authority in the Church
Note: I originally wrote this post a few weeks ago, in partial response to everything that was going on at Mars Hill. I didn’t post it, however, because I was hesitant to speak up about issues at a church where I don’t attend. However, the issues at Mars Hill pertain to many crucial biblical principles that are […]
The Nature of Pastoral Authority in One Sentence
This is really, really important to understand: “The true picture in the New Testament is not that of a congregation under the authority of the preacher; but of both preacher and congregation under the authority of God’s written word” (Eric Alexander, What is Biblical Preaching).
Pastoral Bullies
An excellent post by Sam Storms, giving concrete examples to help us understand exactly what Peter is commanding against when he tells pastors not to be domineering. Here are a few especially important examples of domineering: A pastor domineers by widening the alleged gap between “clergy” and “laity.” In other words, he reinforces in them […]
Who is Responsible for What Your Church Becomes?
Mark Dever, in What Is a Healthy Church?: Before we consider what the Bible says churches should be, which we will do in the first few chapters, I want you to consider why I would pose this question to you, especially if you are not a pastor. After all, isn’t a book on the topic […]