THE AUTHORITY OF THE LOCAL CHURCH

Hugo McCord

Two Christians observing the Lord’s Supper together are a New Testament church. Sometimes only a husband and wife (as, Aquila and Priscila) are “the church in their house” (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15;; Philemon 2). They rejoice in the divine assurance that “where two or three are gathered together in” the name of the Lord, that he is “in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).

The Lord’s church began in Nicholasville, Ky., when a Christian lady, whose husband was not a Christian, invited a Christian lady in the town to her house for a Lord’s day worship service. The two sang together, prayed, read Scriptures, had the Lord’s Supper, and saved their two offerings week by week. The devotion of those two ladies was the beginning of a large, mission-minded congregation today in Nicholasville.

No New Testament church has any “say-so” about what it teaches, for its teaching is restricted to “the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42). The apostles’ doctrine originated in “heaven,” for which the twelve apostles were simply the mouth pieces, as Jesus told them:

Indeed, I assure you, that whatever you bind on the earth will have been bound [estai dedemena, future passive] in heaven, and whatever you release on the earth will have been released [estai lelumena, future passive] (Matthew 18:18).

So important was their relay speaking they were styled the “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20), and were even described as sitting “on twelve thrones” (Matthew 19:28).

The authority of the twelve, beginning in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, May 28, A.D. 30, extends, not merely to the deaths of the twelve, but “to the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).

Regarding any doctrine, each Christian knows how to distinguish between “the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” by asking, “Is it from the apostles?” “He who knows God hears us,” wrote an apostle, and “he who is not of God does not hear us” (1 John 4:6).

In parallel, it is true that as “many as will walk by this standard (kanon, the “canon” of apostolicity], peace be upon them, and mercy, and on the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). A congregation, with or without elders, is told to be on the alert lest non-apostolic doctrine be brought into the church: “there will be among you false teachers” (2 Peter 2:1). For that reason Paul wrote:

I beg you, brothers, watch out for those who are bringing about divisions and causes of stumbling contrary to the teaching which you have learned (Romans 16:27).

Every congregation has apostolic authority to look after its own affairs, to be autonomous, to be self-governing. The apostles recognized the self-governing principle in the Jerusalem church even before it had elders. When an emergency arose, calling for a charity committee, though twelve evangelists were present (even twelve apostles), those evangelists did not consider themselves as being in charge of the church. They respected local autonomy.

Their inspired commandment to “the multitude of the disciples” was for them to “choose” (episkeptomai, “pick out”) the men for that committee, after which the twelve evangelists would appoint (kathistemi, “put in charge”) the chosen ones “over this need” (Acts 6:2-3).

The “lay members” (as mistakenly called today) did the choosing. How they did the choosing is not recorded. If by voting, they were practicing the self-governing principle of a New Testament church.

Similarly, as regards the congregations in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, two evangelists, Paul and Barnabas, “ordained” (KJV), “appointed” (ASV), “elders in every church” (Acts 14:23). That the elders had not been selected by Paul and Barnabas, but only appointed by them, is clear from Luke’s word: cheirotoneo (from cheir, “hand,” and teino, “stretch”) points to raising hands to indicate approval of someone’s name, and so the selection was by church voting.

Luke’s inspired word shows that Paul and Barnabas respected local self-government by having the members to do the choosing, after which the two visiting evangelists appointed the selectees as elders.

Similarly, Titus, an evangelist visiting among the churches on the island of Crete, did not receive a commandment from Paul to “select” (episkeptomai men for the eldership, but to “appoint” or “ordain” (kathistemi) them (Titus 1:5).

Paul used the same Greek word that the apostles in Jerusalem had used in appointing men for the charity committee (Acts 6:2-3). If this pattern was followed, the local members in the Cretian churches selected the elders-to-be and Titus appointed them to their work. It makes more sense for the local members to do the selecting from among people they well knew rather than for a visitor, like Titus, to name them.

The above examples show the error in the teaching that a congregation without elders is to be under “evangelistic oversight.” Biblically, evangelists have no authority. All they do is to repreach the apostles’ doctrine. Actually, every Christian, each man and each woman, is an evangelist: “they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).

Because Paul said that the preaching done by Titus on the island of Crete was “with all authority” (Titus 2:15), some assume that Titus was put in charge of all the churches on the island. The only way that an evangelist might have “all authority,” that is, to be an infallible teacher, would be as a result of an apostle’s hands being laid on him (cf. Acts 8:18).

Since we know that Paul had laid his hands on the evangelist Timothy (2 Timothy 1:6), it is unreasonable to think that Paul left Titus among the Cretian churches without laying his hands on him. For Titus to have “all authority” without a miraculous hand-laying from Paul would have been impossible.

Today no one, except the Roman pope, would claim that he has “all authority.” Without the first century miraculous help, all an evangelist can do now, in appointing those the church has selected for elders, is to give a public recognition of their selection.

After elders are appointed, the authority vested originally in the local church, is still in the local church. Likewise, the authority for the church to select its own elders carries with it the authority to depose unfaithful elders.

Paul warned the Ephesian elders that “from your own number” men “will arise” who “will distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30). When “an accusation against an elder” was “brought by two or three witnesses,” that elder was “to be rebuked publicly” (1 Timothy 5:19-20, NIV).

It would not make sense to say that an unfaithful elder cannot be ejected. Certainly the authority of the church that votes a man in can vote him out. The fact that a church trial is scriptural (Revelation 2:2) carries with it the fact that the local church decides what potential members they will accept (Romans 16:1-2) or reject (Acts 9:26-28).

The self-government vested in each local congregation, whether or not elders have been appointed, allows the members to be “gathered together” to “put away from among” themselves a “wicked person” (1 Corinthians 5:4, 13), and to “withdraw” from “every brother walking disorderly” (2 Thessalonians 3:6).

Likewise, the day by day affairs of a congregation, as long as they are in harmony with the apostles’ doctrine, are decided only by the local church. The apostles’ doctrine specifies an assembly (Hebrews 10:25), but whether in someone’s living room, or in a rented hall, or in a church building, the local members decide the place.

The apostles’ doctrine specifies singing “spiritual songs” to “one another” and “to God” (Colossians 3:16), but what song book to use and who leads the songs are purely local decisions.

The apostles’ doctrine specifies Scripture reading (Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27) and mutual edification (1 Thessalonians 5:11), but how much and for how long the local church decides.

The apostles’ doctrine specifies an offering from each Christian as he “may prosper” on “the first day of the week” (1 Corinthians 16:1-2), and in addition the apostles’ doctrine gives an approved example of a special collection (Acts 11:27-30).

Those collections, according to the apostles’ doctrine, were not for entertainment or for a gymnasium, but only for two purposes: (1) charitable relief (Acts 24:17; Romans 15:25; 2 Corinthians 8:1-5; Galatians 2:10), and (2) for gospel preaching (I Corinthians 9:14; Philippians 4:14-16).

The apostles’ doctrine specifies the observance of the Lord’s Supper, but not its frequency. However, since there is an approved example (with an apostle present) of a congregation assembling on “the first day of the week” to “break bread” (Acts 20:7), wise Christians do the same today.

Indeed, beginning on Monday, they “encourage one another--and all the more as” they “see the day [the Lord’s Day] approaching” (Hebrews 10:25; Revelation 1:10). Loving Christians look forward to a joyful get-together for adoring their Creator and Savior and the Holy Spirit in worship and for mutual edification (John 4:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:11). A Christian adapts Psalm 122:1 to say: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to church!’” Inside he has a deep appreciation for what Heaven has done for him, and he feels a need:

As a deer craves the water brook, so I crave you, O God! I am thirsty for God, the living God! When shall I come and appear before God? ...

These things I remember as I pour out my soul within me. I passed along in the crowd, walking slowly with them to the house of God. With joyful shouting and thanksgiving, the multitude was celebrating a festival (Psalm 42:1-4).