Road Hogs, Organization Charts, and the Southern Baptist Papacy

From my study of Hebrews 3:4-6 Let me first state: I am about to step all over my own toes here. This passage makes a pretty bold statement about the hierarchy in the church today. We live in an age when clergy, while I agree that they (we, since I would consider myself clergy) have a special gifting, are sort of put up on a pedestal in a church. There is this thing that I call the “Southern Baptist Papacy” that I have a real problem with. In a lot of churches, whether those churches will admit it or not, the pastor is given a great deal of leeway and freedom. This leeway and freedom sometimes balloons into privilege. This privilege can sometimes become entitlement. (By the way, I’m not knocking my fellow pastors out there, I’m just pointing out something that I think I see a little too often.) There is a misconception today about the clergy, and I think it goes back to, or is at least illustrated by the tradition in the Roman Catholic Church of Papal Infallibility (again, not dogging Catholics, just making a point here, so just bear with me). The Catholic doctrine of Papal Infallibility, which was declared by the First Vatican Council on July 18, 1870, basically states that when the Pope is exercising his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians the doctrines on faith and morals that he declares are without error. In other words, if the Pope says that he’s making a statement for all Christians from the position of Pope (“ex cathedra”, or “from the chair”), then he’s always right. So hold that thought for just a second. When we look at the analogy of the “house” in Hebrews 3:4-6, there is nowhere in the house where the prophet (Moses) is given a different degree of preference from the rest of the servants in the house. I agree that Moses was special in that God chose him to do a great work, but he's still just called a servant here. VV.4-6 uses a sort of “construction language” to make a point about the Lord as a builder. The Church is considered to be the house that is being built here. God is the builder of the house. Moses was referred to as a servant in the house while Christ is the One OVER the house. Did you catch that? Jesus owns the house. It could be easily drawn from this passage that all Christians are servants in the house, which means that the house is, quite literally, built OF servants. This means that the entire church, clergy included, has service to God and others as an underlying principle. So let’s take a step back here. I don’t want to come off as critical (even though I am criticizing a little here). I want to paint a picture of what I think the relationship of the pastor of a church should be to the laity (that’s basically a churchy word for the non-professional church folks; non-professional ministry personnel, if you will) and the rest of the church. Organizational charts basically tell an organization who reports to who and who is someone else’s boss. I often think in organizational charts, so let me just try to think of it in that way. At the top of our church organizational chart is God. He is the builder of the house, like we just stated. Right next to God on the same line is Jesus, who is over the house, or church. Draw a line down to the next level and you have the church. Now let’s just say that line below God connects to the pastor of the church. Which direction do we draw the line now? Sideways or down? Is the pastor now OVER the rest of the church or on the same level as the rest of the church? Before I answer that question, let me first say that this organizational chart that we’re creating here has nothing to do with the administration of the church. A church needs someone to run the staff and to be a decision-maker. I’m just saying that for the purposes of this discussion, we need to separate out the temporal administration of the church from the ultimate authority and responsibility IN a church. So which direction do we draw the line? Lots of churches would draw that line straight down to the rest of the congregation. I don’t think that they necessarily do it on purpose. I think they do it with great intentions. However, I humbly think that this is wrong. I think this sets up the “Southern Baptist Papacy” that we talked about earlier. I think this gives the pastor of a church authority that he was never intended to have. I think the line should be drawn to the side. If Moses was a servant in the house, why would I not be a servant in the house with everyone else? Here’s how I see it: I am a member of the church. Those who come to the church are members of the church. I am gifted in a certain way. I am gifted to prophecy (preach; although I am not the ONLY one gifted to preach; and administrate.) As a pastor, I am a facilitator. Is the pastor the only one who has vision for the church? If you asked a teenager in your congregation what they would do differently in a ministry would you get an answer? Could you ask a police officer who attends your church what he thinks about the direction of ministry and get an answer? What if you asked a stay-at-home mom what her vision is for her children and how that relates to the church? Do you imagine that she thinks about those types of things? What about a middle school teacher? Do you think that person has been given a word from God about connecting the families in the community to faith in Christ? Do you think the high school principal isn’t burdened for meeting the physical needs of kids who go home on the weekend and may not eat until Monday morning when they return to school for breakfast? As a pastor, I preach and pray. I facilitate the church. I even have a certain vision for what the church can be. Here’s the question: is mine the ONLY vision? What if a pastor took a step back and started looking at his position a little differently? What if a pastor looked at the position of pastor as an equipper and supporter rather than “the boss”? What would it look like if I as a pastor (now I’m talking about myself here more than anything, so don’t think that I am self-righteously pronouncing that everyone else on the planet is doing it wrong and that I have all the answers) decided to let other voices and visions for church steer the direction of the church? How much pressure for ministry would be lifted from my shoulders? You know why people don't show up for business meetings? They feel like their voice often doesn't matter! Start letting the congregation make some ministry decisions and see where participation in the church goes. I think church will run best when a pastor “stays in his lane”, so to speak. Well, let me be clear here. I think a church will be most effective when the pastor “stays in his lane” and doesn’t run everyone else off of the road. There are a LOT of voices that represent a LOT of hearts that bleed for a LOT of people that attend churches in this great country of ours. I think it’s time to start taking the chance that some of those voices may have some really great ideas as to how to do ministry. In fact, some of those voices may have BETTER ideas for how to do ministry than the pastor! The thing is that those voices don’t have to be a threat to a pastor. If a person has an idea for ministry, it doesn’t mean that they want to kick the pastor out of the church and take over. It just means that God uses people; lots of people, to build His kingdom. When a pastor steps back and remembers that he’s just another member of a congregation doing the best he can with the gifting and calling that he has been given, he is freed up to listen and HEAR what God may be doing in the life of the church. He is freed up to let others lead and cast vision. The church if freed from the bondage of the vision squelching one-man show that is the “Southern Baptist Papacy”. Pastors, let’s all remember to stay in our lanes…my toes hurt…I need some ice…