Authority To Lead

In a discussion on the role of different offices within the church, someone made the comment that the scriptures imply that pastors are to lead the flock.

Naturally I had a question. My question was not whether or not they held this authority to lead, but rather “lead them where?”

I like to refer to the Church as the Upside-down Kingdom. Think of a pyramid, then turn it upside-down. Jesus is the chief cornerstone - the one the builders rejected. From there the apostles laid down their lives - stone upon living stone. The Kingdom gets bigger as we go up. With that in mind, there is no doubt that God gives men, specifically pastors authority to lead. Pastors oversee elders who oversee people. The purpose of the oversight is to equip the people to do the work of the ministry. There is an order, but I don’t believe it to be hierarchical. However, in each office is a man. That man is one of the people. The office he serves does not exempt him from correction even from the mere sheeple.

His authority is to lead. To lead the sheep who were bound in prison and trespasses of sin out into the freedom Christ provides. That they may be free indeed. Free to be who God created them to be. And who knows, maybe one of those sheep may become even more influential in the Kingdom than the one who led him out of the prison. This is the beauty of the Kingdom.
I like to think of my kids. I would willingly lay my life down for them. My prayer for them is that they would become more than I could ever hope, dream or imagine becoming. I want them to far surpass me.

I had a dream of playing in the NBA as a child. Sadly, that was not God’s dream for me. But if that is God’s will for my son, then I’m going to do everything in my power to help him achieve that. Not try to hold him back, because I wouldn’t want him to be better than me.

We need to ask critical questions in stead of engaging in petty arguments. The question is not: “Does God give authority?” But rather, for what purpose is that authority given?