Congregational Church Government and Baptist Polity — Unit 1: Christ the Head: Biblical Foundations of Church Government

Key Verse

"And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence." (Colossians 1:18, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain why a pastor needs a clear, biblical understanding of church government.

2. State what the New Testament teaches about the headship of Christ over the church.

3. Describe the meaning of the word "church" (ekklesia) and the Baptist view of the local church and the whole church.

4. Explain why Baptists treat Scripture as the rule for church order, and how we answer those who say the New Testament gives no pattern.

5. Name the three main models of church government, and explain why Christ's headship excludes both the pastor-owner and the rule of the majority as the final authority.

The Voice of This Course

This course is written from inside the Baptist tradition, for Baptist students. It is conservative. When it says "we," it means Baptist churches that hold the Bible to be the inspired and fully trustworthy Word of God, practice believer's baptism by immersion, and govern themselves as free local congregations. Other Christians see church order differently, and many of them love the Lord and His Word. We state their views fairly and then give our answer. The history of how Baptists arose is taught in Course 1, and we will not repeat it here. The doctrines of the church, baptism and the Lord's Supper belong to Course 2. This course asks a practical question: how does a Baptist church organize itself and make decisions under the authority of Christ?

Why Church Government Matters

Many pastors say, "I preach the gospel; I do not want to argue about structure." We understand this. The gospel comes first. But structure is never absent. Every church has some way of choosing leaders, receiving members, spending money and settling disputes. If we do not teach a biblical way, the church will use a way it has copied from a government, a business, a family clan or a strong personality.

In many places where our students serve, the danger is real. In some churches the founder becomes the owner, and the congregation has no voice. In others, every small matter becomes a noisy vote, and the pastor has no room to lead. In others, an outside body gives orders to the local church. Each of these is a problem of government, and each has hurt God's people. A pastor who knows what the Bible teaches can protect his church from all three.

There is another reason. Scripture itself cares about order. Paul told the Corinthians, "Let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40). He left Titus in Crete so that he would "set in order the things that are lacking" (Titus 1:5). Order is not opposed to the Spirit. It is one way the Spirit serves the people of God.

Christ Is the Head

The first truth of church government is not about pastors or votes. It is about Jesus Christ. Paul wrote that the Father "put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:22-23). In Ephesians 5:23 he wrote that Christ is head of the church. In Colossians 1:18, our key verse, he says that Christ is head of the body and must have the first place in all things.

Three things follow from this.

The church belongs to Christ. Jesus said, "I will build My church" (Matthew 16:18). It is not the property of a founder, a denomination, a pastor's family or a missionary society. Paul told the Ephesian elders to shepherd "the church of God which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). What Christ bought with His blood, no man may own.

The church is ruled by Christ. He is not a distant founder who left rules and went away. He is the living Lord, and He said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). He governs His church through His written Word, by His Spirit, and through the people He has gifted. When a church meets to decide a matter, the question is never first, "What do we want?" It is, "What does the Lord want?"

All human leaders are under Christ. Jesus told His disciples that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over people, "yet it shall not be so among you" (Mark 10:42-43 and following). Peter wrote to the elders that they should shepherd the flock willingly, "nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:3). The pastor is an under-shepherd. Peter calls Christ the "Chief Shepherd" (1 Peter 5:4).

What the Word "Church" Means

The New Testament word for church is ekklesia. In the Greek-speaking world it meant an assembly, a gathering of people called together for a purpose. The Greek Old Testament used it for the assembly of Israel. In the New Testament it usually means a particular, local gathering of believers: "the church of God which is at Corinth" (1 Corinthians 1:2), the church "in your house" (Philemon 2), and "the churches of Galatia" (Galatians 1:2). Such a church could meet, receive members, hear a letter read, and make decisions. We will see in Unit 2 that these are the very acts the New Testament shows churches doing.

The New Testament also speaks of the church in a wider sense. Christ loved "the church and gave Himself for her" (Ephesians 5:25), and Hebrews 12:23 speaks of "the church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven." Most Baptists understand this wider sense to mean all the redeemed of all ages, gathered by Christ and known fully only to Him. Baptist confessions say this. The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), for example, says that the church includes all the redeemed of all the ages.

Baptists have not all agreed on how to say this. Some Baptists, especially in the Landmark tradition, which Course 1 describes, hold that "church" in the New Testament means only the local congregation and that the wider sense is a figure of speech. We think the wider sense is real, because the redeemed are one body in Christ, but we agree with the Landmark brothers on the most important practical point: the church that does the work of Christ on earth, with authority to receive members, baptize, gather at the Lord's table, choose leaders and discipline, is the local congregation. No larger body has these powers. This is the foundation of everything that follows in this course.

Why Baptists Look to Scripture for Church Order

We believe the Bible is the only final rule for faith and practice. This applies to church order as well as to doctrine. In the days of the Reformation, some leaders said that the church may keep any custom the Bible does not forbid. Baptists, and others before them, took a stricter road. They asked what the New Testament teaches or shows, and they were slow to add what it does not.

This does not mean we imagine that every detail of the first century was commanded for all time. The New Testament tells us that churches met in homes, but we do not conclude that every church must meet in a home. We distinguish between principles and circumstances. The principles include Christ's headship, the gathering of baptized believers, the two offices of pastor and deacon, the discipline of the church, and the freedom of each congregation under Christ. The circumstances include the building, the time of day, the language and the style of the meeting.

The objection: the New Testament gives no single pattern

Some scholars and church leaders say that the New Testament contains no single blueprint. They point out that the churches were young, that Jerusalem, Antioch, Corinth and Ephesus did not look the same, and that different later churches have found support for bishops, for presbyteries or for congregational votes. They say that each church should choose the form that fits its time and place. This view is held by thoughtful Christians in many traditions.

Our answer. It is true that the New Testament is not a legal code, and we should not claim more than it says. But it is not silent. In every church where we see a local assembly, we find the same things: a body of baptized believers, elders or overseers who shepherd, deacons who serve, and a congregation that acts together in the matters that touch its life. The apostles appointed no ruler over the local churches beyond themselves, and they themselves are gone. Paul wrote most of his letters to whole churches, not to bishops over churches, and he addressed the whole congregation, for example when he told the Corinthians to put away an immoral man (1 Corinthians 5). A form that appears again and again, and that nobody in the New Testament contradicts, is a pattern worth following. We do not say that other forms are not Christian. We say that we should follow what Scripture shows, and that this is the congregational pattern.

Three Models of Church Government

Christians have organized their churches in three main ways. Later units will examine each more closely, so here we give a short description.

Episcopal government places authority in bishops, who oversee priests and congregations over a wide area. The Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican churches, and many Methodist churches, follow some form of this model. Its defenders point to the apostles, to Timothy and Titus, and to early church writers.

Presbyterian government places authority in elders, who govern the local church together and also meet in larger courts, called presbyteries and synods or assemblies. Presbyterian and many Reformed churches follow this model. Its defenders point to the elders of Acts 15 and to the New Testament use of the plural "elders."

Congregational government places final human authority in the local congregation of believers, which acts under the headship of Christ. Baptists, Congregationalists and many independent churches follow this model. We hold it because we believe it is what the New Testament shows, and because it fits two things the Bible says: every believer is a priest before God (1 Peter 2:9), and every believer has the Spirit (Romans 8:9).

The differences between these models are real, but the three agree on more than they differ. All three affirm that Christ is the head. They differ on how He governs through human beings.

Two Dangers That Christ's Headship Corrects

Because Christ is the head, two errors that appear often in Baptist life must be refused.

The pastor as owner

In some churches the pastor, or the founder, has become the final authority. He chooses the deacons alone, controls the money, and answers to no one. His defenders say, "God has placed him there, and the people must obey." They often cite Hebrews 13:17, "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive."

Our answer. This verse is real and we honor it. Believers should follow godly leaders, and a church that despises its pastor does itself harm. But the verse does not make the pastor the head. The same letter tells the people to "consider the outcome of their conduct" (Hebrews 13:7), so that leaders are measured by Scripture. Peter forbids elders to lord it over the flock. Paul told the Corinthians to judge a case of sin themselves. The apostles never ruled a church without involving the believers. A pastor who forgets that the church belongs to Christ has taken a place that is not his. He must lead by teaching, example and love.

The majority as lord

The opposite error treats the vote of the people as the highest authority. On this view, the church is a small democracy, and whatever the majority wants is right. Some Baptist churches have sadly acted this way, and their business meetings have become battles of parties.

Our answer. Congregational government is not democracy in the ordinary sense. A democracy asks what the people want. A congregation asks what Christ wants and uses a vote to discover whether the body agrees that it has found His mind. The Baptist Faith and Message (2000) says a church acts under the lordship of Christ through democratic processes, and the order of those words matters. The lordship comes first. A majority can be wrong, and the church is bound by Scripture even when most of its members would like something else. A vote that goes against clear Scripture has no authority. A congregation that votes is a priesthood of believers seeking the Lord's will together, not a crowd counting hands.

The Shape of This Course

Unit 2 will study the congregation's authority in Matthew 18, Acts 6 and 15, and 1 Corinthians 5. Unit 3 will study the independence of each church and the voluntary cooperation of churches. Unit 4 will study the pastor. Unit 5 will study membership and discipline. Units 6 to 9 will study the deacon, drawing on Dr. Wayne Cook's CTS course Deacon Family Ministry Plan and on R. B. C. Howell's The Deaconship (1846). Unit 10 will turn to business meetings, constitutions and the law.

Pastoral Application

A pastor in a growing town has started a church with the help of a few families. After six years, the church has eighty members. The pastor has never had a business meeting. He decides the budget and names the deacons himself. One day a longtime member, a schoolteacher named Marta, asks politely, "Pastor, whose church is this?" He feels the question as an attack.

A wise pastor would first thank her for asking and not defend himself. Second, he would open Colossians 1:18 and Matthew 16:18 and agree that the church belongs to Christ, not to him. Third, he would admit that decisions made without the congregation have not followed the New Testament pattern, and he would ask the people to study with him what Acts 6 and 1 Corinthians 5 show. Fourth, he would plan a first church meeting with a printed agenda and a prayer for the Lord's guidance, and he would explain that the purpose is not to weaken his leadership but to share the work. Finally, he would remind Marta, and himself, that he is a servant and not a ruler. He gives up nothing that Christ gave him, and he gains a church that is more fully the Lord's.

Summary

Church government begins with Christ, who is head of the church, bought it with His blood, and rules it by His Word and Spirit. The New Testament word ekklesia usually means a local assembly, though it also describes all the redeemed. Baptists agree that the local congregation is the church that acts on earth. We look to Scripture for church order, distinguishing principles from circumstances, and we answer the claim that the New Testament has no pattern by pointing to what appears in every church where we can see it. Christians have followed episcopal, presbyterian and congregational models. We follow the congregational model. Christ's headship corrects two errors: the pastor who acts as owner and the majority that acts as lord. Under Christ, the pastor serves, the congregation seeks His will, and no one takes the place that belongs to Him alone.

Further Reading

• The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), article on the church (Southern Baptist Convention).

• The Second London Confession (1689), chapter 26, "Of the Church," and the New Hampshire Confession (1833).

• J. M. Pendleton, Church Manual (1867).

• J. L. Dagg, Manual of Church Order (1858).

• E. Y. Mullins, The Axioms of Religion (1908).

• James Leo Garrett Jr., Baptist Theology (2009).

• Course 1 of this specialization, for Baptist origins and history.

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