God's Plan for Leadership

Venture in to any Christian or secular bookstore and you will find multitudes of books dealing with leadership. We live in a world that craves true leaders and suffers due to a lack of them. The church is no different. Throughout the visible body of Christ many churches have adopted a corporate, board of directors, mentality that has muddled God's plan for how His church is to be structured. Throughout the Old and New Testament we see God's plan for leadership clearly displayed. We find an excellent example of this in Joshua chapter 3.

In this chapter of God's holy word we see the children of Israel entering the promised land. It's happening 40 years late because God's people had not followed God's plan for leadership when delivered from bondage in Egypt. God had given the land of Canaan to the Israelites. Moses was God's anointed leader and had led this deliverance by listening to and following God. The people, sometimes with much murmuring and complaining, had followed Moses, that is, until faced with the choice of entering a land God had already given them. When faced with this final act of obedience, God's people listened to the murmurers and refused to enter the land. They were judged for this.

Joshua is the God anointed leader who followed Moses. At this point in history God's people numbered about 3.5 million people. But Joshua, one man, was the clear leader. He is the one God communicated with and gave His message for the people to. Joshua didn't lead alone however. In verse 2 we see that Joshua had officers who he delegated authority to. These leaders were accountable and submissive to Joshua as he was God's chosen man. In verse 6 however we see that God's anointed leader also was a follower. Joshua instructs the priests that the ark of the covenant will lead the whole nation across the Jordan. The ark, of course, is a picture of Christ.

The ark is the vessel upon which rested the mercy seat. On the day of atonement the high priest would enter the holy of holies in the tabernacle and offer the sacrifice of blood for the nations forgiveness of sin. Inside of the ark we find the law, the ten commandments, representing His holy word and the guide which we are to follow. We find the jar of manna representing His provision for His people. And we find Aaron's rod that budded, representing our hope of future resurrection, of which Christ was the firstfruits.

We see here God's plan for leadership. In the church, Christ is the head, He is the true leader. Represented in Joshua by the ark. He communicates His instruction to us through His word. God has anointed a leader for His people, to shepherd them here on earth. This is the pastor who is represented by Joshua. He is Christ's undershepherd held accountable for leading God's people. The pastor is accountable to Christ for how he leads the people, as Joshua was to Jehovah God. The pastor has men who assist him in leading the people. In the church today these men would be the deacons. These men are most surely accountable to God, but also to the pastor, as the officers were to Joshua. The congregation is to submit to and follow the Godly leadership of these men. God's leadership model is clear. Christ is the head and true shepherd. The pastor the undershepherd, the deacons the servants and ministers to the congregation and the congregation is to follow the Godly leadership.

Moses had also adopted this leadership structure(Exodus 18). His father in law Jethro had advised Moses to select men to help him in judging the ever growing nation of Israel. These men were leaders, they had authority, yet they were accountable to Moses, who was ultimately the one whom God had chosen and accountable personally to God. God was the true leader, Moses was His chosen man, Moses delegated to other leaders and the nation of Israel, the congregation, followed.

We see this structure in Acts chapter 6 as well. The apostles, who pastored the church at Jerusalem, could not minister to the congregation and tend to their duties as teachers and preachers of the word effectively. So they called for the congregation to "choose from among" them 7 men full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit to assist them in leading and ministering to the congregation. The congregation embraced this structure and followed the God anointed leadership. But Christ was always the true leader.

When Paul, or Timothy, or John pastored the church at Ephesus, their is no doubt they were the leaders of the church. But we also know from Acts 20:17-38 that these God anointed leaders had other leaders that assisted them and had authority in the local body. When Paul wrote to Titus is his pastoral letter to the young pastor at the church in Crete, he instructed Titus to choose elders to assist him in the ministry there. God has a structure for His people he wishes us to follow.

We must understand that in scripture, their are different positions in leadership. In the bible, the words translated as pastor, elder, bishop and overseer are all interchangeable. These were the chosen leaders of the local assemblies. We also know their is a biblical office of deacon. These men were leaders in the ministry, servants of the people, but they were accountable to the chosen leaders who were accountable to God. Hebrews 13:17 tells us, "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not grief, for that would be unprofitable to you." Those who will give account to God for their handling of the flock are the shepherds, which is literally what the word pastor means. The shepherd leads the flock, cares for the flock, corrects the flock and nurtures the flock. In the church, God leads the pastor through His word who delegates authority to other leaders so that the flock is cared for as God intended. Sadly though, many pastors do so with more grief than joy.

In times past God's people numbered in the millions, yet one man, be it Moses, or Joshua, or David, or Solomon was the leader of the people. Today, most local churches have multiple leaders of equal or misplaced authority to lead even small congregations. Friends, God has not changed. We have. By embracing a corporate model and a board of directors mentality that can be found no where in the bible, we have usurped God's plan for leadership. Christ, the head of the church, has called out men to shepherd His flock and preach and teach His word. This is the pastor. The pastor needs help in leading the flock, so deacons are identified by the congregation to assist the pastor with his shepherding and leadership of the flock. A congregation submitted to God will submit to His leaders and follow. This structure is present all throughout the bible.

God's leadership plan is not about power, or control, or influence, it is about obedience to Him. Christ is the leader and we all are to submit to Him, but he has given us the structure of the church. He has called pastors as His shepherds and has asked His people to identify those who are to assist the pastors as servants to the people, deacons. A church that exercises this leadership structure is most surely going to be blessed by God. God's way is always the right way. Yet few of our churches today are being blessed openly by God, in fact, most are dying. Could it be by abandoning God's plan for leadership, we taken away the authority from the only one who truly has it, Jesus Himself. The church is not a business, it's a body. A body, where if the head, shoulders, waist and legs are not in the correct order, is a mutated body. God's plan for leadership is one of the first places we need to begin for the church to thrive as Christ intends. Until we recognize the way God wants things done, we will never get done to the fullest of our potential what Christ has intended for us.