My optimism in the painted picture comes from a
belief that God is continuing to work in His church by
moving us toward a more biblical role for elders. As
the body of Christ trusts Him by following New
Testament examples, the bright beam of the Gospel
will intensify.
Jesus told us in John 15:3-5:
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of
itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless
you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who
abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart
from Me you can do nothing.
These verses tell us that only by abiding in Christ may
we glorify and enjoy Him. We admire and thank those
from whom we have heard God’s Word both for
salvation and edification, but is it possible our attention
may actually be diverted from Christ when we look to
gifted Christian preachers and teachers? Was this not
the situation in I Corinthians 1-4? Consider Paul’s
instruction to the Corinthians that their ...faith would
not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God. I
Corinthians 2:5.
Corinth
For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ... I
Corinthians 4:15.
Corinthian Elders Page 11
As wise men debated their interpretations of apostolic
teaching they drew followings of Corinthian believers
who zealously desired solid food. At least some were
drawn believing they were correctly following Pauline
or Petrine theology. These members of the body
compared words of Paul, Peter and Apollos.
Divisions appeared among the believers who were
attracted to various teachings of men. These were
doctrinally solid men being followed! An almost
imperceptible diversion from their relationship with
Christ to men caused jealousy and strife instead of
encouragement to love one another in that assembly.
...Since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not
fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when
one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are
you not mere men? I Corinthians 3:3-4.
Paul responded by reminding those believers they
possessed the very Spirit of God. In I Corinthians 3:16
Paul says, Do you not know that you are a temple of God
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? In 3:21-23 he
explains, So then let no one boast in men. For all things
belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the
world or life or death or things present or things to come; all
things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ
belongs to God.
Notice Paul was not rebuking their lack of loving each
other, although that is implicit. The rebuke was the
assembly’s focus on teachers, So then let no one boast in
Corinthian Elders Page 12
men. Paul reminded the Corinthians of their personal
relationship with God through his Word. When the
Corinthians turned their eyes from Christ to men the
branches were girded and the connection to the vine
impaired. Jealousy and strife ensued.
To discourage the Corinthians from focusing on men,
Paul instructed them to teach themselves, ...when you
assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a
revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation...for
edification... I Corinthians 14:26.
For the church to present one or a few preachers to a
passive audience who attend services because they
enjoy the sermons or preaching style is a violation of
Paul’s commandment to the Corinthians when he
redirected them from men to Christ. Why do we
persist in disregarding this commandment? Do we
know better than Paul?
Colossae
Another example of Paul’s concern for believers
turning from their Head to leaders of the church is in
the Book of Colossians. In the context of ecclesiastical
‘authorities’ in Colossians 1:18; 2:8, 10, 15, 19 and 20,
Paul expresses his apprehension for the two house
churches at Colossae and Laodicea, For I want you to
know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for
those who are at Laodicea. Colossians 2:1.
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy
and empty deception, according to the tradition (teaching)
Corinthian Elders Page 13
of men, according to the elementary principles (rules) of the
world, rather than according to Christ. Colossians 2:8.
Whether the Colossians were holding to teachers or
men in authority, Paul was disturbed that they were
disconnected from their Head, Colossians 2:19.
In Colossians 2:18 he said, Let no one keep defrauding you
of your prize and he pointed the Colossians back to
Christ in 3:1, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep
seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right
hand of God.
To redirect the believers from looking to men and
facilitate them in seeking the things above in 3:16 Paul
again commanded, Let the Word of Christ richly dwell
within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one
another.
The point once again was if the Colossians had the
Spirit of God dwelling in them why were they looking
to men’s teachings or authorities? They had God’s law
written in their hearts.
Two churches, same problem, same solution.
Corinthian Elders Page 14
God’s revelation through His Word
...after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into
their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I
will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they
shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his
brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD’, for all will know me,
from the least to the greatest... Hebrews 8:10-11.
Believers in Corinth and Colossae shared a desire to
pursue Christ but they lost their connection to the vine
by not trusting His love and indwelling. They looked
from Christ for their solid food to spiritual leaders.
In John 16:13-14 Christ gave us this promise, ...when
He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the
truth; .....He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and
will disclose it to you. Try reading this passage with
emphasis on the word ‘will’ to understand the
certainty of that truth.
This promise of God to personally teach his children is
yet more proof of his amazing grace. How glorious is
this thought that each of us, if regenerate, can know the
joy of His personal teaching from His Word. How
worldly we are if after experiencing the revelation of
His character and the veracity of His Word we rely on
men to lead us into spiritual truth.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things
Corinthian Elders Page 15
freely given to us by God...not in words taught by human
wisdom. I Corinthians 2:12-13.
But doesn’t the Spirit work through gifted men,
eloquent and mighty, like Apollos, Acts 18:24? Certainly!
But back to the danger of which Paul warned us. Our
duty is, yes, to learn from them, while testing their
teaching with a Berean spirit, but ‘job one’ is to keep
our eyes on our Savior and His personal teaching
through His Word. Perhaps a barometer of how well
we are doing is to examine ourselves. Would our
relationship with other believers be described as in
unity? If not, perhaps disunity, or even apathy, is
evidence our eyes are not on Christ alone for salvation
and edification. The one who loves his brother abides in the
Light (Christ) and there is no cause for stumbling in him. I
John 2:10.
Does a noticeable shift in membership when a gifted
preacher moves to another church reflect relationships
that are more man-centered than Christ-centered?
Where was the love among those members previously
assembled who had shared the Lord’s Table? Was this
division like the historical events in Corinth? Using I
John 2:10 as a barometer to ascertain the congregation’s
relationship with Christ those church members did not
have a close relationship to Him even though they felt
very close to their departed leader. Even an
imperceptible reliance on the strength or knowledge of
leaders as occurred in Corinth may harm our
relationship with Jesus.
Corinthian Elders Page 16
Paul would have pointed that congregation back to
Christ: So then let no one boast in men. For all things
belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the
world or life or death or things present or things to come; all
things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ
belongs to God. I Corinthians 3:21-23.
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