Church Government & Exodus 18

(wordy but worth it) excerpt from Phil Ryken Exodus commentary:

The story of how Israel got organized raises an obvious practical question:
How should God’s people be governed today? Do the principles from this
passage apply to the church? And if so, how do they apply?

The first thing to point out is one crucial difference: We no longer have
a prophet like Moses. We no longer need one because God has sent his Son
to be our Savior. First Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross. Then God
raised him from the dead. Now he is our Prophet, the one who reveals to us
God’s will. As God the Father said to the first disciples, “This is my Son,
whom I love. Listen to him!” (Mark 9:7). This is a great advantage for us,
because unlike Moses, Jesus never gets tired out. He has already carried the
full weight of our sin, and now he is more than able to bear the daily burden
of our spiritual needs.

The way Jesus teaches us God’s will is not by some new revelation but
by his Spirit speaking in Scripture. This is beautifully explained in the preface
to The Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America,
which announces: “Jesus, the Mediator, the sole Priest, Prophet, King,
Saviour, and Head of the Church, contains in Himself, by way of eminency,
all the offices in His Church. . . . He is present with the Church by His Word
and Spirit, and the benefits of all His offices are effectually applied by the
Holy Ghost.” This is the foundation of all church government: Jesus alone
is the supreme Head of the church, and he exercises his authority by the Spirit
and the Word.

But there is more. According to Scripture, Jesus Christ has called certain
men to provide Biblical instruction and spiritual care on his behalf. The Book
of Church Order explains, “It belongs to His Majesty from His throne of
glory to rule and teach the Church through His Word and Spirit by the ministry
of men; thus mediately exercising His own authority and enforcing
His own laws, unto the edification and establishment of His Kingdom”
(emphasis added). In other words, today Jesus exercises his authority through
the church, specifically through its pastors and elders.

First there is the work of the minister, who in presbyterian churches is
called a teaching elder. In many ways his work is analogous to that of Moses.
His primary task is to teach the Bible, both in public and in private. But it is
not enough simply to know what the Bible says; Christians must also do what
God commands. So the minister shows God’s people how to live, how to
put what they are learning into practice.

If ministers tried to do this work all by themselves, they would soon have
the same problem Moses had. They would be overwhelmed, which would be
bad for them and bad for the church. But God has also provided godly men
to share the work. In presbyterian churches these men are called ruling elders.
In Romans 12:8 ruling (or “leadership”) is identified as one of the spiritual
gifts. Then 1 Timothy 5:17 says, “The elders who direct the affairs of
the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is
preaching and teaching.” This verse teaches that elders are called to govern
the church. It also seems to distinguish between pastors, who do most of
the teaching, and the other elders, who share the burden of spiritual care.
This form of church government follows the same basic principles for
spiritual leadership that Jethro commended to Moses.

First, spiritual leadership must be mature. In 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, the New Testament carefully
lists the qualifications of elders. These lists are longer than the one
that Jethro gave to Moses, but the emphasis is the same. Elders must be
godly, trustworthy men. Therefore anyone who aspires to become an elder
must learn to fear God instead of men and must demonstrate that he can be
trusted to lead a ministry. Without such men, the church will fail to fulfill
its calling to reach the world for Jesus Christ.

Second, spiritual leadership should be representative. Elders should
be nominated by the people of God from across the congregation. In the end
their qualifications must be confirmed by those who already serve as elders,
but the congregation helps recognize their calling. Like the ancient Israelites, we want to have elders “from all the people” (Exod. 18:21).

Third, spiritual leadership should be shared. Teaching and ruling elders
are jointly responsible to provide spiritual care for the local church. Shared
leadership is the heart of presbyterianism, which is the general form of
church government taught in Scripture.

Church government may not seem like a very important topic.
Admittedly, other aspects of Christianity are more central. It would be a
mistake to give so much attention to the organization of the church that we
neglect the saving work of Jesus Christ, which is the most important thing
of all. But church government is important. It must be important because it
is taught in the Bible, including in Exodus 18. Why was this passage included
in the Bible if not partly to teach basic principles of spiritual leadership and
authority? Furthermore, sound church government is essential to the welfare
of the church. Without the right leaders leading in the right way, the work
of the gospel will falter.

Every Christian has a responsibility to promote good church government. Spiritual leaders do this by leading. Yet sadly, pastors and elders tend to commit one of two errors. Either they are too timid to exercise their true
spiritual authority or they try to claim more authority for themselves than
they have been given by Christ. Roger Beardmore writes:
In evangelical circles today we are witnessing the abuse of ecclesiastical
authority in two directions. There is, on the one hand, an abdication of
church authority by some. Confronted with the individualistic, anti-law
spirit of our time, cowardly church officers refuse to exercise the biblical
oversight entrusted to them by Christ. In many circles authoritative preaching
and corrective church discipline are conspicuously absent. Equally dangerous,
however, is the tendency by others to overreact against such laxity.
Church leaders lose sight of the fine line between the virtue of biblical
counsel and guidance and the vice of usurping control over the conscience.
. . . Counsel becomes control, control becomes coercion, and coercion
becomes tyranny over the conscience.

The way to avoid these errors is by exercising authority in a godly way.
Elders who are timid should remember that they are called to promote the
honor of Christ. Elders who love to rule should be careful to do so with
gentleness, leading by persuasion and example.

Followers should follow. We should seek the instruction of our pastors
and the wisdom of our elders. It is the duty of every church member to
honor God by submitting to spiritual authority. Sadly, too many Christians
are like the Israelites: We reserve the right to complain if we don’t get our
way. Sometimes we even rebel against spiritual authority in the church. We
are called instead to honor God’s plan for our spiritual care, which he has provided
for our own benefit. Notice the appeal to self-interest at the end of the
Bible’s command: “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They
keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that
their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to
you” (Heb. 13:17).
When the Bible says “obey . . . and submit,” it means what it says. The
Greek word translated “obey” (peitho) connotes persuasion. It means to have
minds and hearts that are open and receptive to what our pastors and elders
teach and counsel, so that what they say is fully persuasive to us. To submit
is to yield. Our natural inclination is to resist authority, especially when we
disagree. But God calls us to give up on having our own way, choosing
instead to place ourselves under the direction of our spiritual leaders.

The Bible also commands us to love them. At the end of
1 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul makes the following appeal: “Now we ask
you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you
in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in
love because of their work. Live in peace with each other” (5:12, 13).
Some pastors and elders are hard to love; nevertheless, we have a responsibility
before God to love them. The reason is because of their work: They
are God’s servants. Therefore we love and obey them, not because we have
very much confidence in them, but because we have complete confidence in
Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of the church, and thus we are willing to submit
to his plan for its government.

Sometimes it is easier to criticize the church than to obey its leaders.
Pastors and elders are as fallen as anyone else, and they have all the failings
that are common to the rest of humanity. But whatever we say about the
church, we should remember this: For all its weakness, it is the only institution
that God has promised will last until the end of time (Matt. 16:18).
This is because the church is the only organization in the world that is governed
by God’s very own Son.