Chapter Two:  How the Idea of the Church as a Democracy Evolved.

By Dr. Steve Davis

What you will get from this chapter:

1) What happens when the Bible is laid aside as the sole rule of faith and practice.

2) Why churches fight and divide, with all sides feeling they are "right.".

2) Where the idea came from to operate the Church like a democratic republic!

3) Where the idea of electing "boards" to run the church came from . . . and why it doesn't work.

What happens when we lay aside God’s biblical principles and use a worldly or carnal religious model for operating the church?  When the principles of God's word are laid aside in the day to day operations of a church, it is inevitable that extraneous problems and struggles will arise. When church leadership thinks that sound doctrine only pertains to the messages delivered from the pulpit, the next step is to attempt to fulfill God’s calling for His church by other methods. This is where management principles taken from business models are dressed up in church clothes and used as a means to govern. Or, leadership might choose to copy a series of methods used by another ministry that seems to be successful numerically. Or, the leadership of a church might opt for the easy way out and just operate in the comfort zone of the “traditions of the elders,” using documents and disciplines basically plagiarized from churches that weren’t biblically sound at the time they were written. 

In Matthew 15:2-3,  the Pharisees asked Jesus, “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?”  Like the Pharisees, it’s easy to be so entrenched in the traditions of our particular movement that we feel that a breaking of our traditions would be as bad of a practice as the breaking of God’s Word. 

God says in Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge."  One weapon that the enemy of the work of God uses over and over again  to bring division, confusion and pain among God's people is ignorance of God's plans and purposes.  When the church lacks the knowledge of God’s ways of operating, it will soon effectively go bad, even as any other perishable good.

Why churches fight and divide. A primary reason that churches fight, divide and break fellowship is because the authority, the power, and the supernatural direction of the Spirit of God has been set aside. Instead of being a spirit directed body ruled by the Word of God, the church has in may areas become a democratic body where the majority rules.  When the voice of the people becomes the voice of God, the stage is set for all kinds of corruption and division. James 2:26 states that "the body without the spirit is dead," as dead as faith without works.  A church not under the clear leading and guiding of the Spirit of God is a body without the spirit, a corpse. God never intended for His people to operate as those "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world," (Ephesians 2:12).

Running the Church as a democratic republic. Many factors were involved in bringing the church down to a democratic republic‑type system. These include power abuses by unregenerate leaders, teaching that the power of God has passed away, corruption, greed, immorality, fear, lack of spiritual understanding, pride, and in the twentieth century, secular humanism.  Because of the lack of true and godly spiritual leadership in the church, God's people concluded that for their own protection and perpetuation they had better get together, and vote on what must be the will of God. After drawing up creeds, articles of discipline, constitutions, by‑laws and statements of faith, they voted and told their leaders what to do and how to do it. ...the voice of the people was to be the voice of God.  So, instead of hearing from God, and following His leading, the leaders began listening to the people and obeying the followers. The people began t think that the Pastor served at THEIR pleasure and whim rather than honoring him as a gift to them sent by God.

One reason this brings tension is the lack of consistency in this model. One the one hand, before selecting a Pastor, a church might organize a search committee and contact several potential Pastors to come in and preach the best sermon they can get their hands on, and go through a series of interviews. The candidate that pleases the committee the best is then voted on and asked to be the Pastor. This of course is done with much prayer on both parties. So, apparently God’s choice for Pastor and church is established. But, being afraid to believe in their own prayers, both parties may agree on a one or two year term, to see if God has matched them up right.

As a result, the Pastor is preaching primarily for “re-election,” and the people have the power to direct him through their treats to “vote him out” once the year is up. Conversely, the Pastor feels free to be in the “shopping around” mode, because, if the Lord made a mistake by sending him to this church, he might be able to find greener pastures elsewhere.

No wonder churches run on this system rarely run smoothly and with minimal conflict. The Pastor isn’t sure if he is to be leader or a temporary employee. The people hold him responsible for church growth and the spiritual tone of the church, yet will not tolerate any real change, should he try to introduce any modifications in the way things have been done for as long as anyone can remember.

The Church being run by a “Board.” Many churches for the last two centuries have been run by a “board” of laymen who set the direction of the church and attempt to control the Pastor.  The Board meets monthly in most cases and they pull the strings for the operating of the church.  Sometimes the “board” is called the “Official Board,” and other churches call them the “Board of Deacons.” In such churches, many times the Deacons feel that they are the authority over the Pastor, and that he must answer to them in all things – and that his job is to keep them happy.

The concept of a church being run by a board of laymen is not found in the first century church or for the next many centuries after that. It began in the late nineteenth century church, after centuries of spiritual abuse, exploitation by unregenerate clergy, manipulation and religious ritualism as a substitute for the presence of the Holy Spirit. The concept of a church being ruled by a "board" was borrowed from a nineteenth century industrial model, where the bosses would meet together around the table at an inn (which offered room and "board") and make business decisions while they ate.  These were called "Board Meetings." While the bosses were meeting and discussing business and making decisions, naturally there were subordinates who would sit as close as possible to the bosses' table and listen in, and at times even offer suggestions. Sometimes the underlings would discuss who things should be run, and would appoint a member to "present it to the board." The underlings at the tables were also having "board meetings," but the real decisions were made by the "official" board. The twentieth century protestant has, for the most part, clung to this antiquated business practice.

A New Testament Church originates and operates by the authority of the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit in concert with the Word of God.  The New Testament Church began in Acts 2:4. There was no New Testament church as such in the Gospels.  The church of the risen Lord began on the Day of Pentecost when the Spirit of God came to inhabit believers in His fullness.  That day marks when the Church began to be able to operate in the power and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

In the early church and for the first several centuries, the written word of God was considered the all sufficient rule for faith and practice in the churches. As disputes arose, the elders would meet, and compare scriptures, pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and then make judgments in line with scripture as wisdom and the Spirit dictated. The first example of this is in Acts chapter 15.

Copyright Steven L. Davis  www.stevedavis.org