Leadership And Submission in the New Covenant Church
Bobby McDonald
Introduction - My Experience Before Having And Submitting To Biblical Leadership
A PERSONAL TESTIMONY
For many years, I read the Bible on my own, listened to many sermons, and sought the Lord on my own. I continually found myself frustrated because I never really had confidence in the truth or understood what I was hearing and learning. And what I believed often changed. Generally what I read in the Bible and what I heard preached agreed (the church is good, prayer is good, evangelism is good, Bible study is good, lusting is bad, loving money is bad - for example), but I was really confused with many things and how they all fit together. For instance, what is the emphasis I should focus on? How do I practically live all these things out? Am I on the right track and growing in the right way?
For example, I know that sin is bad. But how much should I focus on fighting sin? Will I automatically just become more Christ-like over time? Is it just something Jesus has forgiven me for so I don’t have to think about it or worry about it and can focus on other things - like saving the lost from Hell? What about social outreach? Outreach and helping the poor is a great thing – the Bible talks about it, but what place does that take in my life? Should I devote myself to helping poor people, and spend 75% of my time, money, and thoughts on it, or is it secondary to something else?
The confusion would repeatedly cause me to question myself and change my focus, and lose motivation. I would struggle with sins and feel guilty all over again, wondering where I’m going wrong despite the fact that I was trying to seek the truth and trying to live a godly life. I was so frustrated, and I felt like I had to figure things all out on my own by studying the Bible more. With regard to how to follow what I read in the Bible in practice, after a while it felt like I was just ‘guessing’ and was never really sure if what I was doing and focusing on was right, or if it was just at the moment what I felt the Bible said (only to discover something else later). There was one period where I felt that the sins God wanted me to concentrate on were all of the external rules I was breaking like disobeying traffic signals or walking outside of the crosswalks. It was very burdensome!
These were the questions and persistent struggles that stayed with me for years.
At the time I didn’t realize that I was missing something absolutely crucial in my life: godly leadership.
My life turned around from all of that frustration and defeated life only once the Lord provided me godly leadership, who has shown proven fruit in their lives (the godly life I was seeking all along which I saw in them), and a good local church in my life where the people God spoke of in Ephesians 4:11-12 are there to help build me up. The frustration I had before is totally gone.
There’s a confidence I have now when I read the Bible, and follow their teaching, because I can clearly see the teaching which they give has helped me grow in the same way. My own life has bore witness to the fact that the teaching they give actually works! And so, seeing their progress in the Lord builds my faith and makes me excited that I can have the same outcome:
“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.” - Hebrews 13:7
Because of this change in my life, I felt led to write about 3 specific points regarding what God has taught me and done for me through the Biblical leadership I’ve found in a godly local church.
These are 3 key lessons that I have learned and written about:
1. If I want to grow spiritually in the Lord, having Biblical leadership is absolutely critical (Part 1 – Biblical leadership is crucial for my spiritual growth)
2. If I want to grow spiritually In the Lord, I have to carefully choose the right leaders – they must be Christ-like themselves (Part 2 – seek for godly leadership, not gifted leadership)
3. If I want to grow spiritually in the Lord, I have to actually submit to and imitate/follow the godly leaders the Lord has led me to (Part 3 – Obeying and submitting to your leaders)
Part 1 - Biblical Leadership Is Crucial For My Spiritual Growth
MANY CHRISTIANS, MANY PATHS, MANY DIFFERENT OUTCOMES
There are many millions of Christians on earth today who are trying to follow Jesus, and stick to the very same Bible, but their lives look drastically different. Many (maybe even most) have not grown in the Lord to be much better than an average unbeliever – still fighting with their spouse at home, still yelling at their children, still chasing after money, still full of envy for their friends, still going months on end, discouraged day after day with no joy in the Lord. They know some of their faults and genuinely want to be better, but are finding themselves year after year with zero improvement even though they go to church, pray, and read their Bibles. How is that?
Jesus’ heart was moved with great compassion for such people (Matt 9:36),
Matthew 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus pointed to an interesting reason for distress and dispirited lives of the multitude: They were like sheep with no shepherds. In other words, they needed someone else to help guide them.
In the same way, after living a very mediocre and frustrating Christian life myself, I’ve seen that the answer is that God’s will is for me is to be built up by others and along with others, not alone:
Ephesians 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4 is one of the clearest chapters in the whole Bible on how we can grow spiritually. This passage is very clearly saying: if we want to know the Son of God and have a deep relationship with Him, and to be mature, and to grow up spiritually to be like Jesus, then I see here that I cannot do it without the church (including the leadership the Lord appointed within the church), to help guide me to the Lord. I cannot sit at home and listen to sermons and read my Bible by myself and expect to grow in the Lord much. Perhaps in some cases, the Lord will call someone to be alone for some time (such as Paul when he was in prison, or people who are waiting for some time while sincerely seeking the Lord for fellowship), but in general, I see that this being built up by others and along with others is God’s will for each of us.
ONE EXTREME – UNQUESTIONED LEADERSHIP/AUTHORITY
For centuries, some denominations have set up a strong hierarchical pattern with a strong top-down leadership structure. Often, the end result is that people in that denomination go to an extreme so as to say (if not always with words, at least in attitude): “You don’t need your Bible. Truth is only determined by educated and high ranking officials within the church. You must blindly submit to what they say and write, that’s the most important thing.”
But the Bible clearly opposes this view with many verses such as (1 John 2:27 - “... the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things…”), and (2 Timothy 3:16 - “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness…”). Yes, we have godly leaders, but God has given us the Scriptures, as well as the Holy Spirit Himself to interact directly with us individually and personally.
THE OTHER EXTREME – NO LEADERSHIP OR AUTHORITY
Many Christians have correctly pulled away from that extreme of blindly listening to church leadership. But human nature has a terrible tendency when running from one extreme to go to the other. I’ve heard a saying, “When we fall off of one side of the horse, we pull ourselves back up so hard that we fall back off on the other side!” I believe that’s what’s happened today for many, many people – because I’ve experienced it myself. Instead of unquestioned authority, the temptation is to run way over to the other extreme of almost no authority at all. It’s like sending a child on a month-long journey with $10,000 and telling them to do whatever they’d like. There’s no telling where they’ll end up, or if they’ll even be still alive at the end of the month. Spiritually, we can come and go to any church as we’d like, run in any direction we want. We don’t have to listen to anybody that tries to stop us, and we can say, “I don’t need anybody to help find the truth and guide me, I can find it on my own – just me and my Bible.”
AUTHORITY OVER US IS CRITICAL FOR OUR SPIRITUAL SAFETY
There may be something that seems exciting or ‘romantic’ about running around with a Bible, thinking we are walking ‘alone’ with God, like we are a holy man like John the Baptist or something. But it’s just a fancy idea that doesn’t work, because it goes against what the Bible says regarding how God works in the new covenant. I personally believe it’s a temptation for pride too – it’s a temptation to see ourselves as a “lone holy saint who will get his glory on the last day.” God is not interested in lone holy saints; He wants a holy bride – He can never use such an individually minded person like that to build His church. The Bible says we need leaders and authority in our lives, and we need to practice submission to that authority, or we will never grow up, and we’ll be in much danger:
Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.”
Millions of Christians may be content to walk with God apart from godly leaders who can keep watch over them. This is one reason why so many fall away, live spiritually stagnant lives, or fall into terrible sins (the same sins the world commits). I personally don’t ever want to be without that protection again.
BALANCE
So although we do not need another man between us and the Lord (1 Timothy 2:5), such as many in certain denominations have placed between them and the Lord, I’ve seen in the Bible and in experience that God has indeed put others in my life to help bring me closer to the Lord. I see it like this: we both have the goal of holding the Lord’s hand, and they are taking my hand along with them, and leading me along to help place my hand into Jesus’ hand.
God’s will is not the extreme of unquestioned authority and submission in the church, and it’s also not in the other extreme of where there is no authority or submission in a church to godly leaders. God’s will is balance. He wants us to be in a church family, where there is god-fearing and loving authority and protection over us – but we have to then be under submission. Not just to anybody – to godly men who have shown fruit of a godly life.
Part 2 - Seek For Godly Leadership, Not Gifted Leadership
AN ILLUSTRATION
Imagine a man on a stage with a microphone talking passionately in front of thousands of people about a life changing diet he has discovered – how to eat healthy, the secrets of food selection, losing weight, and living a long, energetic life. He’s speaking with excitement, and he’s fun to listen to, and seems to know the information inside and out. But now imagine this: imagine he is a 500 pound, overweight man who is sitting in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank attached to him as he is speaking.
Although everyone in the world wants to be healthy, nobody would go to this man’s seminar, even if it was free. There’s no way he’d have thousands of people there listening. Why? Nobody would attend this seminar because it’s very obvious to even simple people: if his methods didn’t work for him, they won’t work for me.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what’s happening in many churches today. Sincere believers listen to preaching and teaching to learn how to practically walk with God, how to know Him and live a godly life, and to please Him. But if a leader himself has not seen his life changed by the truth he is preaching, I wouldn’t want him to be my guide to bring me to Jesus. Why would we spend time learning about a life-changing diet from someone who it has not worked for? If physical health was my highest goal, I’d rather find a very fit and healthy 60 year old man, and pick his brain on how to become healthy! He may have no natural ability to speak passionately about diets, but he can run a mile in 5 minutes! I’ll listen to him eagerly. That’s the type of man I’d want to follow if being physically healthy was the most important goal I had in life.
THE LESSON
The lesson here is one that I’ve seen I needed to take to heart for myself spiritually – that if living for the Lord (pleasing Him, and knowing Him intimately) is really my highest goal in life, then the leadership and guidance I need to have in my life is by godly people who are actually doing it. People who have ‘walked the walk’, not just ‘talked the talk’ are the only ones that can help teach and guide me in the right way (Matthew 7:24-27). I should find them not only based on if their teaching is consistent with the Bible, but also if their LIFE is consistent with the Bible. I have to look at their life. Jesus said exactly the same thing:
“You know a tree by its fruit” (Paraphrasing Matthew 7:15-20)
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.
A prophet has to be judged not by how great his teaching and preaching is. A prophet has to be judged by: what fruit has his life produced? What was the outcome (fruit) of all of his years of living for, obeying, and growing in God? Words have value only if they are backed up by the life behind it. The book of Acts (written by Luke) starts out referring to Jesus, and he refers back to his previous book (the gospel of Luke) where he wrote of all that Jesus began to ‘DO and teach’ (Acts 1:1). Jesus’ authority didn’t come from His teaching first, but from the life He lived. That was what gave authority to His teaching. And fruit does not mean number of converts, but Christ-likeness.
Jesus’ Word here in Matthew 7 is pretty clear that if we see a man producing poisonous fruit, we shouldn’t eat it. We should run from it, unless we also want to eat that poison and end up just like the ones who have produced that poisonous fruit.
So I see that if I want Biblical teaching that will change my life, I need to have godly leaders who have proven that truth because it has changed their life, not just because they have studied it diligently in Bible school or have a very intelligent brain to come up with very creative thoughts from the Bible.
FAITH THAT WE CAN HAVE THE SAME RESULTS
A radical change in my life came for me when the Lord gave me the gift of a good local church and godly leaders in my life, that I could learn from and follow. It was very different from walking with God on my own and learning from many different teachers and preachers (none of whom I’d actually met in person or seen their lives), because I could have a confidence now that the results that have come about in their lives are a direct result of the Biblical truth they’ve learned and have been following. I saw that if I follow the truth in the same way they’re following it, I can assume I’ll have similar results in my own life. And I got excited! It gave me faith! Similar to if I was following the example of a very healthy, fit man – I can be excited that what worked for him can work for me. When I find godly leaders that have a godly life and follow them, I can have a godly life. If they have control of their tongues, and their tempers, and the lusts of their flesh – I can also have hope for the same. If they lead their families well and raise godly children, for example, then I can have a hope to raise godly children. If they have built up others to live godly lives as disciples in Christ, I can have a hope to also build up others to be disciples too.
So the 2 questions for each of us when seeking for godly leaders that can help us are:
1. Is the teaching they give and follow consistent with the Bible?
2. Is their life consistent with that teaching?
Many have the attitude that if the message preached at a church sounds good, they can integrate into that church blindly - even if that leader’s family is falling apart or he’s a slave to sins in his private life. The word may be accurate and fun to listen to, but is that the same outcome you want in your personal life, that you see in the leader’s life? Then you should not blindly follow such a man. In the old covenant, the leaders had to come from a specific tribe (the Levites), and the quality of their character wasn’t so important. They were just born into the role to lead the people. But in the new covenant, the pattern of the church is for multiple leaders (called ‘elders’ or ‘overseers’) to be established in each local church who have first proven their teaching with their lives (see 1 Timothy 3:1-13, and Titus 1:5-9):
1 Timothy 3:2-4 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity…
It’s not that these elders are perfect, but their lives are not falling apart spiritually because they are experiencing the reality in Christ. They are improving and progressing in the Lord, and the truth they preach and emphasize is consistent with the Bible, and it’s changing their own lives ‘from glory to glory’ (getting more glorious) (2 Cor 3:18) in reality. It’s not just a theory for them. They don’t go backwards by leaps and bounds anymore, having what appears to be a good marriage one year and the next year they are divorced or caught in adultery. Or at one moment they are talking very spiritual at church, and then the next they are talking very vulgar with their friends and yelling at home, for example.
I’m thankful that there are men that I can personally submit to, whom I see (from their lives) have the same proven fruit that I want to have in my life: An intimacy with the Lord, and a Christ-likeness that is consistent whether they are in the church, or at work, or at home.
In the next (and last) section I want to talk about one other thing I’ve seen: that just because I have godly leaders doesn’t mean I will automatically become like them. It is not automatic. There is an absolutely crucial element that I need to do from my part to get the same fruit they have: submission.
Part 3 - Obey And Submit To Your Leaders
SUBMISSION AND OBEDIENCE
So I’ve talked about how the Lord has shown me that I should never choose just any church or leadership to join and follow, but I have to look and see: what does the fruit of their life look like - because I can expect my life to look like theirs if I follow that same path. In this article, I want to talk about the fact that just because I have godly leaders though, it doesn’t mean I will automatically become like them. There is an absolutely crucial element that I need to do from my part: submission. If I want to have the same results they did, I have to submit to their authority and follow their guidance and example.
Let’s say I want to be healthy, and so I get a health coach to help me. But I find that my efforts are not working. I believe there can be either one of two problems:
1. Perhaps I have the wrong coach (a coach whose methods did not actually work for him – I talked about this previously).
Or:
2. I am not fully submitting to the method that helped my leader himself be healthy.
God gives us freedom to choose a local church fellowship where we feel they are following the Lord. But once we are there our duty is to submit to the authority God has established in that church.
Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
AN EXAMPLE OF ATTENDING A CHURCH WITHOUT SUBMITTING
I was once part of a church and guilty of not fully submitting there for some years. That church had a primary burden that was different from what the Lord had put on my heart, even though the leaders were godly. For some time, I felt God leading me to have a burden for more emphasis on discipleship and to work on my inner sins, and so I disregarded much of the teaching I was getting at that church and would even just read my Bible during the sermons since their emphasis was a bit different. Looking back, I believe my desire for that different burden was from the Lord and technically correct, but my actions and attitude while in that church were completely wrong. I should have been submitting to my leaders there and not totally disregarding what they were burdened for, counting it as worthless. Nobody is perfectly balanced and I was having pride, feeling that I knew better. I had to repent of that, and appreciate and thank the leaders there for their diligence they put in for my spiritual good. Because of my lack of submission, I believe I didn’t grow as much as I could have at the time, and in those particular burdens God had for me. But praise God, the Bible says He “overlooks the times of ignorance” (Acts 17:30).
If I didn’t agree with the direction of my elders at the time, then I should have found a church that I felt I could be united with. The one thing I shouldn’t have done is what I did - stayed in the church without submitting to the burden and the teaching that was given to me by my leaders. That’s like sitting in a boat with oars but choosing not to row because I don’t like the direction they’re going – I’m hindering myself from going anywhere, and I’m also hindering the others in the boat with me from going where they want to go. So at that point in my life, I still couldn’t say I was submitting to leadership, as the Lord wants all of His people to do.
WHAT IS SUBMISSION
I’ve learned that submission means to take very seriously the directions and the guidance that my leaders are giving.
If the coach says, “I think it’s best for you to run 5 miles each morning” – I should do it. He’s there to help me! How can he help me reach the goal if I don’t do what he says?
I used to think ‘submission’ just meant that if an elder rebukes me in private, then I will accept the rebuke humbly without getting offended. That’s an important part of submission (and many people cannot even do that elementary act of humbling themselves), but in all reality, words of direct rebuke are probably less than 1% of the words that people receive. In real practice (99% of the time), submission means: we take our leaders’ words seriously when they give us spiritual direction. Through their words and instructions, their burdens and their hearts will come out – so I should be trying to grab a hold of those and obey them. Their burdens come from what has changed their life and brought them to where they are today, and if I want my life changed in the same way, I must have the same burden.
If they’re preaching a message, and I am holding on to an attitude of ‘Their word is ok… but I think I know better’, then I’m not submitting, and I’ll never grow from the leadership they give me.
It’s not that our submission to their teaching is a blind submission – it’s a submission based on the fact that these leader’s lives and teaching are in line with God’s Word, we see that they have a maturity in them that exceeds ours, and so we eagerly submit to follow their path and get closer to Jesus.
ANOTHER ISSUE - A LACK OF HUNGER AND EAGERNESS
Another issue which may be even more common is when a person doesn’t outright disagree with the words spoken, but they just don’t care enough to obey them. They have a lack of hunger. I’ve seen that I’ve needed to repent of this many times. I have to remind myself to take spiritual words from the leadership I submit to, as a Word from God Himself for me. It’s God’s Word for me – because He has specifically placed this leadership in my life. So I need to be eager to take it seriously, and receive and submit to it (as long as it agrees with the Scripture) because it will take me along the same path that it has taken them, which is the path of godliness and being closer to the Lord.
THE BEREANS – A NEW COVENANT EXAMPLE OF SUBMISSION
The Bereans were an outstanding example of people who did this:
The reason the Holy Spirit calls the Bereans “noble-minded” (and easily contrasted with the behavior of the Athenians later in the same chapter – Acts 17:18-21,32) is:
1) They received the words delivered by Paul with eagerness (not an attitude of suspicion or skepticism).
2) They confirmed that what Paul was saying was backed up by Scripture. They didn’t discuss the accuracy of Paul’s teachings with each other using their human logic, but with the unchangeable Word of God (the Old Testament prophecies). Also, they did this hard work “daily.”
3) They believed the message of Paul, which was that Jesus Christ was the Messiah
But all of this was because of Paul. Paul took the Bereans by the hand and led them to where they put their hands in Christ’s hands.
The Bereans believed and so they submitted, and one great evidence is that Paul had to send many epistles correcting and rebuking many churches, but he never had to send one to the Bereans! Because they received the teaching with eagerness, they were correcting themselves, faithfully following what they were taught. They were being built up – submitting to the teaching of Paul which agreed with the Scriptures, and they were following it.
FOLLOWING OUR LEADERS
Our leaders are there to help us, and to give words for our good – not seeking things for themselves. Why is it we can trust people who we pay money to in the world to do some services for us (like a doctor giving us medicine, for example), but we don’t take seriously godly leaders who are laboring for our good – for free, simply out of love? Why do we not eagerly take their spiritual medicine they are giving us? Maybe it’s that we fear the taste of that medicine (the rebukes, which don’t taste good to our flesh). But most of their medicine doesn’t taste bad, the vast majority of it is delicious – it’s encouragement and challenging exhortation! Either way though, we have to see that this is the medicine that is saving our lives.
So these godly men I submit to don’t ask for anything from me – they don’t take salaries, they don’t ask for gifts, nor even desire a ‘thank you’. They’re voluntarily and happily helping me to follow the Lord. They just want me to be walking with Jesus, and coming down the same path that has proven to bring them closer to the Lord.
That’s just like the apostle Paul:
1 Corinthians 11:1 “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ”
1 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.”
It’s like a man plowing through a jungle with a sword, getting closer to a treasure, and encouraging others to follow down that same path, which he’s proven himself to be fruitful and profitable. He says, “The treasure is there, I can see it in the distance! We’re getting closer! Follow me!” Paul was further down the road of following Christ, and had proven fruit in his life, so he exhorted the Corinthians to walk down the same path behind him. The point was not so the Corinthians would be closer to Paul himself, but so they could also be closer to the treasure - Jesus, just as Paul himself was getting closer to the treasure of our Lord Jesus.
OUR BURDEN AS A CHURCH
May the Lord open many eyes today to the beauty of the local church, to the value of godly leadership and authority, and to value what He has established to build up His people in Christ in the new covenant. It’s such a crucial and missing message in Christendom today. Our burden at NCCF is to be one of these local churches, showing that fruit in our lives, and to help others who may not have seen it yet to have their eyes opened to the same truths that have changed our lives.