Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:30
The simplicity of the early Assemblies in the days of the book of Acts was beautiful to behold. As the Gospel spread to new areas, people were saved. Those people were instructed by the preachers to gather, as they were baptized, into companies that recognized the lordship and central role of the Lord Jesus Christ. Able and wise men with a care for the flock would be recognized as elders – note the plural – who would make sure that the apostle’s doctrine was followed, that the Assembly functioned according to the instructions of the Lord, and that the Assembly members were taught, encouraged, and comforted. This structure enabled the Assembly to function after the Gospel preachers were gone. This divine pattern served the early Assemblies well. But it did not last long. Within the first 100 years, some of the Assemblies found it more convenient to have one of the elders take the responsibility of organizing and conducting the Assembly meetings and of caring for the Assembly members. According to Miller’s Church History, most of these leaders were godly men who devoted themselves to their work with loving care. But it was inevitable that some of these leaders would be ambitious, selfish, and controlling, like the Diotrephes we find in John’s third epistle. Sadly, the pattern of a plurality of elders, as taught by the apostles, was totally replaced by the new pattern of convenience and control. Assemblies in each area became grouped into synods that were controlled by bishops, who were themselves placed under the control of a super-bishop, or pope. Just as Paul predicted in today’s text.
The new, unscriptural pattern that evolved in the early centuries of Christendom was perverse. It was not what God intended for His people. And it is not what God intends for His people today. It is wrong. And it is wrong for several reasons in addition to being contrary to sound doctrine. A one-man (or one woman in many cases these days) ministry, and the division of the clerisy and laity, stifles the leading of the Holy Spirit among the people. It also stifles the exercising of the priesthood of all believers. As well, it places the company at risk of any error on the part of the ‘pastor’. Besides all these, a one-man ministry opens the door to what Paul warns of in our text, the leading away of people unto the one who is acting as the spiritual leader. Such a leader is acting in selfishness and pride. He is also stealing the lordship and position that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
God intends that our Assemblies function according to His pattern. If we deviate from that pattern, we rob God. – Jim MacIntosh