What does respect to spiritual leaders look like?

[21centpilgrim]

There are many passages on both the submit, listen, respect the leadership and on the cautions to those in leadership to not domineer. I think most on this forum can easily recognize what relation to spiritual leadership is not and where it goes astray. I think a good question would be what healthy relation to spiritual leadership look like or what it is.
I will seek to lay out some obvious scripture that speaks to this.

Acts 6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

This is to be the heart and mind of all christian leaders who have the privilege to labor and serve the body of Christ. These men are deserving of much prayer and should be shown thanks and honored for such sacrifice and ministry. To the degree that leadership does things out of these to fountains, to that degree is the leadership healthy and is trustworthy. The leadership in any local body should be freed up by the rest of the body to be able to give themselves more fully to this end, for the sake of the good of the local church and the glory of God.

1 Thess. 5:12,13 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,
and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.



1 Cor. 16:15-18 Now I urge you, brothers you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence,for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men.

The charge of being subject to the first converts, who may be the qualified leaders of the Corinthian church, is based upon their heart of serving the body of Christ.
Be subject means- This word was a Greek military term meaning "to arrange [troop divisions] in a military fashion under the command of a leader". In non-military use, it was "a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden".
It is important to see that this subjection was to be the attitude to every fellow worker and laborer, such men, in the whole church and not just to a select few. Since love is to be the mark of a Christian then mutual humility and looking at anothers interest first before oneself should be characteristic.

Phillippians 2 Paul says - I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need,
then in vs 29,30 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Not only is warm Christian reception and honor to be shown to Epaphroditus, but to all others that are like him. All of those who are fellow workers, fellow soldiers, and messengers.

Heb 13:7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

Leaders, here and in other descriptions of church leaders, are those who speak the word of God, which is the authority. That being said, the body is to remember them in prayers and in conversation that may turn to gossip/slander ect. The body should imitate them just the same as Paul told believers to imitate him, to the same degree that they imitate Christ.

Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Obey here from Vines- "to persuade, to win over," in the Passive and Middle Voices, "to be persuaded, to listen to, to obey," is so used with this meaning, in the Middle Voice, e.g., in Act 5:36-37 (in Act 5:40, Passive Voice, "they agreed"); Rom 2:8; Gal 5:7; Hbr 13:17; Jam 3:3. The "obedience" suggested is not by submission to authority, but resulting from persuasion.
I should add that one should be willing to be persuaded, just as the Bareans seemed to be as they joyfully received Paul's words. Blind obediance is not communicated here at all.
The word submit here is only found in this one place in all of the NT. It communicates a disposition to yield.


Here is how the elders are instructed in 1 Pet 5:2-5 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
This passage models both the warnings and the encouragements for leaders in the church. The summary is that the whole body should be clothed in humility and that should be seen in both the body relating to the elders and the elders relating to the body.

Matt 20: 25-28 But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

The other synoptic accounts, Mark 10:42-45 and Luke 22:25-27, speak the same. A church leader is to truly be a servant. Could you picture a servant dictating to the ones whom he is serving and playing the 'because I said so " card?

2 Cor 1:24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.

The contrast here is obvious, and directly ties into Matt. 20 and the other synoptic Gospels. Christ church is not to reflect the authority over/ruling over model that the unbelieving world operates in, but it is to model servanthood and working alongside.

1 Cor 11:3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ

The spiritual covering of man is Jesus, that is not some some simplistic cop out but the biblical truth.

Rom 14:12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
I don't see anywhere in scripture where believers will have to give an account to other men.

One of the characteristics of the unrighteous in 2 Peter 2 is that they despise authority. And also of false teachers in Jude, that they reject authority.

This despising or rejecting authority is speaking regarding angelic beings. You obviously could take a secondary approach and say that one should not despise or reject any or all authority around them. How could you despise and reject someone while genuinely praying for them, as we are commanded to do.?

1 Cor 16:12 is relevant too- Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.

This shows that, even among the leadership of the church, leadership must allow for the leading of the Lord in matters that are not moral or clearly laid out in the word. Paul did not play his 'I have been to the 3rd heavens, you haven't so obey me' card. He respected the godly character of Apollos and yielded to the fact that God may lead a brother to do or not do something that was different than his, Paul's, wishes, wishes that had spiritual ramifications.

Acts 17:11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

If the Apostle Paul was ok and commended the Bareans for checking out what he was saying with the scriptures, then one must conclude that every believer today has the right to check or ask biblical questions about what may be said or how one may be directed by leadership.

So I guess I need to rephrase my original question. We know what leadership shouldn't do and how they have and can abuse 'authority' or there position of leadership, but what is there realm of influence, in light of the above verses and others that I likely missed, does the leaderships voice have any extra weight than any believer speaking the word of God?

Sorry for the length. Hope for some interaction here. Jesus is precious.

[benstenson]

I have been living with a conservative Mennonite congregation for a couple years now. They have a group submission idea that they use to regulate whether members can listen to recorded music with musical instruments or not, whether you can grow a beard or not (they generally don't), whether you can use internet in your home or not, and a bunch of things like that.

I'm not really a member of the congregation but I work with them and have been developing friendships, talking with them about spiritual/biblical things often, etc.

The way they talk about group submission "feels" weird and unsafe to me. However, I agree with their goals which they intend to achieve by all the rules. I just don't know if these rules are an ok way to achieve those goals. It sure is confusing. I don't really know what to think about it.

I'm inclined to think they don't have the kind of authority they think they have. But they say it is by mutual consent. However, they will generally not break bread with someone unless the person is part of an affiliated (though not necessarily identical) congregation. It seems complicated. I am skeptical of their philosophy but maybe I just have authority problems?

[backwoodsman]

The way they talk about group submission "feels" weird and unsafe to me.

Ben,

I grew up conservative Mennonite and left the church in my early 20's. I could spend the rest of the afternoon on this reply, but things can be summed up pretty quickly:

One would be hard pressed to find better people anywhere, generally speaking, and I would never discourage anyone from fellowshipping with them to the extent they'll allow it. But pay careful attention to the cautions God is giving you about some of their ideas and practices. Legalism is an insidious trap that, once ensnared, is extremely difficult to escape.

[benstenson]

backwoodsman thank you for your reply, it is very encouraging. My situation is somewhat awkward because they have helped me by renting an affordable apartment out to me, but it turns out it is kind of a church project thing, so there are some confusing areas regarding their expectations of me. I want to be respectful and not ungrateful but at the same time, I find myself wishing I had a van to move into or something so then I would not feel like someone's child. Overall I'm very grateful however.