By necessity, any group of people who hope to attain certain
goals has to have leaders. Organization is an essential component in
the body of Christ, just as it is in the existence of any living
organism. If there is one thing that the universe compels us to
believe about its Creator, it is that He is a superb organizer. The
harmony of our universe is no accident, for it was planned by God.
When God entered history in the person of His Son to build His new
creation, He again revealed His desire for harmony by training 12
men to lead and guide His church. Jesus put His whole active
ministry into the training of leadership, for it was of prime
importance to Him.
As we follow the progress of the church we see that it grew in
its organization to meet the needs as they arose. In Acts 6 we read
that a need arose for someone to assure that Greek widows received
their fair share of charity. So the first official officers of the church
were appointed, and they were the deacons. Later deaconesses
needed to be added because in oriental lands men did not have
access to minister to women in many situations.
Whenever Paul established a new church he appointed elders,
as we read in Acts 14:23. Paul later in his letters explains the duties
of the elders, and also the presbyters and bishops. We learn that
basically they were rulers and teachers, for they guided the church
in its business and they taught the people the Word of God. The
strength or weakness of the church depended upon the leadership
and upon the cooperation of the people with the leadership.
The Jews in their synagogues, and the Greeks in their religious
clubs had a democratic form of government, and so it was natural
that this form of government would be adopted by the church. We
might see in this the providential guidance of God, and also see that
this form of government is God’s preference. Paul, however, makes
it clear that no form of organization, or method of leadership will be
successful unless there is cooperation between the leaders and the
led. That is what brings us to our text. Paul is pointing out the
duties of each to the other, and only as each fulfills it's obligation can
the whole church be what God intends it to be. Paul had just
comforted them with the doctrine of the second coming. Now he
challenges them with the duties that face them until He comes. We
will look first at the duties of the leaders, and then the duties of the
led.
I. THE DUTIES OF THE LEADERS. v. 12
The duties of the leaders is actually secondary here, for the
thrust of Paul’s exhortation is to the followers, and he beseeches
them to know their leaders and to esteem them. By his description
of the leaders, however, he tells us of their duties. He is not writing
of ordained clergy here, for the labors he writes about are obviously
those of layman. They have only recently been converted from
paganism, and even if there had been Christian schools to go to for
training, there was not enough time to have them trained and
serving this church. Paul had likely appointed elders to organize
the church. All of the early churches had to be led by layman. The
early church depended completely upon dedicated layman for its
leadership.
These leaders, Paul says, are those who labor among you.
Their primary duty is building up the faith of those in the church,
for the church must become strong and mature before it can reach
the world. These leaders were to labor, and the word for labor is
kopiao, which means to toil, to be wearied, and to be worn out. It is
the same word Jesus used in Matt. 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Paul used this
word of himself several times as he wrote in I Cor. 15:10, “I labored
more abundantly than they all.” In Col. 1:29 he writes, “Whereunto
I also labor, striving according to His working which worketh in me
mightily.” In his conclusion to Romans in 16:12 he wrote, “Salute
Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute the beloved
Persis, which labored much in the Lord.”
These and other verses indicate that good hard work is the duty
of a leader. Paul indicates that every leader is to take his task
seriously, and to work at it until it becomes toil, and until he is tired.
It is assumed that any leader will do his best out of gratitude for the
grace of God that made him able to be a servant in the first place.
This labor is in two primary areas, that of supervision and teaching.
Both of them are brought out here. Paul has a high view of the
importance of both, but gives added weight to the teacher. In I Tim.
5:17 he writes, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of
double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.”
Paul was glad when church members were learning theology. One
of the reasons for the weakness of the church today is because we
have left theology to the professional, and we have forgotten that it
was meant to be for the layman.
II. THE DUTIES OF THE FOLLOWERS.
The first obligation of a follower is to get to know the leaders.
They are to take an interest in their leadership, and by observation
and fellowship come to know and understand them as persons. This
implies a close fellowship in which love operates supremely. Why is
Paul so concerned about people getting to know their leaders? All of
history demonstrates that this is the wisdom of God. The vast
majority of petty problems that have hindered the work of the
church are due to the fact of people not knowing their leaders. The
leader becomes a distant figure who is suppose to take care of things,
and the people tend to ignore his role and authority.
If a person does not know his leaders, he does not appreciate
them. He does not recognize and acknowledge that they are seeking
to do their best under God. As a result they do not have confidence
in their leaders. Someone has said, “He who has lost confidence can
lose nothing more.” The church begins to fall apart when the group
does not fulfill their duty of getting to know and appreciate their
leaders as persons.
In verse 13 Paul says to esteem them very highly. This seems to
make a double level of Christians which has leaders on a higher
level. This is the very thing that led some Christian groups to
develop a hierarchy. All of this comes from simply not reading the
word of God with accuracy of understanding. Paul makes it clear
that he is not advocating any hierarchy. He says the motivating
factor for your esteem of leaders is for the work’s sake. In other
words, you are not to respect and submit to your leaders because of
any special personal qualities they might have. Your cooperation is
for the purpose of harmony so that all may go well and the church
make progress toward its goals. It is for the work’s sake that we
cooperate.
In a church it is the work that means everything. All
differences a personality that would slow down the work must be
suppressed for this higher interest. We can easily see how problems
would arise. What if the leader proves to be incompetent? What if
they put power and prestige above the work of attaining
Christlikeness for all. It is possible for authority to become
extremely dangerous. Butler wrote,
Authority intoxicates,
And makes mere sots of magistrates;
The fumes of it invade the brain,
And make men giddy, proud and vain.
By this the fool commands the wise;
The noble with the base complies,
The sot assumes the role of wit,
And cowards make the brave submit.
The danger here is that people will not respect their authority,
and that appears to be the danger in this church. It is easy to see
how they might say, “Why should we obey him or her? They were
just saved along with us, and they are not anything so great.” This
could well be true, but Paul urges them to have high esteem for the
sake of the work, for if someone does not have the authority to lead,
and if others do not submit and follow, there can be no growth and
progress.
In Heb. 13:17 we read, “Obey them that have the rule over you,
and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they that
must give account...” The great responsibility of a leader demands
that he receive the authority that goes with it. He is responsible for
the souls of those whom he leads, and it is the duty of all to know
their leaders, and to be assured that they are persons committed to
Christ and to His church. Paul concludes in verse 13 that they are to
be at peace among themselves. Party spirit comes from failure to
follow Paul’s advice. If everyone does what is right in his own eyes,
the concept of leadership collapses and chaos is the result.
It is true that a tyrant could appeal to this passage, but when
rightly understood it cannot apply to such a leader. Scripture can
be perverted and misapplied, but all this should not hinder us from
applying it in the way it was designed to be applied. The message of
these verses to the church universal is simply that leaders should be
totally committed to the welfare of the followers, and the followers
should be totally cooperative with their leaders. The goal they are
all to be working toward is that all might be presented mature in
Christ Jesus.
