How, then, should we meet?

Alan Knox has posted a blog article about the way we meet as church. His post is not only informative and useful, it is also gentle and wise. This is very important yet often forgotten. Heated argument is not effective as a means of communication, Evidence and gentle persuasion are far better.

I'm posting a quote from Alan Knox in the USA. I believe his message is important, partly because of what he writes and partly because of the way in which he writes it. But first, read the quote...

If the authors of the New Testament were correct (and I think they were), and if we should consider what they wrote to be important (and I think we should), then we should also recognize the importance and necessity of mutual edification whenever we get together with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

You can read Alan's full article 'Remembering the importance of mutual edification' on his blog 'Assembling of the church'.

What is Alan saying? - He's saying that when we meet together as church, what we do and how we do it are important. We would probably all agree with him on that.

But he is further saying that we don't always get it right and we should go back to the Bible to check our current practice against what we find written there. And he's saying that mutual edification comes into it. But you can read all that for yourself.

How is he saying it? - The other point I want to make is that Alan writes in a most gentle and inoffensive way. And he's right to do that. We can hardly edify one another while beating each other up with the big sticks of disagreement!

We can all learn a lesson here, perhaps me more than most. Gentleness and wisdom often go hand in hand. We are called to have the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, things like peace, patience, kindness, and gentleness. There is, Paul assures us, no law against such things as these. (1 Corinthians 13:1-13). And all of them are underpinned by love, the greatest thing in the world.

Questions:

• How do you react to gentle persuasion and a reasoned argument?
• How are you likely to respond to anything that seems like criticism?
• What do you understand the Bible to say about the way we meet?

See also:

• Clergy and laity - Journeys of heart and mind
• Importance of mutual edification - Assembling of the church
• Love and other things - Journeys of heart and mind
• Story of encouragement - Journeys of heart and mind

More on leading

In an attempt to pin down what the New Testament writers meant by the ideas of leader and leadership, we take a look at some of the words that have been translated into English as 'leader'.

Following my previous post I noticed Alan Knox's repost of his earlier article, 'Follow the Leader or Simon Says?'

I left a comment on Alan's post, referring back to my own blog. I was perhaps too hasty and didn't really make my meaning clear. When Alan replied, I tried to clarify, but the exchange of views had the side effect of making me think harder about the underlying issues.

As Alan rightly mentions, 'Scripture uses the Greek term for “leader.”' But then he goes on to add, 'I don’t see any problem with having leaders among the church.'

Issues with leadership - Nonetheless I do still see issues with human leaders. And these are issues that were already arising very early on in church life. This is made quite clear in 1 Cor 1:10-17 for example. In verse 17 Paul explains that he was sent for a purpose.

We are all called for a purpose, and for most of us that is likely to include some elements of leading others. During a local meeting all should bring something. In other words, to a degree, everyone should lead (and everyone should follow).

The fact that the Greek word for 'leader' is used in the New Testament is not enough, in itself, to suggest we should follow human leaders. There are a number of Koine Greek words translated 'leader'. Let's look at them in turn.

1. ἀρχηγός (archégos) - has the sense 'prince' or 'founder'. It's used in Hebrews 12:2.
2. ὁδηγός (hodégos) - here the sense is 'instructor, 'teacher' or 'trainer'. When Jesus says the lawyers and Pharisees are blind 'guides', this is the Greek word used (Matthew 23:16, Matthew 23:24 for example).
3. πρωτοστάτης (prótostatés) - the sense is chieftain or ringleader and it's only used once, in Acts 24:5 in the 'ringleader' sense.
4. ἡγεμών (hégemón) - this word means a ruler, commander or governor and is used in Matthew 27:2 of Pontius Pilate and in Acts 23:26 of the governor Felix. The English word 'hegemony' comes from this source.
5. καθηγητής (kathégétés) - meaning teacher or leader. Jesus tells us in Matthew 23:10, not to be called masters or leaders. This is the word used in that verse.

There are two further Greek words that I might write about, sometimes used for leaders in more specific ways - episcopos and presbuteros. But that can wait for another article.

Meanwhile, is it fair to conclude that the five words listed above for 'leader' don't really fit our role in 'one anothering'?

Conclusion and some questions - I would argue that we should not think in terms of leaders and leadership in church life. We can all lead by example (and I encourage everyone to do so) but that's as far as it should go.

Is this fair? How do you think Jesus intended the church to be led? Did he intend you to lead, and if so how? Did he intend you to follow, and if so how?

Can you find other examples of leaders in the New Testament? What are they? What does this say about church structure and government?

See also: 

• Follow the Leader or Simon Says?
• Strategy? Who's strategy?
• Follow my leader