"When most hear the word “leaders,” they think of institutionalized leaders. An institutionalized leader is one who has been institutionalized by an institutional-church system. Institutionalized leaders are not true leaders; they have not been appointed by Christ, but by the religious system that credentials them." Larry Jones
Mr. Jones has correctly stated here that leaders are not ordained by man to be leaders in the church, they are commissioned by Christ as they are led into the ministry by the Holy Spirit. They are not chosen by God based on a diploma from a human institution. The men who appoint these leaders are men who are led by the Holy Spirit and know the personal lives of each one they appoint. The men who serve a congregation were well known by that congregation before they were appointed.
Leaders did not come to a completely unfamiliar assembly from far away, not knowing the people and the people not knowing them. There is danger in choosing someone based on their "credentials" from a Bible college when no one knows their lives and attitude. So many church splits have happened because an unknown person comes into the congregation and begins to teach whatever he was taught in those institutions rather than from the Holy Spirit and unadulterated Bible. I have seen this more times than I can count.
Titus 1:4-6 "4 To Titus, my true child in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you would set in order what was unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, having children who are believers and who are not open to the accusation of indiscretion or insubordination.…"
Acts 14:23
"Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed."
The leaders for church gatherings were chosen from among the people where they lived not from far away. These men were known by the people they would serve, there were no "credentialed" persons based on a diploma or degree. These men were led by the Holy Spirit, receiving their instruction from the Holy Spirit.
Our human institutions that seem to think they can do a better job than the Holy Spirit are humanistic and earthly oriented. If there was a human institution that began with well-meaning intentions have gone bad because the grants they were given by powerful and wealthy men removed an opportunity for the institution to rely entirely on Christ. When the institution relies on grants by wealthy men they begin to teach what those benefactors expect them to teach. Relying on the monies from grants is a pitfall for any institution.
When pastors began to be paid a salary for their "work" they saw their job as a job rather than as a calling from God. Whether they realized it or not they began to be careful not to offend those who paid them their salary. In fact it morphed into men in the pulpit holding up their finger to the wind to see which way it was blowing in order to determine their sermons to please the people in the pews.
Rebukes became non-existent, parishioners became expectant that they would fire the one man paid pastor if he taught what they didn't like to hear.
So in our day, we have many pastors who are tickling ears to keep their salary and medical benefits.
2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but having itching ears, they shall heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own lusts."
When a man is a preacher because he loves the Lord and depends entirely on Him for his help, this man will not water down or compromise the message because he has nothing to lose if the people don't like it. If all the elders preached and taught and no one is paid there need not be worry about being fired or losing something that sustains them.
Each elder has their own job to sustain their families, they have no need for stipends from the congregation. When a traveling preacher comes through the gathered funds from the congregation can gift this visitor with whatever he needs to travel from place to place. This is not the same as a steady salary.
1 Corinthians 9:14
"In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel."
This passage has been interpreted in terms of our modern western thinking that allows for salaries for a one-man pastor system which is clearly unbiblical. Paul said to "appoint elders", he never said "appoint a pastor", this means that one man is never the entire focus of any gathering. There is to be a plurality of leaders in a gathering so that no one man would ever be the focus.
In most gatherings today the pastor is seen in an almost idolatrous way, the only one who can preach or teach. The people in the pews will not hear anyone else and even become angry when the pastor is corrected by someone. This too is unbiblical.
Having come out of the Catholic church I am painfully aware of the idolatrous way the priests are admired and treated with such honor that no one is allowed to criticize them. Believe it or not, having seen this system and come out I began to see it in Protestantism, in which the diplomaed pastors were given this same idolatrous honor, as though any challenge to them was considered monstrous.
I used to say to people that Protestants have their "protestant popes", astonished that I would think so they would counter me with; "no we don't." Because they didn't know the Bible or God's order in the church gathering they thought it was biblical to have a paid one-man pastor who knew everything and only he could teach the truth.
This led to much error in the church as the seminaries churned out men who were trained by other men how to grow numbers in the church while dumbing down the truth to get the people in the pews.
Many men were drawn to the seminaries because of their lust for power over people. There are many narcissists in the pulpits today who use joking, stories and intimidation to entertain and dominate over the people. Often very little scripture is used and peppered with human wisdom with the origins coming out of psychology.
I was in a church many years ago in which an "ordained" pastor held the Bible above his head and proclaimed that all of life's answers were not in this book, and all of life's answers are not Jesus Christ." We were not in the pew that day but heard it from others who also attended there. Needless to say, we left that gathering and never returned.
This was a sad day for us, we had just left the Catholic church and this protestant church was recommended to us by people we knew. We had no idea as new believers that any "Christian" thought this way. We were on fire for the Lord as new believers we didn't know others thought this way.
Even though many pastors would not say those ugly words this pastor said, they act as though they believe them.
I have begun to believe that most men who go to Bible college these days are there for the power, special knowledge over others, and a secure job, not because they have been called by Christ. The evidence is in the arrogance they display and the twisting of scripture they do on a regular basis.
If you are one of these pastors please search your heart and seek the Holy Spirit. If you want to be led of Christ leave these organizations, come out from among them and begin all over again to obey God's Word.
