The Protestant denominations are the same as the Catholic Church in principle; they are different only in scale. State churches have the head of government as the head of the church and are therefore an insult to the headship of Christ. The Church of England does not have a pope, but it has the king or queen of England as its head. Below the king or the queen are the archbishops, then the bishops, and so on. This is the same hierarchical structure found in the Catholic Church under the pope. Therefore, the whole Church of England also is an insult to the headship of Christ. Other state churches include the Church of Sweden, the Church of Norway, and the Church of Denmark.
There are also many private churches, such as the Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Lutheran churches. In principle these are the same as the Catholic and state churches—they have an organizational structure that leads to a head. Therefore, all the organizations in Christianity are insults to the headship of Christ. Free groups are not an exception. The difference is only in scale; the principle is the same.
The Lord’s recovery does not have an official, permanent, organizational, or positional leader. The only leader in the Lord’s recovery is Christ. One day the mother of James and John, who was the aunt of Jesus, requested of Jesus, “Say that these two sons of mine will sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your kingdom” (Matt. 20:21). She had two sons, and she knew that there would be two positions next to the Lord in His kingdom. However, the Lord told James and John, “My cup you shall indeed drink, but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father” (v. 23). Then the Lord told the disciples, “The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you shall be your slave” (vv. 25-27).
In Matthew 23:8 the Lord told His disciples, “Do not be called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.” This verse is the source of the name of the Brethren assemblies. In the early days the Brethren were absolutely right. Because they saw the error of organization in the church, they dropped all organization. They do not consider that they have any leader; they are all only brothers.
Although Peter was the leader for a time, he was not a leader officially, permanently, organizationally, or positionally. He was a leader only instantly, temporarily, and according to his spiritual capacity at a particular time. Because he had the highest spiritual capacity on the day of Pentecost, he certainly should have been the leader. However, because the leadership was not official, permanent, organizational, or positional, another one rose up when Peter’s spiritual capacity waned and he became weak. James became the leader at that time. This is strong proof that among God’s people in the New Testament age there is no official, permanent, organizational, or positional leadership.
The case of Paul and Barnabas also proves that the leadership in the New Testament is not permanent. When the Holy Spirit called Barnabas and Saul in Acts 13:2, Barnabas took the lead. When they were on their evangelical journey, however, Paul suddenly became the leading one (v. 9). This case also proves that the leadership among the apostles was not official or permanent but temporary and according to the spiritual capacity.
In the Old Testament God ordained that there be only one king among His people. However, in the New Testament there is always more than one elder in a church (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). The plurality of the eldership is very significant. The New Testament also shows that there is never one elder who is first among the other elders. If there were only one elder, he would surely be the leader, but because there are always several elders, it is difficult to say who the leader is. Any definite, positional, official, or permanent leader is an insult to the headship of Christ because in the New Testament economy God regards the headship of Christ to the uttermost. In the entire universe there is only one unique Head. Therefore, according to God’s New Testament economy, there is no permanent, official, or positional leadership among God’s people today. It is God’s wisdom to have not one elder in a church but a number of elders.
Some may wonder how the eldership can be practiced if no elder is ranked first. The cases of Peter, James, Barnabas, and Paul show that all the elders have the same status, but at a certain time or in a certain matter one may have a higher capacity than the others and will therefore take the lead. At another time or in another matter a different brother may have the greatest capacity; hence, he will be the leader at that time. Through the plurality of the eldership, there is no definite leader, and the absolute headship of Christ is regarded, preserved, and respected.
According to the human concept, our bodies are arranged in such a way that the shoulder is the head of the arm, the arm is the head of the hand, and the hand is the head of the fingers. Thus, our concept is that a body has many heads. However, according to medical science, there is only one head, and it gives orders directly to every member of the body. The head gives orders to the fingers in the same way that it gives orders to the arms. The shoulder, the arm, the hand, and the fingers are all equal in receiving orders directly from the head. This thought nullifies our human mentality. Paul, the greatest apostle, received orders directly from Christ the Head, and we, the smallest members, also receive orders directly from Christ the Head. This honors the Head. The headship of Christ does not allow for there to be any other heads or subheads. Any other head is an insult to Christ. Therefore, in the church there is no head other than Christ. Our physical body has many members but only one head. If one brother is a shoulder in the Body of Christ and another brother is a little finger, the first brother should say to the second, “Do not exalt me. I have the same standing as you. You are not the head, and neither am I. You receive orders directly from the Head, and I do too.” In Christianity today and even among some of the local churches this truth has been almost completely lost. We know how to receive orders from higher brothers, but we do not know how to receive orders directly from our Head. This is wrong.