First Corinthians 12:28 says, “God has placed some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then works of power, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.” Helps refers to the services of the deacons, and administrations refers to the functions of the elders. In this verse the apostle Paul listed the functions of the elders after the services of the deacons. When this Epistle was written, the church in Corinth was entirely in a situation of disorder. In such a situation the elders in Corinth may have esteemed themselves too highly, and Paul may have therefore purposely listed the functions of the elders after the services of the deacons in order to bring down the elders’ estimation of themselves. Paul intentionally placed things in a healthy and helpful order. Our concept is that the administrations of elders are higher than the helps of deacons. However, Paul’s concept was that the helps are higher than the administrations. We need to recognize that there is no human leadership in the New Testament economy. On the other hand, God has ordained that there be a decent order among His people. Therefore, we need to learn how to conduct ourselves in the house of God. We must see the headship of Christ and the constitution of the church to know how to conduct ourselves in the church.
Philippians 1:1 says, “Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the overseers and deacons.” This verse addresses not the saints and the overseers and deacons but the saints with the overseers and deacons. The word with is very significant, for it reveals that the major group of persons in the church are not the elders and the deacons but all the saints. According to our natural concept, we usually consider the most important group of persons in a local church to be first the overseers, then the deacons, and finally the saints. Paul’s careful listing of all the saints first and his use of the word with are very meaningful. He did not write this in a careless way. This verse indicates that the saints, not the overseers and deacons, are the principal persons in the church. In God’s consideration in the New Testament economy there is no human leadership. The headship belongs only to Christ.
In order to know how to conduct ourselves in the house of God, we first must be careful not to insult the headship of Christ in anything we do. Suppose a brother does not make decisions for himself and instead prefers to depend on an elder to make decisions for him. In a sense, it is good that a young believer who is unlearned and inexperienced would not trust in himself but would seek help from an elder. In another sense, this is not good, because no believer is a leader with the authority to make decisions for another believer. The unique Leader is the Lord Jesus.
In this situation, because the younger brother is inexperienced, the responsibility to know and apply this principle does not fall mainly upon him but upon the elder. The elder should immediately begin to instruct him and establish him, saying, “Brother, I can render some help to you, but you must know that I am not the Lord. I have no right to make any decision for you. The Lord Jesus is your Lord and my Lord also. You must learn how to exercise your spirit. Yes, you are a new believer, but the Lord Jesus is in you as the Spirit. Do not ask me whether or not you should go to see a movie. Instead, you should ask the Lord in prayer.” In this way both brothers will respect the headship of Christ. If an elder makes a decision for a new believer, regardless of whether the elder does it with a good heart or with a critical attitude, he insults Christ’s headship. Many brothers often unconsciously insult the headship of Christ. It is a serious thing for an elder to become the lord by telling a saint what to do. We must properly conduct ourselves in the house of God by helping our fellow believers in a way that honors the headship of Christ and by encouraging the dear younger ones to learn how to contact the Lord. This will make a great difference.
The situation in Christianity today is poor. Most in the Catholic Church seek guidance only from priests; they do not know the Lord. Obeying the instructions of a priest without contacting the Lord is a great insult to Christ’s headship. I was never a Catholic, but I visited several Catholic cathedrals to study the situation. I realized that the whole of Catholicism with all its practices is a great insult to the headship of Christ. Most Catholics are never helped to know Christ in a living and direct way. Even when they pray, they do so under human direction. They are instructed to repeat certain prayers a certain number of times in front of the image of a certain saint, and they are told that this will reduce a relative’s time in purgatory. This is not only superstition but also an insult to the headship of Christ. Our Lord is living, and He is the only Head. We need to bring people to Him. Even in the churches we have often overstepped and insulted the headship of Christ. We are not the Head or the Lord. We should not make any decision for anyone. We should instead usher them to the Lord so that they can receive a decision directly from Him. By doing so, they honor the Lord and respect the headship of Christ.
In his instruction in the Epistles to Timothy, Paul was always careful to respect the headship of Christ. Paul did not overstep in this matter. Christ is the unique Lord and Head. In order to know how to conduct ourselves in the house of God, the first principle that we must keep is to honor the headship of Christ. It is crucial that we not overstep or do anything to insult the headship of Christ. If all the elders practice this, the saints will be forced to contact the Lord directly. Regardless of how many times a brother may ask me, I would never make a decision for him. Neither will I teach him how to make decisions for himself. Rather, I will instruct him to pray to contact the Lord directly. We need to contact the Lord again and again until He tells us His decision for us. If we practice this, we will have a healthy Christian life. Regardless of how young or old we are, we all need to learn to contact the Lord in order to have a healthy Christian life. The totality of all the saints living a healthy Christian life will be a healthy church life.