In some local churches there has been a practice of making an arrangement as to who is first among the elders. No verse in the Bible gives any indication that there should be such an arrangement. Rather, the scriptural principle with regard to the eldership is always plurality. God does not want one brother to be the unique elder; He wants a few brothers to be a group of elders. The eldership should always be in plurality. This plurality keeps any elder from being an official leader or a permanent leader. The issue of who will take the lead among the elders is determined by each one’s capacity. Because one brother has the highest capacity in certain areas, he may be the leading one in a certain matter. In another matter a different brother may have the highest capacity; therefore, in that matter he will be the leader. Six months later these two brothers may both lose their capacity, and another brother may grow and increase in his spiritual capacity by the Lord’s grace and mercy. Thus, this third brother will spontaneously become the leading one among the elders. In the New Testament among God’s people there is no unique, definite, official, or permanent leadership. Such a leadership would be an insult to the headship of Christ. Therefore, in each local church today there should be no head other than Christ.
There should be no head other than Christ, not only in each local church but also among all the churches. An apostle is not the head of many churches. Our physical body has only one head, but our concept may not match this reality. We may think that the shoulder is the head of the arm, the arm is the head of the hand, the hand is the head of the fingers, and the fingers are the heads of the nails. According to this concept, a body has many heads or subheads. Any member that is larger and higher than another is a head. This may be our concept concerning the church. The church is the Body of Christ. We may think that everyone in the Body of Christ is a head.
In 1976 I realized that there were many heads and subheads in the church in Anaheim. Some brothers even produced a chart of the organization of the church in the form of a pyramid, showing who was above whom and who was under whom. When I saw this chart, I said to the brothers there, “Brothers, may we please forget about this pyramid. Tear it down.” We have only one Head—Christ. Regardless of how large our two shoulders are, they are not heads. We do not have any subheads. This principle is fully proven in Matthew 23:8-11, where the Lord said, “Do not be called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father, He who is in the heavens. Neither be called instructors, because One is your Instructor, the Christ. And the greatest among you shall be your servant.” There should be no leader among us. We should not consider that the apostles or the elders are leaders or subheads. There is not such a thing in the Scriptures. To have leaders or subheads is according to a natural human concept.
Peter, who was an elder himself, wrote to the elders, “Nor as lording it over your allotments but by becoming patterns of the flock” (1 Pet. 5:3). An elder is not a lord; rather, every elder is a slave. In the church the elders should be examples, not kings issuing orders. If the church needs someone to clean the restroom in the meeting hall, an elder should not issue an order for another brother to clean the restroom. That would be the lording way. The proper way is for the elder to take the lead to clean the restroom himself. Then all the brothers and sisters will follow his pattern. A flock of sheep always follows the first sheep. Whichever way the first one goes, all the others follow. An elder is not a lord but simply the first sheep to take the lead. When an elder takes the lead in some service, all the other saints should follow. This is according to the Bible; it is absolutely different from the human concept of leadership. Among God’s people today there should be no head other than Christ. Any head or subhead is an insult to the headship of Christ. God honors the headship of His Son to the uttermost, and He desires that we also honor the headship of Christ.
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.” In this verse helps refers to the services of the deacons, and administrations refers to the functions of the elders. According to our concept, the functions of the elders should come first, but in this verse the apostle Paul purposely lists the helps of the deacons before the elders’ administrations. This shows that among God’s people today there is no human leadership.