God’s authority in the church is represented not only by one or two or three persons. Very often it takes the whole church to represent His authority.
God shows us through the Bible that the brothers who are bearing responsibility before the Lord, who are called overseers, and who serve as the elders, are the ones who represent His authority in the church. The rest of the brothers must learn to take a submissive stand before God. God has established authorities in the church; their work is to oversee the church. All the brothers must learn to accept their judgments and submit to them.
Everywhere God’s children are on earth, they should seek commandments to obey; they should seek the opportunity to submit. They should not just seek work. I often feel that many young people are of little use to the Lord, because even though they can work, they cannot submit. There are many people who cannot be submissive. If you ask how many years they have been working for the Lord, they can tell you that they have worked for ten years and have done many things. But if you ask to whom they have submitted, they may not be able to name one person. The basic principle of the church life is submission.
Everyone among us should learn submission. It is pitiful for a person to have never submitted to anyone his whole life. We must learn to submit to God, and not to Him only, but also to the authority God has appointed on earth—the church. We must submit to God’s ordained authority in the church, that is, the responsible brothers. We can boast of the many years we have worked for the Lord, but we cannot boast of our obedience to the Lord. We have never been submissive to anyone. This is the basic problem and the basic challenge before us. If we consider this matter carefully before the Lord, we will realize that this kind of submission is mandatory in the church.
Let us read a few verses together concerning the elders.
First Corinthians 16:15-16 says, “Now I exhort you, brothers: You know the household of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and they have set themselves to minister to the saints; you also be subject to such ones, and to everyone co-working and laboring.” The household of Stephanas had no other thought in the church in Corinth except to minister to the saints. Paul told us to be subject to such ones. We must be subject to the deputy authority of God in the church. We must be subject to those who are like the household of Stephanas and also to everyone who co-works and labors with those who are like Stephanas. These are brothers more mature than we; they are firstfruits in Christ and were begotten before we were begotten. They are also concerned about our affairs. We should honor them, not despise them. Rather, we should be subject to them.
First Peter 5:5 says, “In like manner, younger men, be subject to elders.” The passage before this verse speaks of those who are elders. Here is a group of people who have more days in the Lord; they may be the elders. Peter said that the younger men should be subject to the elderly ones, who are patterns to others before the Lord (v. 3). If a young person finds someone taking care of him according to God’s will, he should learn to subject himself to such a one before God. This one is a pattern to him, and he should learn to subject himself to this pattern. We should pay particular attention to our submission to the elderly brothers; they are clearly qualified to represent the Lord in the church.
First Timothy 5:17 says, “Let the elders who take the lead well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in word and teaching.” You must render double honor toward those elders who take the lead well in the church and should never despise or criticize them. You should honor the elders, even more those who labor in word and teaching. You should also honor those who have the gift of the ministry of the word. Some elders can fulfill the ministry of the word and some cannot. You should honor not only those who can fulfill such a ministry but also those who cannot. I would like to point out that many brothers hold a wrong concept about submission; they choose the kind of people they will submit to. They think they should submit to only perfect individuals. Please bear in mind that this is not the Lord’s ordained way. We do not submit only to those who are perfect. We submit rather to the authority the Lord has placed over us. If it were up to us to choose a person to submit to, we would never find such a person on earth, because we would always find faults. Even if Peter appeared in our midst, we would still find many faults in him. Only one thing is necessary for our submission; if a brother is before us in the Lord, we should listen to him.
You can find a million reasons to excuse yourself. An elder may know only how to take care of the church but have no ministry of the word. You may think that you do not need to honor him since you can speak better than he can. But God’s Word says, “Let the elders who take the lead well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in word and teaching.” This is not a matter of choice. Many people cover their lawlessness and disobedience with the excuse of choice. This is foolish. If a person is more mature than you are and is ahead of you, you should submit to him and not criticize him.