Featured Hierarchy in Baptist Churches

I think when Christ stops being the head of the Church there is a serious problem. Humans get power hungry and start using Christ to embolden themselves with power over others. This I have issue with.

I am not against elders and a sense of order....but that order is headed by Christ.

 

As you stated before there has been a lot of talk about church government on here. So apparently Some Baptist Churches do have it. I personally have not attended one nor will I attend one. Christ is my Lord and my Judge. I admire good Church leadership but will not accept man made rules and regulations that are not scriptural.

 

Good points. But a congregation as you described knows its sins. We know that not all people will be true believers so if they can't handle the truth when they hear it then let them remain lost. Knowing the truth and denying it is chosen path.

 

No I'm talking about the baptist churches requiring classes and different things for new members and who knows what else. Jumping hoops to join a church seems like pleasing a government to me. When I joined my Church my faith in Christ and the fruits it was producing was all I needed.

 

Maybe I just personally don't put a lot of emphasis on actual membership. To me if someone joins and leaves a month later what skin is it off my back?? People come and go. The people who belong and want to be there will remain. Membership is just a name on a list and doesn't go much further than that for me.

For example....what if I just remained a visitor but never missed a service for x amount of time. Does my name being on the membership list or not on the list really make any difference in the fruit I can produce??

 

Think that we would do well to have Elders/deacons , as those seem to be authorized in the bible!

Don't see though set up like some have in other churches with national headship leadership determing that each church teaches same way!

 

Well, for starters, that church would cease to be Baptist.

 

No, being a name on a membership list does nothing for you. But the church is not about the individual. The Bible descibes the church as a family. It is about doing life as a group of people who have organized themselves to cooperate in serving the Lord and their community.

If a church has to buy property or even decide to rent a bldg to meet, they need some way of doing that. Membership is part of that. It is the actual members who have committed themselves to doing ministry as a group and a family who ought to be able to decide what to do. If you invest that power/authority in a elder team or do it through the church as a congregation, you must decide who can vote to do that.

Who decides who the next pastor or leader is? Do they get to decide it on their own or is there some kind of church decision? Who gets to make those decisions? Whoever shows up?

 

I think that there should still be some type of "leadership" over the local church, in the sense of being able to step in/assist if needed...

For i have personally seen fully Independent churches that split asunder to to the Board being family/yes men to the Pastor, another where the pastor refused to leave depite the memebership voting him out, so taht divided the church!

 

You know there's just no way possible to get it all right no matter what kind of leadership ect. Humans in the flesh will always have squabbles and disagreements in the Church no matter who is leading and ruling. We don't have Christ standing behind the pulpit to direct every little thing. But we do have his word and I suppose it is our responsibility to follow it and decide what is right. When In doubt about a doctrine or church leadership all you have to do is open your bible and find the answers. Ultimately WE are responsible individually for our spiritual path.

A big problem I think is a lot of people don't fact check their leaders with their bible and just blindly follow. Maybe that's why I'm so against a church government. Folks put their bible on the shelf and follow the leader in order to be accepted into the group. My bible is my guide and leaders in my church must abide by its teaching and not their own