Matt 23:8 But you, do not be called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. (9) And do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father, He who is in the heavens. (10) Neither be called instructors, because One is your Instructor, the Christ.
[Part 1 of 2] Matthew 23 says that we should not have any leaders. But in the Epistles we are told that there are leaders in the church (Heb. 13:17, 24). The Bible, however, is not contradictory. We need to see that what is in the mind of the Lord is utterly different from what is in our natural mentality. In the mind of the Lord the elders or the leaders should not control others. In the church life there should not be any control. But this does not mean that there is no governing, no ruling. To rule is one thing and to control is another. All the leaders in the churches must be clear about this. In the Lord's churches we need ruling, but not controlling. To control others means to make decisions for them and to tell them what to do or not to do. It is to put people under your direction. We must hate this kind of control. No one should exercise control, because we all are under the one Lord and have the one Spirit living in us and leading us. However, there is a need for ruling. If in a meeting the saints are told what to do, that is control. But there must be some ruling in the meeting. Suppose, for example, someone worships an idol and claims the freedom to do so. This must be ruled out. We even need some ruling in deciding the times of the meetings. Some may insist on meeting at 4:30 a.m., while others may want to meet at an equally inconvenient time in the afternoon. Thus, the elders need to go to the Lord in prayer, fellowship with the saints, and use their spiritual nose to discern the feeling of the saints so that they can determine what time is best for the meetings. Then the elders should make a decision. This is not control; it is ruling. [continued tomorrow]
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Matthew, pp. 653, 655. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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