Recharge | The Church: Who Holds the Authority?

It's a question most churches avoid — but Pastor Jason Smith addresses it directly: where does authority actually lie in the church?

Not with the pastor. Not with the board. Not with the person who gives the most or speaks the loudest.

In this Wednesday Night Recharge message, Pastor Jason walks through what Scripture actually teaches about church authority and leadership — and the answers are both clarifying and convicting. The congregation holds more responsibility than most of us realize. Leaders are given one tool: to persuade from God's Word. And Christ alone is the head — every structure in the church exists to protect that, nothing else.

Drawing from Ephesians 1, Galatians, Matthew 16 and 18, 1 Peter 5, and Hebrews, this message is a clear-eyed look at the church God designed — and why it looks so different from both consumer Christianity and top-down control.

If you've ever wondered what a healthy church is actually supposed to look like on the inside, this is a good place to start.

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Transcript

Reminders And Prayer Offer

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Alright, happy Wednesday to you. You know this is our second to last one of the semester. We are winding down quickly. Quickly, quickly. A few reminders before I get started. One, um I will make myself available for prayer at the end of service, right after everyone dismisses. If you want prayer, I will be right here and I will stay as long as it takes to pray with you and hear from you. Uh number two, many had asked me over the last week. Um uh I don't know if you know I went away for a week just to spend time alone with the Lord in solitude prayer. And uh um many were asking for an account, like, oh, we want to hear about it, how'd it go, all that fun stuff. So I just this afternoon recorded a podcast with Dan Gorham, and uh that will be released and uh put uh probably in your email sometime next week uh so that you can hear about that uh way to hear from me to you. We wanted to make that just kind of a sit-down conversation accessible to each of you so you can look forward to that. Um this semester we have been walking through the church. We've been looking at uh really the press from me to you for us is that we would think well about the church, that we would roll up our sleeves, we know our culture wants to uh approach church with a very consumeristic kind of vantage point. What's in it for me? Uh we can absolutely fall into that tendency, you leave here and you're like, yeah, the sermon was just kind of okay. I've heard his jokes before, or you know, the music really wasn't my preference, my taste this week, uh sort of deal, right? Uh but in reality, um, right, the church is the church is the bride of Christ. The church is, we are the saved ones. We are the living temple of God. Uh we've been called on mission to go to the ends of the earth. The church is a battleship, right? Called to go to the ends of the earth with the good news of Jesus Christ. Uh God's glory will cover this earth, and and he's going to use the church. There is no plan B in case you know that that church thing doesn't really work out. Uh we are it. And so we've been looking extensively at that. And tonight what I want to talk to us about. Uh you may not feel real recharged after this one, um, but uh and you may think, yeah, that's kind that's kind of a throwaway one, but it's really not. I want to talk to us about the congregation. I want to talk to us about leadership and structure within the church and where authority lies in the church. And I want you to hear it from me. It's very important. Where does authority lie in the church, right? Is it with the pastor? Um so let's let's walk through this. Number one, Christ alone is the head of the church. Okay? Christ alone is the head of the church. Look at the scripture out of Ephesians chapter one. And he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. We are his body, and Christ is the head of the church. Okay? Right? Not the pastor, not any sort of leadership board or whatever structure you can concoct, and not the loudest voices, and not the person that gives the most money. The church belongs to Christ. He died for her. Okay? I don't care if you started the church, right? If you're a church planter and you started the church, and then you can say, This is my church, you guys can just go find another one. It's Christ's church. Every structure in the church exists to protect the authority of Jesus Christ. Okay. Number two, this may surprise you. The final authority, okay, it rests with Christ, but the final authority rests with the congregation in so many instances. Not leadership. This is what I mean. Okay. If you read through the book of Galatians, Galatians is a book about chastisement for losing the gospel. You left the gospel. How could you leave the gospel? I preached the gospel, the church was born, I left, you you left the gospel. Do you know who he spends the entirety of the letter chastising? By the way, Galatians is a region. Do you know who he spends the entirety of the letter chastising? The church. The church. Not the false teachers. He doesn't get into a debate about, I can't believe you you called that guy to be the pastor. And then you should, you should, no. He straight to the church, which is fascinating. Okay, listen to me. The church, you, you will be responsible on that final day for the proclamation of the gospel and the teaching, right? The overarching teaching of this church and your sitting because you listen to it. Okay. Because you listen to it. Now this is fascinating because um you would say, but but I'm not so theologically gifted. I don't I don't think God's gonna hold you accountable on judgment day for whether you knew Wayne Gruden's systematic theology and can name all the incommunicable and communicable attributes of God. But the gospel you will be held accountable for. Was it proclaimed? Okay, was it proclaimed in your church? In Acts 17, 11. Okay, it talks about the Bereans. You guys know this? Paul came and he taught. And what did the Bereans do? They pulled out their Bibles and they said, let me see if what you're saying is actually in there. And did Paul say, those dumb Bereans, they wouldn't listen to me? Is that what he said? No, what did he say? He said, good for you. Okay? Right? Test the doctrine.

unknown 8:01

Okay?

Shepherd Leadership Not Control

Staying Connected As The Church Grows

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Did you know that the again, the final authority in the church is the congregation? Um Matthew chapter 18. Did you know that that Jesus, when there's church, when there's sin in someone's life, it says, go to that brother, address it. If he will not listen to you, bring another. If he will not listen to them, what does he say do next? Take it to the to the church. Why didn't he just say take it to the pastor and tell the pastor to kick him out? That's not what it says, is it? Why? So actually, if you if you work through Acts uh Matthew chapter 16, Matthew chapter 18, you know the uh Peter, upon this rock I will build my church. He then says to Peter, I give you the keys to the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound, whatever you loose in heaven shall have uh loose on earth shall have been. You know what he's saying there? He's saying, church, because you have the gospel, you keep the gospel and the truth of the gospel, you have the authority. This this is not absolute, but this is the way it should work. You have the ability to declare, yes, that is the true gospel. You are believing, and you are a child of God. Because that is the gospel, it is in line with the truth, binding and loosing. It shall be that way in heaven. And then when it comes, when it comes to the discipline passage, is bring it to the church. Congregation, do you understand the authority that Jesus has placed upon you? In the New Testament, the church calls her leaders and holds them accountable. Okay? I am teaching you that because that's what God's word says. And because you will be held accountable on that day for what you listen to, what you put your family under, all of those things. Mainly is the gospel preached. Is it the gospel? Thirdly, the leadership model that is given in Scripture is not one of authoritarian kind of controlling. It is shepherd, a servant leader. Leaders are shepherds, they are not controllers. Listen to 1 Peter 5, 2 and 3. Starting in one, uh Peter says, Therefore I exhort the elders among you. As if elder, elder, I exhort the elders. There are three titles in the New Testament for pastor, elder, overseer. Those are used interchangeably. The term pastor means shepherd, okay? And that the title in Scripture is elder, okay? Presbyteros. Okay. The uh common refrain for that position is to be an overseer. But the function, and the one that we and our denomination and our heritage have called forward, is the function of shepherd. But I want you to see what it says here. Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, shepherd the flock of God, exercising oversight. Yeah, yes, there's oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God, not for sordid gain, but with eagerness, nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. So I want you to listen to me very carefully. Do you know what power I have over you to persuade you from the word of God. That is it. That is my job. That is the tool that God has given to the overseer to persuade you from the word of God. Yes, there is oversight, and uh yes, you are called. I think I have this next passage. Uh did I put Hebrews in there? Yeah. You are called to obey your leaders and to submit to them. Why? Because they keep over watch over your souls, and give an I will give an account on judgment day. Okay, for you. But the tool that has been given to me for you is to persuade you from the word of God, to persuade you from God's word. Not not to be heavy-handed, not to be authoritarian. I pray you trust me. In the end, what you see happening in Scripture is a mutual submission one to another. That there's authority and responsibility given to both. There's a checks and balances and a submission one to another. You are to hold me accountable to God's word. And when I do not teach God's word, you're supposed to call me out on it. You should develop a trust for me because I teach you God's word, and you should willingly submit and obey and give respect and honor because of the task that is before me, because I have showed myself to be a shepherd that loves you. In the end, it's like a family, right? A father, when the family unit looks right, you have a father who has authority, who leads. Everyone has opinions and personalities, but because there's love and respect, the whole thing functions. Not under my thumb, not authoritarian. That's not what's been prescribed. Why? Because that's not been what's modeled for us by Jesus Christ, who loved his church and gave himself for her. It shall not be this way amongst you. For this is how it is amongst the Gentiles. Gentiles love to get positions where they have authority and they can put their thumb down. It's not going to be that way amongst you. For the first one among you shall be your servant, the greatest one among you shall be your slave. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. And that love is what shapes us from the top down, and it makes us look completely different from the world. And I share this with you because so often in our culture, right, it can shift towards uh consumerism. Liked it, didn't like it. And or authoritarianism. But there can also be a massive disconnect between there and here. You hear me what I'm saying? There can be a massive disconnect between the stage and the pews. Where that's that's how you get consumerism, where it's like, yeah, I'm so disconnected, like my only job now is to judge whether I like the music or the sermon or how the how the flow went. If there's a disconnect, okay? And yes, as we grow and as we get larger, it's why from the very moment I got here, we tried to be so intentional with deacon flocks and trying to keep the connectedness of everything we do. Why? Because that's him, it's top-down. We have a servant leader. Let's pray, I'm out of time. Father, we love you, we thank you. I pray over this truth of your word and that we would think about our church and the way that you have structured the church, where you give authority, that we would press into that authority in healthy ways, that we would grow in our thinking, because we want to think well about what you have died for, King Jesus. It's in your name we pray. Amen. God bless you guys. A reminder, I'll be at the front for prayer.