Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. — Hebrews 13:17
Is it just me, or does this verse seem… antiquated? If not downright cultish. “Obey your leaders!” Sounds Orwellian. Then again, people respect and 
submit to all kinds of authority. So why not spiritual authority?
I bring a unique perspective to this, I think, not just because I was a staff pastor for 11 years, but because of an authoritarian relationship I came under while pastoring. Part of it was the result of wrestling with verses like the one above. Surely, I was not above the need for mentoring, for spiritual correction. I recognized my limitations and wanted to have someone more mature in my life. It was a healthy need. I think.
But another factor was at play, one that I didn’t recognize until the relationship was over. It was a brokenness inside me which allowed for my manipulation. I was so hurt and conversely, so eager to “obey my spiritual leader,” that I feared speaking up, questioning his authority or challenging him. You see, I needed to remain “under his blessing” or something bad might happen to me. Which it did. Eventually, I was publicly disciplined for being rebellious and contentious. (Hard to imagine, huh? Me being contentious.) I became the example to the flock of what happens when you’re a “disobedient” member. It was an incredibly humbling time in my life. Eventually, that church folded. I learned after the fact that many members considered the senior pastor to have abused his spiritual authority. I didn’t see it at first. I had his back, just like I had when he was “shepherding” me. But eventually, once I was free of the relationship, I began to see how absolutely unhealthy and destructive that relationship was.
Anyway, it’s made me quite sensitive to the topic of spiritual leadership.
One thing we’ve lost sight of amidst America’s changing religious demographics has been the role of spiritual leaders. The statistics reveal exodus, with nearly 1/3 of American adults ditching the religion of their youth. But what does it say about our spiritual leaders that the religions they represent can’t seem to hold people?
Of course, the “fluidity” of Americans’ religious affiliations (that was the term used in the Pew report — fluid) has as much to do with cultural trends as anything. In abandoning absolutes, dogma becomes negotiable. So we can’t blame our religious leaders for our indecision. Or can we?
The democratization of culture has had a serious impact on the authority of spiritual leaders. At one time, pastors, rabbis, and priests possessed significant cultural cachet. Forget the academics; America respected clergymen — studied, resolved, men of comfort and conviction. However, recent polls reveal only half of Americans rate the honesty and ethics of clergy as high. Another shows that scientists, doctors, and law enforcement officers are, among others, more respected than clergy. Nowadays, when spiritual leaders aren’t being mocked, they’re being patronized, considered little more than pop psychologists, motivational speakers, or personal advisers whose counsel we can take or leave. It only stands to reason, if the individual is the arbiter of Truth, then ultimately, who’s to tell us what Truth to follow? Even if they are a man of the cloth.
Maybe that’s why Bible verses like the one above seem so odd.
Obey your spiritual leaders. Huh?! And submit to their authority. Maybe if I lived in 16th century England this would apply. But in 21st century America I’ve got to worry about my boss. My creditors. My wife! Frankly, obeying my pastor is pretty far down the list of priorities. But why is this?
There’s probably a couple reasons, one of which relates to the above story. Clergy abuse and manipulation have indeed tempered our interpretation of spiritual authority and what it means to us. But I think there’s another reason, the polar opposite.
I sometimes wonder if pastors and priests do not demand enough of their followers. I mean, how can we “obey [our] leaders” if they never put us in a position to do so? I realize that can sound cult-like — and I’m definitely not inferring blind allegiance to any person or office — but either the concept set forth in Hebrews 13:17 (and elsewhere) is applicable or it is not. And if not, why not? Yes, no spiritual leader is perfect. In fact, some abuse the authority vested in them. But does that nullify our need to submit to spiritual authority? And more to the point, do our spiritual leaders exert enough authority to even bother with, or are they constantly tip-toeing around congregations that will bolt at the drop of a hat?
My theory: Our spiritual transience correlates to the clergy’s waning authority. And the clergy’s waning authority is the result of a fundamental re-imagining of “authority” in general.
The fact that I need spiritual guidance, spiritual covering and mentoring (according to Scripture), reminds me that I am not the center of the universe. But that’s the problem, because our relativistic, post-modern culture tells us just the opposite. Why submit to anyone’s authority when I am the center of the universe? Sadly, I fear that our spiritual leaders have bought into this lie, orbiting helplessly around congregations that are nothing but black holes.
Following and obeying our spiritual leaders is a balance of knowing when to speak up when there is legitimate abuse of the position and when to follow and trust their leadership. My husband is a pastor and we have seen a lot behind the closed doors of leaders, enough to make a person walk away from the church (and we almost did). But we learned is God is not like those who claim to represent Him and not all Christians are like that. And when you do find sin in the leadership (and not just a disliking to the way they preach or the music they chose), there are biblical ways to handle it.
That verse is about secular leaders: bosses, mayors, presidents.
Pastors are teachers, not spiritual authorities.
Christ is our High Priest on the order of Melchizedek.
If there is anything in the modern church (other than the husband in a Christian marriage) that is an authority per Biblical guidelines that would be Deacons and Elders.
Hm. The context pretty clearly articulates “spiritual leaders” (as the NLT translates it). Hebrews 13:7, just a few verses above this, says, “Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God,” leaders / teachers being interchangeable.
Oops. I was confusing it with the other passage about leaders.
Nevertheless, this is the passage that gets misquoted and misused all the time.
But I’ll absent myself from the conversation. I don’t have the energy for Anabaptists Vs. Everyone Else today.
I think you still have a valid point, Katherine. In my observations, abuse of power and cult-like behavior tends arise more in churches where the pastor is *the* authority. The same is true for government and is why our system has checks and balances.
I am lucky to attend a healthy church where the elders, pastors, ministry teams work together in the church planning. There’s a hierarchy (elders being at the top) but other voices are heard and no one person is seen as the supreme authority. The supreme authority is God who we know through His Word which is inerrant, and this sentiment is repeated every Sunday.
The errancy comes from our human interpretation of his Word. Given the human propensity to misinterpret, all leaders must have, at the very least, one accountability partner who’s not afraid to speak up if/when that leader goes too far astray.
(My church didn’t make this up. We try to be an Acts 2 church. Always falling short, of course, but still trying.)
As a believer, it’s my responsibility to seek teaching from multiple sources so I don’t get stuck in a vacuum. Further, I will submit to authority so long as the authority is Biblical. If a leader strays too far, they are no longer my authority so I’m not required to submit.
That’s easier said then done, I realize. I’ve developed unhealthy relationships in the past for reasons of my own immaturity, which eventually reared its head and exposed the relationship for what it was. Thankfully. And some people are just REALLY good at manipulating. Those people are scary.
Bottom line, if you find yourself in a vacuum or if you observe your leadership conducting themselves within a vacuum, you’re potentially headed for trouble.
Great comments, Jessica. I especially like your point about receiving teaching from multiple sources. Inability to learn from different sources is a possible indicator that we’ve invested one person with too much authority.
Learning from one teacher and one teacher alone reminds me of Matt Mikalatos’s zombies in his book Night of the Living Dead Christian. I thought he portrayed the unthinking allegiance to one teacher with such humor and yet with such insight.
Great post, Mike. You always make me think. These kinds of posts make me aware of how fortunate I am to be in a healthy church — much like what Jessica describes.
Becky
WOOOO PLURALITY OF ELDERS!!! REPRESENT!!! *pumps fist*
Er, that was probably not very dignified. What I MEAN to say is that while it is possible for plural leadership to become corrupted and fall under the sway of a single man (or a single unbiblical viewpoint), it is much less likely to breed the kind of dangerous situation that Mike experienced and described. A church shepherded by elders and deacons that meet the qualifications given in Scripture (and meeting those qualifications is vitally important — I’ve seen the disaster that results when elders are not qualified) is not going to fall under the power of a single man’s authority or charisma. Because in a plurality of leadership there is a constant reminder that the true and only Head of the church is Christ, and that earthly shepherds (elders a.k.a. bishops a.k.a. pastors) must constantly be seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to come to harmonious decisions, or they will not be able to make any decisions at all.
I could also go on about the priesthood of all believers and the responsibility of each member of the body to exercise his or her spiritual gift, and how important this is to avoiding pastoral burnout, among other things. But the usual response I get to that is “Oh, you’re one of those patternist types” and “That was just what the early church did, it’s not COMMANDED that we do it that way, you know.” Which is a viewpoint held by some people I greatly admire and respect on a spiritual level, and I even agree that the NT does not flat-out order us to do exactly as the early church did. But I think there are a lot of good reasons to emulate New Testament church principles, and that a great many of the problems that afflict modern churches would not happen, or at least not to the same degree or in the same way, if we did.
That is probably weird sounding and about as clear as chili con carne, but I’m on my lunch break and running out of time so it’ll have to do. 🙂
R.J., I think a plurality of elders is much more to the biblical model than is the “senior pastor” so typical to American churches. The sticking point for most churches decentralizing to a plurality of elders is usually how decisions are made. It’s just so much easier for one person to make decisions than for a body to reach unanimity. Which is why senior pastor has become the default.
Thanks for your thoughts, Mike. I was also struck by another sad side-effect of the one-or-two pastoral model when I went to Bible school with a number of pastors’ daughters. At least two of them were deeply worried about their fathers, who were exhausted from having to do all the preaching and discipline and encouragement and organization in their local churches. But whenever they tried to urge the elders and/or the congregation to get more involved in ministry, the typical response (either directly or obliquely) was, “Well, doing that stuff is what we pay you for.” So it seems that reliance on one or two-man ministry not only opens up the congregation to abuse by ungodly pastors, it can also result in good pastors getting abused and burned out.
Good stuff, Mike…there are some who would say most pastors aren’t even called to be pastors in the first place…they just wound up there because it seemed like the ideal place to A) Work in an easy, comfortable enviroment, B) Talk, preach and even work out the Christian faith and C) Have a kind of easy authority. Having authority over someone (even the perception) is a powerful thing, and a powerful draw.
It’s funny that so many of the best pastors I’ve met wanted nothing to do with being a pastor, and only did so after God very specifically called them to be pastors.
Not much to add, Mike, except double kudos for the “They Live” screen grab. *G* An uber-creepy film, and sadly underrated.
I recently re-watched “They Live” and was interested to learn that the current Obey logo trend (the one with Andre the gIant) was actually taken from Carpenter’s film.
This really hits home right now. There are some things going on in my church I disagree with. Nothing Biblical, but matter of conscience. Since I just changed churches 3.5 years ago, I’m really struggling with all that. And some friends in the church as saying, “Submit to your spiritual leaders” as reasons not to question what is happening. I’m not buying it, but I’m really struggling with it all the same. I don’t want to be one of those people who jumps ship at the first sign of trouble, but losing all your staff and all but two elders in six months tells me something is seriously wrong.
Can of worms there, Mike…I went to a fundamentalist college (whose name you’ve probably heard) and there’s a huge backlash of alumni now against any rules that were imposed there. To which I say, you signed up for it, you paid for it, now appreciate the education you received there and MOVE ON.
At some point or another, we all have to put ourselves under authority. Sometimes we can’t help who’s in charge, b/c we don’t get a vote (like our parents. Mine were great, BTW). Doesn’t mean we follow blindly. But it does mean we respect authority that God has placed over us. I don’t know at what point, BIBLICALLY, we can stop respecting them, but I suspect it has something to do with when the authority starts breaking God’s laws and working evil.
This brings us to another can of worms–submission. Yup, I said it. And I try to live it, and it’s stinking hard. But it brings order to our home. I’m not the Alpha dog in this pack, my husband is. And I WANT HIM TO BE. As I tell my kids, obedience doesn’t stop when you’re grown, or even if you become President. As a Christian, you want to obey God. Otherwise, life gets pretty worthless.
Good post. And I agree w/the above comments–our church has a board of elders and it has REVOLUTIONIZED how we “do business.” It’s fantastic, and a huge support for the pastor. Highly recommend.
Great post. If they don’t ask for obedience, why would anyone give it? And if they ask and some storm off, so be it. God is able to keep the Christians in the churches if we’ll obey him. When we are so afraid of offending people that we can’t speak the truth, we’re worthless no matter how many people are in the pews.
I was once disciplined by elders, too, in what I still think was an unfair manner. But it didn’t hurt me. Jesus was disciplined in that way too. He could have melted Pilate with a look, but he bowed to his death sentence because Pilate had gotten his authority from above. So when we submit to those God put over us (parents or politicians or preachers), even though they are sinners, we are following Christ. I have often submitted to sinful elders and to my sinful husband, and God has always made things turn out very well for me, whereas, when I was younger and rebelling against my parents, nothing went well for me. I was a mess.
You’ve hit on a key for salvation in the NT and even OT. Humility is a prerequisite to salvation (2 Chron. 7:14; Parable of the Publican and Pharisee), and the route to humility is through obedience not only to God, but those God has put over us. That doesn’t mean blind obedience, that’s a different thing. If someone is leading you away from God, that’s spiritual leadership you can walk away from.
I too have experienced abuse of one’s spiritual leadership on more than one occasion. But abuse of something doesn’t make it invalid. Like, the fact some people commit murder and get away with it doesn’t mean we should give up on enforcing laws concerning murders. If it’s right, it’s right, no matter if it is abused at times.
Jesus’ message to the people, despite big criticism of the spiritual leaders, was not “jump ship on Judaism” or “Resist your spiritual leaders,” but “Do as they say, but not as they do.” When it becomes abusive in some form or fashion, one should not take that verse as an absolute, but as an “in general.” IOW, there may well be exceptions because we are human and fallible. That verse can’t be used as an excuse to manipulate people by some power hungry person. Because part of being a spiritual leader is to be willing to give himself/herself to those under them even as Christ did. Love makes spiritual leadership work.
And spiritual leaders have a fearful responsibility, for they will have to give an account to Christ for those He placed under their care and ministry. If they have abused that, I fear what their destiny will be.
I’m Presbyterian, so our church government has built-in checks and balances. If a pastor’s abusing his authority, you can appeal to presbytery, and if they‘re loony, you can appeal to general assembly.
Even within the church, there’s a hierarchy, too, but no one person has all the power.
What’s that saying? “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”? We’re sinful beings. My suspicion is that the “absolute 1-man authority” of clergy in some denominations has led to the abuse—but bear in mind, I’m biased. (See above mention of being Presbyterian.)
The humble leaders fear to abuse their authority and therefore don’t… Well, they don’t always confront sin as they should. But then there are the ones who crave the power and authority and abuse it, manipulating those around them.
Hey, I’ve known someone who had no authority who manipulated everyone around her. It isn’t pretty—and they can make things seem like your fault, not theirs, which makes it hard to confront or shunt aside.
I left organized religion over two decades ago. In 1997, the Lord brought me Oswald Chambers, and since then he has been my teacher. He may not be here with us right now, but he is one of the great cloud of witnesses, and I obey him.
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