Every Member Ministry tagged: , , ,

Every Member Ministry

Posted by in Bible & Theology, Church & Missions

The illustrious Baptist theologian Dave Miller :-) recently wrote the following on a post on church leadership: “There is, I believe, more than one way to accomplish biblical church governance … Some of the principles may be mandated, but the Bible is not specific on issues of structure.”

As usual, I agree with Dave on this one. What we are talking about, to some degree here, is the difference between:

1) the regulative principle of worship, stated in Wikipedia as “whatever is commanded in Scripture by command, precept or example, or which can be deduced by good and necessary consequence from Scripture is required, and … whatever is not commanded or cannot be deduced by good and necessary consequence from the Scripture is prohibited”;

2) the normative principle of worship, stated in Wikipedia as “worship in the Church can include those elements that are not prohibited by Scripture”; and

3) the informed principle of worship, stated in Wikipedia as “what is commanded in Scripture regarding worship is required, what is prohibited in Scripture regarding worship is forbidden, what is not prohibited in Scripture regarding worship is permissible, but only if validly deduced from a proper application of Scripture using good and necessary consequence.”

As Baptists, we are generally in agreement that, in the way we “do church,” we should strive to be as biblical as possible. There is some discrepancy, however, on our understanding of the ways by which that which is commanded or prohibited can best be “deduced by good and necessary consequence from Scripture.” The book of Acts is especially problematic in this regard, as we must distinguish, many times, between historical referents that are intended merely to relay one-time occurrences in the history of the early Church, and those that are meant to serve as examples for us to follow, independently of our particular historical and cultural context. There is also some debate over the extent to which certain instructions given to individual churches and/or individuals in the New Testament epistles ought to be considered as universally and eternally valid and binding for all Christians.

In spite of this, though, there are certain principles in Scripture regarding church practice that are practically uncontestable. A widely accepted rule of biblical hermeneutics is that, whenever there is a clear passage or principle in Scripture and a not so clear passage or principle in Scripture, our understanding of the less clear passage or principle should concur with and conform to our understanding of the clearer passage or principle.

In my opinion, one of the clearest principles in the New Testament, with regard to church practice, is that of every member ministry. Consider the following passages (paying special attention to the words in bold):

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16)

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:21-22).

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:4-27)

Though it is certain that God endows certain members of the body with gifts of leadership, the purpose of this leadership is not to monopolize ministry within the church, but rather to equip the rest of the members for ministry and facilitate their active participation in church life:

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13).

On the basis of these passages, I hold that an overriding concern of biblical ecclesiology, and one that should exercise a priority influence over the way we choose to structure our churches and organize our church activities, especially whenever faced with any degree of ambiguity on what Scripture actually commands or prohibits, is that of every member ministry. As a matter of fact, it seems quite clear to me that our level of growth and maturity as a church, and the degree in which we successfully fulfill the Lord’s purpose for us, will be commensurate with the degree in which we help each and every member of the Body of Christ to be actively involved in ministry, exercising the spiritual gifts the Lord has given them. In other words, for general purposes, church structures and activities that better serve to facilitate every member ministry are more biblical than those that do not.

Now, exactly how the general principle of every member ministry plays out in the life of the church is a matter over which there is room for some discussion. I believe, for example, that the increasing clericalization and hierarchicalization of the Church in the first few centuries of church history is a development that has had disastrous consequences for the exercise of biblical ecclesiology, and from which we, as modern-day Christians, have still not completely recovered. Indeed, even in so-called “low church” settings, such as many Baptist congregations, there are still certain traditions and structures that, in one way or another, do more to stifle every member ministry than to facilitate and encourage it. 

I would like, if possible, for the discussion on this post to be a forum for brainstorming and mutual exhortation regarding how we, as Baptists, and as Evangelicals, can be more biblical in our application of the principle of every member ministry in our churches.

Specifically, I would love to hear your answers to the following questions:

1. Are you in agreement that the principle of every member ministry should have a priority influence over the way we structure our churches and organize our church activities?

2. How good of a job do you think we, as Baptists, generally do at facilitating and encouraging every member ministry?

3. What are some practices and structural particularities in our churches that have tended to stifle every member ministry more than facilitate or encourage it?

4. What are some practical suggestions on how we can better facilitate and encourage every member ministry in our churches?