Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Debelak
Should we not challenge the very notion of a formal administration at all? If there is "spiritual authority" which resides in an "office" (rather than in natural mutual submission by the Lord's leading and humbling), then I have the same conundrum as far as who I am supposed to be "under."
|
Well, that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish. Because if you are taking on the idea of official administration of a practical church then you are taking on 99.99% of churches in the world. Good luck with that.
I'm not really concerned about church administrations. I honestly don't see how a church of any size over about 15 people could get along without some kind of administration. The problem comes in when the administration starts claiming authority outside the doors of the church, as the LC did.
The house church movement has tried to implement the unofficial official model. I'm not sure how successful that has been. But I think it's easy to see that larger churches needs official staff and delegation of roles and authorities. There's no sin in that.
Don't worry about who you need to be "under." You don't need to be "under" anyone, except in the sense that the Bible tells us all to be in submission to each other. But if you join a church, it's at the very least good manners to respect the officials there.