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MINISTRY
Who Is King in Your Congregation? by Ben Murphy
It is sad, however, that the same cannot be said for many local congregations. Christ should be King over all, and the Holy Spirit should be issuing the decrees to His people. Unfortunately, the title of king belongs in many churches to an individual or individuals; church bosses they are sometimes called. I was contacted by a church in the Midwest one time to come for an interview for their congregation’s pastoral position. I informed my Church Council that I was merely going to go at my own expense to meet with their committee. This meeting was to be informal, and I wanted my leaders praying with me to see if this was the will of God for my ministry. I arrived at the church, was greeted by two men who gave the complete tour, showed off all their many ‘sacred cows,’ and generally did a lot of bragging about the church and all that they had done to make it what it is today! I learned early on that God would receive very little credit for anything that had been accomplished in their church.
Mercifully, they got around to conducting a brief interview, and the show ended. I thought it strange that no other members were in attendance for the meeting but sloughed it off as possibly work-related or some other inconvenience. After what I would term as a very congenial conversation and session with the two men, I got back into my car and drove back toward my home. In our meeting, I had asked for a copy of their church By-Laws with which request they willingly, if not proudly, complied. On the way back to my home I stopped at a rest area and picked up the document they had given to me and began to read. There were no AC outlets in my car, but I received a shock nonetheless by what I read.
Every word on the front page of the By-Laws was about these two men, by name! I learned quickly that this was THEIR CHURCH! I contacted a pastor friend of mine who had at one time been the pastor of this congregation. I told him about the two men and he said to me, “You just met the church bosses! They own it; they run it; they make all the decisions and you will not be allowed in their meetings, and they will run you!” WRONG! I was young in the ministry, but I knew that I was not going to place myself into a situation where these two men would be my kings!
There is a terrible tragedy in our churches when Christ is not the King and a man or men (or a woman or women) sit on the proverbial throne! Having said that, believe it or not, there is a bright point to even this scenario. At least those attending such congregations know who their kings are! Members are allowed each week to show up to their church and worship them by name! But then there are those congregations that have no clue who is king! They are . . . well, that’s exactly who I am referring to: THEY! They are the THEY! They have no physical ‘nee’ (name) unless you want to consider ‘nee-jerks’ a nee! They search for things to nit-pick about. All they do is ‘nee-naw’ around behind the scenes and rule from hidden thrones. The only time they ever show up is to special meetings, (but are careful to sit on the back pew, taking notes, and remaining silent.) Then they show up next week in narthexes, secret corners, or on the telephone! (Do we even have telephones today?) Maybe the modern they text their vile stuff! But they never open their mouth in person. They inform someone of their rules or demands and have certain Court Jesters or minions carry their desires to the next meetings. Then their Jester announces proudly, “There are a lot of people in this church who don’t like. . . .” Then the Jester goes on to complain, in second person, the will of the ‘they king’ of the church. Notice also, it is always a “lot of people” who are against what is going on.
Remember the story of the frogs. The guy lives next to a swamp and hears what sounds like millions of bull frogs croaking and making all kind of racket. He goes to a local restaurant and contracts their business to supply them with all the frogs they want for the frog legs on their menu. But when he goes to the swamp to begin collecting frogs, he finds only two little frogs. You know what? There are congregations that are desperately in need for their theys either to stop croaking . . . or just croak! How can the true King of Glory be on the throne of the congregation when they are on the throne? (Remember: God Himself ‘croaked’ a bunch of the theys in the Old Testament.)
In Medieval times the king always knew what was happening in his kingdom. In addition, he could get information to the vast areas of the kingdom in very short bursts of time. What is so amazing is that this was before texting, tweeting, telemarketing and twittering. The king had his own “t-word.’ He relied on tattling from his trusted vassals. Vassal tattle you might call it! Through these trusted vassals and the vassals’ serfs, the king had his finger on the pulse of the kingdom, his ear to the ground of all that was going on in his kingdom. Local congregations should be guided by the King of the Ages, not by church bosses! I know that each congregation needs spiritually gifted people for protecting properties and doing the work in the King’s Kingdom. You can choose from a short list of names that can be Biblically instituted, a favorite being “elders.” I’ve got all of that. I know that “without vision the people . . . ,” and so we have Vision and Development Teams, etc. Got that, too! But ultimately, the King must be in charge! It is He, not “they” Who has the vision. He knows the one and only way for our congregations to be what He wants us to be in His Kingdom. Elders, Deacons, council or board members often vacillate in their decision-making for the congregation. Vacillating vassals you might call them. Elijah asked, “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him” (I Kings 18:21.) How long will local congregations continue following church bosses and vacillating vassals to their demise? The Spanish Saint once said, “I do not wish to serve a king who can die!”
WHO IS THE KING OF YOUR CONGREGATION?
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The Psalmist said in Psalms 4:4, “Thou art my King, O God. . . .” The Psalmist knew who was King of his life.
What a blessing to live and know who is King of our life. I’ve known for many years the King of my life, but many times I failed Him as His servant and failed to tell others about my King. Yes, even as a Christian, there were times when I did not allow Him to rule as King. I tried at times to share the throne, so to speak. Thankfully and hopefully that is not the norm among all pastors and parishioners. Some seem to figure it out early on, while some of us who are more stubborn of nature take longer to let him establish Kingship of our life. Thou art my King, O God. I know it. And Christ is Lord over all in my life. |
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Pastor Ben Murphy First Church of God Wise, Virginia |