I must admit that I am a fan of the TLC show “Cake Boss”. I am fascinated with the creativity and moreso that it is delicious creativity. However, the word “boss” in most cases carries a negative connotation, especially in the church world.
“Who’s the Boss” is a major struggle in most churches. The answer will unfortunately make or break the effectiveness of each church. I never realized that until a few years ago.
Churches are battling today over if church government should be a dictatorship or a democracy. If a pastor exercises any degree of authority in some churches, he is viewed as a dictator. Then churches go to the other extreme and vote on toilet paper (true story!). The bottom line that makes many uncomfortable is a lack of accountability. If churches vote on every single thing, they never move forward. If they don’t have a visionary leader (pastor), they won’t move forward either. So who should call the shots or be “the boss”? The chairman of deacons? The deacon “board” (which is nowhere found in Scripture)? A committee? The oldest member(s) of the church? The largest family? The people who give the most money? (I’ve seen all of the above.)
Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 that the church is His, so He is the boss. Jesus calls the shots! Jesus directs the pastor! Jesus directs every leader!
This concept is not a strange concept. Businesses have CEOs. Someone has to direct the company. Employees work for this CEO. There are people in authority who ensure that the vision and management of the company is implemented properly. Power struggles will exist, but the chain of command remains the same. People will be offended by the way the company functions, but the work still goes on.
For some reason, some church members want too many Indians and no chiefs. Jesus Christ is Chief. Everyone else aligns with Him! When a church functions as it should, the pastor follows Christ and the church joins him. This way, everyone follows Christ.
I realize that some will disagree with this, but the evidence speaks for itself. The strongest churches are the ones who have a Christ-led leader at the forefront. The dying churches have multiple people trying to call the shots.
What kind of church do you want? Do you want to be a part of a place where everyone is fighting for first place, or do you want a church where Jesus has His rightful place? I want the latter.
Matthew Winters (Honest Thoughts from a Pastor) 