Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. (Hebrews 13:17, NIV)
When outstanding golfers start dreaming in a tour direction, they’re not thinking mini-tours. These may be a step along the way, of course, but if they want to play with the best in the world for the biggest purses, they’ll eye the PGA Tour if they are male and the LPGA Tour if they are female.
When you and I set out to find a fitting local church, however, the search is different. There isn’t a hierarchical progression to be surmounted. Rather, our decisions are often preferential: what kind of music do I like?, does the preacher’s speaking style resonate with me?, is there a way for me to get involved with their missions activities?—these sorts of good questions.
Yet when we start applying these preferences as litmus tests by which we declare a church to be “in the right,” we are at risk of majoring in the minors. We may end up identifying with a church that is missing the mark in significant ways, or passing by a church that really touches the heart of God.
Is there a way, according to Scripture, to find a church that is healthy in the way it renders and practices God’s desires?
Part of that answer lies in this passage in Hebrews, where the writer exhorted believers to obey and submit to their local church leaders. But it’s the reason for this allegiance that instructs us today. We are to honor the elders because they watch over the congregation as leaders “who must give an account.”
Here is a meaningful test of a God-honoring church. Are those who are leading doing so with their eyes to the Lord? Do they recognize that their first obligation in all decisions is to God himself? If they do, then we may trust and honor their leadership. The church may not be capable of meeting the needs of all who walk in the door, but the leaders are functioning according to God’s direction. Conversely, a church that has every appearance of cultural excellence but is not minding the guidance of the Lord is a church you may well need to leave. But one caveat: Be sure that you too are one looking to the Lord, certain of his authority over you. If you are, God may direct you to stay even in a wavering church, that he may raise you up to bring a new generation of leadership.
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Jeff Hopper
November 16, 2012
Copyright 2012 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.