Many Christian church bodies in the United States have presidents or bishops that function as administrative heads or public faces of that particular church. But none of these quite matches up to the role of the Roman Catholic Pope—the Bishop of Rome. Does not having a single, strong authority open the door for theological and practical innovations in a church? This has not turned out, in practice, to be the case; single, powerful leaders have not historically been able to protect the church from error. The alternative, however—complete autonomy for all individuals—has also been fruitless. The solution is the Bible’s vision of the Body of Christ. Jesus has poured out his Holy Spirit and gifted his whole church with his Word, and God promises that his Spirit will lead and guide his Church into truth through the careful, communal study of the Bible, guided by trained leaders.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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Many Christian churches avoid talking about biblical election - the teaching that those who are believers have come to faith because God chose them - because it seems exclusive and non-egalitarian. How can God love everyone but only choose some? But in the Bible, the historical foundation of this doctrine is God’s choice of Israel to be his chosen people - not so that they could have a special status but so that they could be his agents for bringing the blessing of his redemption to the rest of the world. And this is the meaning of election for God’s people today: God has chosen to save and rescue them so that they can be his agents to live and preach his love in Jesus to all the world. Far from being exclusive, the doctrine of election is a guarantee that God loves his world, wants to save it, and is actively sending his people out to that end.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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It might be easy when visiting a church to think that the pastor is in charge. But many times once you get involved in that church and see behind the curtain it becomes apparent that other groups hold the power. What all of these churches have in common, though, is the temptation to find in the world the template for their governance structure. But what the Bible teaches is that the power God gives individuals or groups in the church is to be used to support those who need that power and strength to do the ministry God has gifted and called them to do. So pastors should not be CEOs, and ministry teams at a church should not function as corporate boards.

Instead, everyone in Christ’s church should function as members of Christ’s body, loving and serving the whole body in its calling to be Jesus’ body in whatever context in which that church finds itself.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

Subscribe to the show at https://cacg.saintjamesglencarbon.org.

To comment on this episode, visit https://saintjamesglencarbon.org/cacg-ep128.