This may be a slight overstatement, but does this line of reasoning sound familiar?
But without parents who will spank the children?
But without police who will write the tickets?
But without politicians who will fix the roads?
But without elders who will censure, excommunicate insubordinate members, and fence the table?
But without a seminary-trained preacher, who will feed the sheep?
In this paradigm, where’s the emphasis on Spirit-led, Bible-based, Self-governing maturity? Isn’t the objective to grow the ekklessia beyond the need for top-down control? Are we a long way from this? Certainly. But we won’t get any closer to it unless and until it becomes our deliberate, conscious destination. For the sake of discussion, I trust both the person in the pulpit and the one in the pew want the same thing, namely Christ exalted and His Kingdom extended. The disagreement arises over methodology, and whether or not what we are doing will ever get us to our goal. It’s not an issue of government or no government IMO, but the GOAL of government. If the goal of the church is to make disciples, then it would seem that the goal of church government is to keep the church focused on that mission.
As a military veteran, I relate well to the idea of elders serving in the role of a military chain of command, keeping a unit or crew on task, focused, disciplined, and actively engaged. What I cannot relate to is elders acting as custodians of an adult kindergarten.
