3. The Theological Basis For The New Testament People Of God
2.2. The People and Their Leadership
The sense of continuity with the old, however, does not seem to carry over to the role of leadership as well. Under the old covenant the king and priests in particular, although often included in much of the “people” language, were at the same time recognized as having an existence apart from the people with their own sets of rules and expectations. It is precisely this model of leadership that breaks down altogether in the New Testament. The basic reason for this is the Lordship of Christ himself. As God intended to be himself king over Israel, so Christ has come as God’s king over his newly constituted people. As head of his church, all others, including leaders, function as parts of the body both sustained by Christ and growing up into him (Eph 4:11-16).
Thus leadership in the New Testament people of God is never seen as outside or above the people themselves, but simply as part of the whole, essential to its well-being, but governed by the same set of “rules.” They are not “set apart” by “ordination”;95 rather their gifts are part of the Spirit’s work among the whole people. That this is the basic model (as diagrammed earlier) can be demonstrated in a number of ways, some of which deserve special attention.
2.2.1. The Nature of the Epistles
One of the more remarkable features of the New Testament Epistles is the twin facts (a) that they are addressed to the church(es) as a whole, not to the church leadership,96 and (b) that leaders, therefore, are seldom, if ever,97 singled out either to see to it that the directives of a given letter are carried out or to carry them out themselves.
To the contrary, in every case, the writers address the community as a whole, and the expectation of the letter is that there will be a community response to the directives. In several instances leaders are mentioned (e.g., 1 Thess 5:12-13; 1 Cor 16:16; Heb 13:17), but basically in order to address the community’s attitudes toward them. In 1 Peter 5:1-4 the leaders themselves (apparently)98 are addressed, in this case with regard to their attitudes and responsibilities toward the rest of the people.
Thus, for example, in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 the whole community is called upon, among other things, to respect those who labor among them, care for them,99 and admonish them; yet in w. 14- 15, when urging that they “admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all,” Paul is once more addressing the community as a whole, not its leadership in particular. So also in 2 Thessalonians 3:14 the whole community is to “note that person” who does not conform to Paul’s instruction and “have nothing to do with him.” Likewise, in all of 1 Corinthians not one of the many directives is spoken to the leadership, and in 14:26 their worship is singularly corporate in nature (“When you [plural] assemble together, each one of you has... ; let all things be done with an eye to edification”). One receives the distinct impression that people and leaders alike are under the sovereign direction of the Holy Spirit.
This is not to downplay the role of leadership;100 rather it is to recognize that in the New Testament documents leaders are always seen as part of the whole people of God, never as a group unto themselves. Hence they “labor among” you, Paul repeatedly says, and their task in Ephesians 4:11-16 is especially “to prepare God’s people [‘the saints’] for works of service [‘ministry’], so that the body of Christ may be built up.” Thus the model that emerges in the New Testament is not that of clergy and laity, but of the whole people of God, among whom the leaders function in service of the rest.
All of this is quite in keeping with Jesus’ word that they are to call no one “rabbi,” “father,” or “master,” for “you have one teacher and you are all brothers and sisters” (Matt 23:8-12), and with his word that “those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:42-44).
2.2.2. The New Testament Imperatives
Closely related to this is another reality that is easily missed in an individualistic culture, namely that the imperatives in the Epistles are primarily corporate in nature, and have to do first of all with the community and its life together; they address individuals only as they are part of the community. In the early church everything was done allelōn (“one another”). They were members of one another (Rom 12:5; Eph 4:25),101 who were to build up one another (1 Thess 5:11; Rom 14:19), care for one another (1 Cor 12:25), love one another (1 Thess 3:12; 4:9; Rom 13:8; 1 John passim), bear with one another in love (Eph 4:2), bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2), be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another (Eph 4:32), submit to one another (Eph 5:21), consider one another better than themselves (Phil 2:3), be devoted to one another in love (Rom 12:10), and live in harmony with one another (Rom 12:16).
All of the New Testament imperatives are to be understood within this framework. Unfortunately, many texts which Paul intended for the community as a whole have been regularly individualized, thus losing much of their force and impact. For example, in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 Paul is not talking of believers building their individual lives on Christ; rather the admonition in v. 10 (“let each one take care how he/she builds”) is intended precisely for those in Corinth responsible for building the church, that they do it with the imperishable materials compatible with the foundation (a crucified Messiah), not with “wisdom” and division. Likewise w. 16-17 are a warning to those who would “demolish” God’s temple, the church in Corinth, by their divisions and fascination with “wisdom.” And on it goes. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for God is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:12-13) is not a word to the individuals in the community to work harder at their Christian lives, but is spoken to a community that is out of sync with one another (as w. 1-5 make clear) and needs to work out its common salvation with God’s help. In the same vein, it is impossible to compute the misunderstandings that have arisen over 1 Corinthians 12-14 because the text has been looked at outside the context of the community at worship.
All of this, then, to say that the people of God in the New Testament are still thought of corporately, and individually only as they are members of the community. And leadership is always seen as part of the whole complex. Leaders do not exercise authority over God’s people — although the community is to respect them and submit to their leadership; rather they are the “servants of the farm” (1 Cor 3:5-9), or “household” (1 Cor 4:1-3). The New Testament is not concerned with their place in the governance structures (hence as we will note below, we know very little about these but with their attitudes and servant nature. They do not rule,102 but serve and care for — and that within the circle, as it were.