Does church structure matter to Christians?

I was led to post this after a stimulating discussion. I was challenged with being over concerned with structure. Here I would like to explain a couple of ways the structure of church, what we do, directly affects Christians who are in the structure. I hope it explains why I am concerned.

Social Conditioning
Since being children we have a few invisible 'rules' imprinted on our lives. Hierarchical structure is something that is introduced increasingly from the age of 3. Through School, College, University and the work place we grow accustomed to this system of organisational leadership. Organisational leadership is vital to make armies, schools, business and hospitals for example, work well. When a person becomes a Christian and enters a church there is no need to question why there is a similar tiered approach to leadership. People expect to see a prominent leader, a few understudies, managers, supervisors etc and it is likely in peoples minds, because of the imprinted pattern of this hierarchy, they see the higher ranked person as their 'superior.' Even if a church leader does not demonstrate superiority, it is resident in the social conditioning of the people who are following the leader. When we see the clergy/laity divide it isn't always the leader who is promoting him/herself. Structure affects us in this way because {the bible teaches} we are brothers and sisters. In Mark 10:35-45 Jesus tells his position seeking disciples that authority structures are "Not so among you." Paul underlines this as he corrects the Corinthian Church in Chapters 1-4. To bring superior/inferior paradigms into the church does two things:
1) Diverts the individual to place undue status or importance on a person thus diverting their 'followship' by varying degrees from Christ onto the leader: 1 Corinthians 1:¹²What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."
2) It dis-empowers those under the leadership because we all know that people in higher positions are there because they are more able/talented/skilled. If that is the case, I am 'less able' by evidence of my positioning. This forces brothers and sisters into being more like members of a company than a family.

Institutional Environments
As well as being trained for most of life to respond to ranked leadership, there are also the auto-responses created by how we physically meet. Most people have sat in a classroom for almost all their childhood. We grow accustomed to what it means to sit on seats facing the front. At some point the teacher is going to appear and teach us. This means fingers on lips, don't shuffle on your seat and for goodness sake, DON'T try to offer any insight into the talk! Paul the Apostle however tell us in 1 Corinthians Chapter 14:26


What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.


This isn't going to happen if we are sat in a classroom with our institutional programming! So.... structure denies the church input from 99% of the people, something God felt was vital.


King David
It is crucial that we understand the two ways in which God related to King David. David had a heart after God's own. This meant in his father/son capacity God saw David had a good heart. This did not mean that what David partied to was always approved by God. In fact God had David become King of Israel, a position that represented the rejection of God (1 Sam Ch 8). There was never a time when God suddenly decided the pagan system of Kings was all fine and dandy. So David's 'being' was approved but his 'doing' was a system that amounted to God's rejection. God had David fulfil this role as it is better to have a listening man in a bad system. God does not want good men in bad systems. It was a compromise. God wants good men in his plan! Check previous blogs to see how today's church leaders occupy the kingly position in God's family. In the New Testament their issues were not altogether different from ours. They had the input of the Jews and the Greeks. These were the social conditioning and institutional environments of the time. In view of the fact that all kinds of weird and wonderful wisdom and philosophies would beset all kinds of cultures through the ages, wouldn't it be sensible to have these elements to counter the spirit of the age...

1) Small groups in family settings to promote 'God's extended family' - our 'in-Christ-ness'
2) None hierarchical leadership to allow Jesus to be head of His church
3) Equal and open sharing demonstrates everyone has an important contribution
4) A meal containing the bread and the wine as part. "THIS do in remembrance of me"

So... with people, food, and a dwelling, people could have church. Unimpressive? Weak? Foolish? Pathetic? Unworkable? Some say this about a man hanging on a cross.


Gary Ward