“Trouble At The Top”

Friday, August 04, 2017

I'm an elder at my church, and recently someone that was in ministry stated that she heard from God to leave the ministry and move away.  But this was not confirmed by the pastor over the church.  Is this Biblical?  If yes, where?  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Skeptical

Dear Skeptical,

There are a couple of doctrinal problems that your question brings up.  Let’s deal with them in turn.

1. There are no visions and prophecies today.  1 Cor 13:8-10 makes it clear that now that the perfect law of liberty has come (Jas 1:25), all direct visions have gone away.  Jude 1:3 tells us God has handed down His Word once and for all to guide us.  Any new message or teaching isn’t from God… it is from the devil (Gal 1:8).
2. God never intended for women to be in the church leadership and ministry.  The Scriptures are very clear on that topic (1 Cor 14:34-35).
3. We are confused by the statement that you are an elder in the church and that there is also a pastor over the church.  Elders are pastors (1 Pet 5:1-3).  Every congregation is supposed to be led by a group of elders (Acts 20:17).  There is no example of a congregation being led by a single man; it was always a group of elders (the qualifications for elders can be found in 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Tit 1:5-9).

All of these issues are major doctrinal problems that need to be dealt with.  You are right to be concerned about the congregation and its leadership.

Share