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.

Can a woman be the head pastor of a church?  In the Bible, it says just the man.=

Sincerely,
His And Her Roles

Dear His And Her Roles,

No.  Pastors (Eph 4:11) – also known as elders or bishops (Tit 1:5-7) – are always men.  The qualifications for pastors are given in 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Tit 1:5-9.  One of those qualifications is that he must be “a husband of one wife” (1 Tim 3:2, Tit 1:6) – that clearly rules out females from becoming pastors.

Furthermore, the Lord never designed the church to be led by one man… there is no such thing as a “head pastor” in the Bible.  In every New Testament congregation, the church is led by a plurality of elders (also known as pastors).  Pastors lead the church together.  Paul wrote to the elders in Philippi (Php 1:1).  He met with the elders in Ephesus (Acts 20:17).  Every congregation had elders to lead them (Acts 14:23).  There is no example of a single elder/pastor leading the church.  Multiple pastors shepherding the church avoids all the power being placed in the hands of one man.

In regards to a brother or sister in Christ who is struggling with sin, what needs to happen?  If the brother or sister has come before the congregation and confessed their sins, what is the responsibility then of the congregation?  When the struggling brother/sister misses services, seems to slip into deeper sin, or does not make improvements, what needs to happen?  How much outreach needs to occur from the congregation… from the elders?  And inversely, if the brother or sister improves, does anything need to happen?  I have studied this but was wondering if my findings were correct, so I would appreciate your point of view on it.

Sincerely,
Hoping To Help

Dear Hoping To Help,

There are as many answers to your question as there are people in the church.  The Bible lays out general guidelines for dealing with erring brethren, but it then leaves quite a bit of freedom to apply wisdom to each individual circumstance.  If someone is actively, rebelliously living in sin, they need to be confronted.  The confrontation should begin on an individual level and only escalate to the whole church if the person doesn’t repent (Matt 18:15-17).  If the whole church confronts someone with their sin, and they are still unwilling to change… they should be withdrawn from (1 Cor 5:1-2, 1 Cor 5:13).  This should be done in order to protect the church and to, hopefully, jar the wayward brother back to his senses.  Discipline should always be done with love and compassion (2 Thess 3:14-15).

However, if at any point the person asks for forgiveness – the process reverses and stops.  There is no such thing as someone who is “so far gone” that they can’t be accepted back with loving arms if they confess and repent (Matt 18:21-22, 1 Jn 1:9).

As far as how much we should reach out to people, who should do it, how long we should do it, etc., all of those will vary with individual circumstances.  The short answer is that a congregation should do whatever it can to prayerfully bring back a lost brother or sister (Jude 1:20-23).

My parents believe and my church believes that it is okay to have instruments on Sunday mornings when you worship God.  I was wondering if that was okay.

Sincerely,
Out Of Tune

Dear Out Of Tune,

God has given us instruments to use for worshipping Him – our hearts (Eph 5:19).  In the New Testament, God tells us to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to Him.  He wants the only melody He hears to come from our hearts.  Instrumental music wasn’t introduced into the church until over three hundred years after Christ.  In fact, ‘a cappella’ singing (singing without instruments) literally means ‘as the church’.  There are no examples of the church using instruments to worship God in the New Testament.  If we start using them, we are adding something to God’s Word (Rev 22:18-19).  All we are ever told to do is “sing and make melody in our hearts”… pluck your heartstrings as you sing to God, and you will make God happy.

The problem with instrumental music in worship is that it isn’t a part of the Bible pattern, and the moment we start doing things outside the Bible, we have gone beyond what God intended (1 Cor 4:6).  Instrumental music may sound appealing to us, but it is just one more manmade additive that adds to the division and confusion found in the religious world.

What is the role of elders?  Can women be elders?  Why or why not?

Sincerely,
Quality Control

Dear Quality Control,

Elders are the superintendents of a local congregation, and they are always men.The word elder is one title to describe the leaders of a local church. Other titles include 'overseer/bishop' (depending on translation – 1 Tim 3:1) and 'pastor' (Eph 4:11). The title of the job explains their role. They have the oversight of God’s people. That oversight only extends to one congregation (1 Pet 5:2), the local congregation that they are among. Each congregation has elders appointed in it (Acts 14:23).

Elders must meet strict requirements before they are appointed. Those qualifications can be found in 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. Elders are always referred to by the pronouns 'he' and 'him' – thus making them men. Also, one of the qualifications is that they be 'a husband of one wife' (Titus 1:6) which makes it pretty clear we are talking about men. Elders also never serve alone.  All the churches in the Bible had multiple elders. Elders serve an important role of protecting, leading, and guiding the direction of a congregation. They will give an account for every christian in their congregation (Heb 13:17). A congregation should never take lightly the responsibility of appointing only completely qualified elders.