It’s always an awkward moment: the pastor begins talking about sheep and shepherds—hinting at the fact that he’s the shepherd and you’re the stupid sheep that couldn’t find it’s way without him. (I still wish the singular of sheep is shep.) And it only gets stranger as he begins to describe characteristics of sheep, “perhaps the dumbest of all animals,” he says. You’re feeling happier about this guy by the minute. I’ve often wished that pastors would stop using the shepherd analogy, but hey, it’s biblical, and for a reason.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

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All who come to Christ are gifted in some way or another. We have desires to use these gifts: both as a way to propel people toward Christ and as a means for moving those who already know him. Or at least we should.

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he asks that we “earnestly desire the higher gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:31). Just prior to this statement, Paul mentions these “higher gifts": apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, healing, tongues, and interpreting.

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.

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The church is anything but apolitical. We can act like it is all we want; that won’t change the facts.

Most church systems are as complicated as our local government. We have elders, deacons, pastors, board members, committees, sub-committees, small groups, discipleship groups, and youth groups—and that’s not the end of the list. We’re not sure who is in charge of what, or whom we should direct our questions to—outside of the senior pastor, of course. So the senior pastor remains distracted. The staff remains unfocused. And most people aren’t sure what those men called elders actually do outside of meet behind closed doors.

Order is good. Government is good; bureaucracy is not. Confusion will destroy us. I suggest a change.

We need to reinitiate Paul’s model for running the church. I think we can do so within the parameters that our government has set up for us. We can meet legal requirements and Paul’s requirements at the same time.

I serve as the board president of a church plant here in Bellingham. And we’ve been subtly experimenting with this idea—more by the leading of the Spirit than intentionality. That’s exactly the way I think church business should be done. We should be intentional about letting the Spirit do His job. Acting according to the Spirit’s plans should be our goal. Business is something we do out of necessity; the Spirit’s work is something we do because we are called to it.

Paul says: “Now you [all] are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kind of tongues” (1 Cor 12:27–31 ESV).

In the church, God has appointed a hierarchy of offices: