Best of the week entry 2

Comes from Alan Knox and he asks a pertinent question: Is The Church Top Heavy?

His answer (and mine) is yes and that is cause for all sorts of concern.

In Scripture, we see something different. Everyone takes part in teaching, discipling, admonishing, training, etc. The entire church works together to serve their community and proclaim the gospel to those how are not believers. Thus, many, many more took part in “leadership” in the examples that we see in Scripture. In other words, when it comes to number of people functioning, the church today is not as top heavy as the church in Scripture.

So, yes, today the church is top heavy in the emphasis that is placed on one leader or a few leaders. But, the church is not top heavy when it comes to the functions that every believer should take part in.

In fact, as you can probably tell, these two senses of “top heavy” work together. Since we emphasize one leader or a few leaders, then others are not required to (or even allowed to) function as they should. And (to look at it another way), since everyone is not functioning as they should (to build up one another together), then one or a few have to bear the brunt of the responsibility.

Either way you look it, it’s a problem.

The church is often described as the Body of Christ and if in a body only the left leg is working, the left leg gets broken down and worn out and the rest of the body atrophies. The Body of Christ only works as it was intended when the whole body works together.