Spiritual Abuse
In the Church
Set My People Free!
Written by Ted Parks a servant of Jesus Christ
Content
Introduction
Testimony
Doctrine of Demons
Common Teachings in this Doctrine
What Authority Does a Leader have?
Warnings and conclusion
Introduction
Everywhere I go I often see wounded saints and many times before my eyes I see saints being abused and wounded by their church leaders. There will be some of this just because we are all human and have our weaknesses. It is tough to be a church leader and that position needs to be respected. Yet, there is a teaching in some of the Church that opens the door for spiritual abuse and sometimes even encourages this abuse. I will be taking a look at this false doctrine in an attempt to expose it so that God’s saints will not be deceived by this teaching. May the truth of God’s word through Christ Jesus set us free from all false teachings!
Have you ever been asked, ‘Who is your spiritual covering’? The correct response to this question is that Jesus Christ is my Spiritual covering, but that is not what they are looking for. I will be examining this teaching in this writing. There was a movement in the past that taught this teaching. It was referred to as the ‘Shepherding movement and the discipleship movement’. They taught that you must have a person who is your spiritual covering that can tell you yes or no in any area of your life and you must obey. This may vary a little between different groups. This same teaching is still taught today in many churches and on TV and is causing great abuse to the Church of Jesus Christ. Other terms that you might hear today are the same thing just using different words like, ‘who is your spiritual father’? Others might refer to this idea as a covenant relationship. The words being used keep changing when it tries to go underground yet the teaching is still the same. Watch out for this teaching! It is very dangerous spiritually.
I will be trying to expose this teaching so that many believers can be set free to follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and not some leader. A good leader would not want to take the role of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life nor would they want to take Jesus’ place as head and lord of any believers. I call on believers to examine the Bible and look at all the scriptures on authority. “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ.” Eph. 4:14, 15. All scriptures are taken from the NAS version of the Bible.
My personal testimony:
When I was a young believer there was a church that I wanted to attend really badly. I moved to another state in the USA in order to attend this church. I had just started attending it when during one of my prayer times God told me that there was a false authoritarian spirit in this church. I brushed that off not really understanding what God was trying to tell me. I still remember very clearly the time when God told me this. What I did not know at this time but later found out is that they taught the spiritual covering teaching. Let me briefly share some of this church’s views. The pastor is everybody’s spiritual covering and needed to be obeyed in all things. Everyone needs to follow the vision of the pastor and not have their own vision. Obedience to the pastor and to your home group leader’s authority is the test of true spirituality. Your home group leader could say yes or no in any area of your life and you must obey. Your leaders must give their permission for any ministry even if it is outside of their church. To disobey your leader brings you out from under his spiritual covering and opens the door for you to be attacked by the demonic.
I continued to go to this church and truly enjoyed the praise and worship, which this church was known for. During one service the pastor spoke on how rebellious people in the US church are. At the end of the message a person that I had just recently met told me that God reveled to them I was rebellious. I did not want to be rebellious so I decided that I would go ahead and come under this system of authority that this church had. I knew something about this authority system having gone to a popular seminar where it had been taught briefly. I did not agree with the teacher at this time and never had a peace about it or could I see it in scripture. I never totally dismissed this spiritual covering idea but continued to be unsure if it had any truth or not. Therefore, I knew what I was agreeing to when I decided to come under the authoritarian system taught by this church.
I had been doing University Campus ministry with several para-church organizations on campus before this time. This church did not agree with para-church ministries since they were not under the covering of a pastor. Therefore I had to change my type of ministry. This church wanted their own group on campus with their church name. In order to be obedient to their vision I stopped my work with the other groups and started a group on campus with their name. The work was going forward and growing. Then in one of my prayer times God spoke clearly to me again. I am so glad that I had learned to listen to the voice of God. This time God told me that He had not called me to start a new work on campus for this church but rather I was to be doing the same work I was doing before. I immediately went to the leadership and told them I could not continue to work with their campus group and they could take over the group that I had started and do as they want. But they did not wish to continue the work.
During this time God had also been bringing scripture to my mind to read on spiritual covering. In looking at the scripture that is often used in explaining that your pastor is your spiritual covering actually proves just the opposite. This scripture says the head of every man is Christ and that Christ is his covering not the pastor. To be covered or under the head refers to authority. “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying, disgraces his head.” 1 Cor. 11:3, 4. In the Church, a man is directly under the covering and headship of Jesus Christ and under Christ’s authority he should then submit to the church’s leadership only in the areas where they have authority. I will discuss this in more detail later in the message. When I finally received this scripture for what it teaches, I renounced this false teaching on authority that my church leaders are my spiritual covering and rebuked the false authoritarian spirit that had brought confusion and deception. I then became set free from that spirit of darkness that had blinded my eyes for a time. God told me that the reason this false doctrine is so evil is that the church leaders take the place of Jesus Christ in believer’s lives which is idolatry. This is a serious deception and must be rejected at all costs. “It is for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Gal. 5:1.
It is very hard for someone to leave one of these types of churches. There is another spirit in these churches that works on believers to cause them to submit. (I am not saying that the Holy Spirit of God is not in these churches or that believers are possessed by this other spirit). If believers think of not submitting or leaving the church a great fear will come upon the believer, which comes from this spirit of control. This spirit can also cause great confusion to the believers mind to bring them back under submission. Plus all that this teaching teaches makes it really hard to leave.
The rise of a doctrine of demons:
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demon.” 1 Tim. 4:1. Here it is referring to forbidding marriage and abstaining from foods. Today there are many doctrines of demons being taught on TV and in many churches. One of the worst of these doctrines is that your leader has the authority to rule over you. That they can make decisions for you in your personal life and faith not taken directly from scripture and you must obey or be labeled as rebellious. If deemed rebellious, one will often be removed from any ministry in the church and possibly expelled and put on a black list, forbidding anyone in the Church to talk or have fellowship with you. The ‘sin’ that causes this punishment is not obeying your leader or saying anything against your leader. The leader is placing themselves in the seat of Jesus Christ in your life. This system comes from the world as was so clearly taught by Jesus Christ. “But Jesus called them to Himself, and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matt: 20:25-28. Jesus said that leaders in Jesus’ church are not to lord it over the flock or exercise authority over them! How can it be taught that leaders have this kind of authority in the Church when Jesus taught so clearly against it? This system has been the open door for major spiritual abuse in the Church. Some leaders have used many control methods to get their people to submit. This is a form of witchcraft! It is using the demonic to accomplish ones goals. “For you bear with anyone if he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face.” 2 Cor. 11: 20. Here Paul was talking about leaders who abused the saints in the Church and the saints actually bore with it. It is time to stand up and say no more. I am a servant of Jesus Christ and He is my Lord and spiritual covering!
The leaders of a Church are to guard the sheep and protect them not abuse them and rule over them. “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Acts 20:28-30. The abuse of authority was one of the big issues in the reformation which gave rise to the scriptural idea of the priesthood of the believer that we can go directly to God through Jesus Christ. The reformers said the Pope was placing himself in Jesus’ seat as the head of the Church, which in scripture was a place given exclusively to Jesus Christ. At some time in the past the spirit of Rome entered into the Church and at that time the Church adopted the world’s system and structure of authority and leadership. This continues to happen today. The book of Ezekiel in the Bible also talks about the abuse of authority in its shepherds. “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, ‘Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. And they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered.” Ez. 34: 2-5. These shepherds had dominated the people of Israel with force and severity to carry out their own visions and purposes. The sheep were being used for the leaders benefit. This is so often true today. Anywhere you find a church body following this false authoritarian system and the leader is full of pride, selfish ambition, or a need for control and power, one will find great spiritual abuse and many wounded believers .
I have seen many churches that use this system and all the abuse that goes on with it. Jesus wants to set free all those who are under this demonic system so that they can truly follow Jesus Christ as Lord and be led by the Holy Spirit being able to read and interpret the Bible for themselves. Jesus set us free! Why would one want to return to bondage under a taskmaster claiming to be their head and covering. Churches that have this form of authoritarian leadership are sometimes open about it but others are more underground due to the strong condemnation of this system by many top Christian leaders in the USA. This form of authoritarianism is very prevalent in churches in many countries around the world and seriously needs to be addressed by the church.
Examining the spiritual covering teaching:
I will share about seven common beliefs and practices that churches with this system teach. There are different variations so this list will not match all churches with this false authoritarian system. First we will look at spiritual covering. Second, we will look at the leader’s vision. Thirdly, we will look at the ability to say ‘yes or no’ in any area of a person’s life. Fourthly, one must be sent by a church. Fifthly, there is one person at the top. Sixthly, they often teach on rebellion and submission to the leader. Seventhly, they are overly devoted to the organization.
Spiritual covering:
This system teaches that Jesus Christ is the head and covering of your leader and your leader is the head and covering of everyone else in the church. In this teaching your leader is your spiritual covering and you must obey your leader in all things. Some will exempt situations where you are told to clearly violate scripture. Yet, in reality, the leader must tell you to violate their interpretation of scripture not yours or you will still be marked as rebellious and shunned. Only the leader in this system interprets scripture and to violate their interpretation is considered rebellious. This is said to bring unity in theology to the body. Yes, it does try to bring a forced unity from a legalistic approach but it will never bring true spiritual unity in freedom as God desires. Most of these churches are like a hierarchy and you must also obey anyone else above you. There is no need to submit to anyone under you because they are said to have no authority concerning you. The Bible teaches different and tells us to submit one to another. “And be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.” Eph. 5:21. The Bible does tell us to obey and submit to our leaders. “Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” Heb. 13: 17. That a leader has some amount of authority is clear in scripture, yet, this authority is limited and not unlimited. Also, the Greek word used for obey here is a soft use of the word and does not give the meaning of unquestioned obedience but rather obeying because one has been persuaded of truth. Anything taught in scripture can be declared with absolute authority, yet each person is responsible to test the teaching to see if it is truly Biblical. If it is not you must reject it and believe the truth of scripture. At the end of this message I will take a look at the limitations of a leader’s authority.
In 1 Cor. 11 it tells us that Christ is the head and covering of man and not the church leader. The Greek word for man can also mean husband. “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head.” 1 Cor. 11: 3, 4. You might want to continue to read through vs. 10. If the man has another covering or head over him than Christ it would be violating this scripture. A woman is primarily under the covering of Christ Jesus who is her Lord and only secondarily under her husband. A pastor or an organization can not cover a person, only Christ Jesus. For a leader to put himself in the place of Christ over a person is idolatry. Peter tells all his fellow leaders to not lord it over those they have oversight for but to be an example that the believers can follow. “Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.” 1 Pet. 5:2, 3.
Only the vision of the leader:
This system teaches that only the leader is to have a vision and all others under him must work to fulfill that vision. For anyone else to have a vision is rebellion. This keeps the believers from having vision and following the vision of God for their lives. How this breaks the heart of God that leaders would hinder Christ Jesus from giving vision to His children. This causes the church to center around the leader and to exalt the leader. The leader also is the sole authority on the interpretation of scripture and all believers under him must accept his interpretation or be quiet. To do otherwise is rebellion and will bring some kind of punishment. The idea is that believers are dumb sheep and cannot correctly interpret the Bible and also need someone that is more spiritual than them to tell them how to live their lives and to interpret the scriptures for them. The Bible says otherwise. “And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.” 1 John 2:27. The Holy Spirit of God dwells in all believers and He will teach us and give us discernment. God does give us teachers to help us understand scripture yet their authority is in the scriptures and not of themselves. Unless they can prove through scripture that what they are saying is true you do not need to accept what they say. We are required to test all things to see whether they are of God or not. I should not blindly receive anything taught by a leader. The people of Berea tested the teachings of Paul by scripture and were considered noble-minded for it. “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11. We must examine and test all things by the scriptures or we will easily be deceived in these last days. The early church in Jerusalem did not have a vision to reach the Gentiles at first, yet they still blessed Paul to go to the Gentiles. “And recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.” Gal. 2:9. Here Paul and Barnabas were not following the vision of the first Church leaders but the vision that God had given them. This is the model of the New Testament Church. The church is to follow the vision of Jesus Christ for that church which will consist of all the vision He is giving to everyone in the Fellowship, not just the leaders. To follow just the vision of the leader comes more from the business world rather than the Bible.
The leader can say ‘yes or no’ in any area of life.
This amounts to the leader being your lord but only using other terminology to avoid contradicting the Bible. Your lord is the one you listen to and obey. If you must listen to your leaders and obey them in all things but you are not allowed to listen to Jesus Christ and obey Him, who is your Lord? In churches with this system, I have found that much of the time if I listen and obey Jesus Christ I end up on their black list as rebellious. You decide; shall we obey God or man? As for me, I can do nothing else but obey my Lord Jesus Christ. I do need to obey the authorities God has put in my life in the area of their authority, though not if to obey them would cause me to disobey God!
Leaders in this system often want to control your time, work, relationships, and marriage. Some of these groups forbid you to have any relationships outside of their specific church. They also may forbid you from speaking or communicating with anyone who has left the church. Some of these groups may tell you what job you can take and which one you cannot without any Biblical reason. It is usually based upon what is best for them and carrying out their vision. Some go as far as to forbid couples to marry without their permission and in some cases even arrange the marriages for their church members. They also demand an unusual amount of your time to help in carrying out their vision. I have already shared 1 Peter 5:2, 3 and how a leader is exhorted not to lord it over the believers. In Matt. 20:25-28 we are told again that leaders are not to Lord it over or exercise authority over the believers. The only one who has authority to tell you yes or no in any area of your life is the Lord Jesus Christ. Some groups use the terms ‘a father to a child relationship’ showing how a child must submit to the father to show how a believer must submit to their leaders. This is not so.
Must be sent by leadership to minister anywhere:
They often use the scripture that talks about Paul and Barnabas being sent out as missionaries. This scripture does not say that they were sent out by the church leaders but by the Holy Spirit. “Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.” Acts 13:1-3. Yes, some of the people there were probably church leaders but that is not absolutely clear since the term overseers or elders are not used. In looking at Acts 11:21-26, it gives the idea that Barnabas and Paul were the main teachers and probably leaders in the Antioch church before being sent out. Yet, what is absolutely clear is that they were sent by the Holy Spirit and in agreement with God the church sent Paul and Barnabas away. Paul later shares about who sent him and he clearly says he was not sent from men nor through the agency of man but through Jesus Christ. “Paul, an apostle (not sent from men, nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead).” Gal. 1:1. If someone in this kind of system had said something like Paul he would have been considered rebellious in not having said that he had been sent by his church leaders. Later in his missionary journeys he changes direction at the leading of the Holy Spirit through a vision. He did not check with the leadership in Antioch or Jerusalem but immediately decided to go to Macedonia. “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” Acts 16:9, 10. This system of authority that teaches you need permission from leadership to minister is foreign to scripture. To minister in the church when the body comes together is a different thing. Leadership in the church does have authority to regulate that.
One person at the top:
These groups usually have one leader who is at the top who any other leader and all the believers obey and submit to in all things. He controls all church affairs. He also runs the lives of all the leaders under him plus all the church people. If the church is too big, leaders under him will direct the lives of the believers. If the leader has a board of any kind they are more like puppets to agree with whatever the main leader wants done. If they do not agree they will often be replaced. One cannot bring correction against a leader. In these groups the right to bring correction only goes down and not up. Someone below cannot correct someone above them. “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be fearful of sinning.” 1 Tim5:19, 20. This scripture gives permission for elders who are the leaders to be corrected by those below them in authority. This however should be done with at least two or three witnesses. These leaders put themselves on a pedestal and if anyone would speak against them they will be disciplined or removed from the fellowship. Yet, the leader will often speak against and slander people in their church and that is ok for them. This is all so contrary to the teaching of the Bible. “And they love the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called by men, Rabbi. But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” Matt. 23:6-12. We are not to be called leader or teacher or father or even pastor as a title. We are not to exalt ourselves in any way. We have one leader and we are all brothers. Does that sound at all like the system of authority I have been trying to expose? No, it does not.
Having one leader at the top with all authority is the most spiritually dangerous form of church government available but is most desired by those who want to be in control. (Not all churches with one leader at the top agree with or are a part of this false authoritarian system). The form of leadership in the Bible was with elders and deacons not one person. “Paul and Timothy, bond-servants in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:” Phil. 1:1. ‘Overseers’ is used in the plural form meaning there were more than one. The scripture in Hebrews on obeying your leaders is also plural. It does not say to obey your leader, singular. Some decisions for the church in the Bible were made by the whole church. Acts 15:22, Matt. 18:17, 2 Cor. 2:6.
Teach often on submission to leaders and rebellion:
In this system, obedience to leadership is the determination of your spirituality. The more you blindly obey your leader the more you will be used in ministry and lifted up in position. They regularly use the accusation of rebellion to pull someone into submission. They often use the scripture in Samuel on rebellion. “And Samuel said, ‘Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.” 1 Sam. 15:22, 23. Some translations use witchcraft in place of divination, which they love to use. This scripture is talking about disobeying the Lord and not about disobeying your pastor or leader. If you disobey God in order to obey your leader that would be as witchcraft. And for leaders to Lord it over the believers and use control methods to get them to submit is very much witchcraft.
The thought in this spiritual covering teaching is that one overcomes sin by being obedient to their leader. Obeying your leader seems to be the answer for everything, yet this thought is not taught in the New Testament. When leaders use Old Testament passages to prove their authoritarian view they neglect the reality that the authority given to leaders in the New Covenant is different than that given in the Old Covenant. The Bible says that the way to overcome sin is to look to Jesus. “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb. 12:1, 2.
A godly pastor or leader is a great blessing and help to the believers who accept their leadership and let them have input into their lives. Yet, pastors and leaders who try to control the lives of the believers is destructive. Find a godly pastor and you will have found a great blessing from God.
Organization above all else:
Groups that have this system of authority usually consider themselves to be the most enlightened group. The group usually takes much of their time at the expense of family and work. The family and work are usually called upon to suffer for the sake of the organization and its needs. I have much personal experience in this area.
In some of these groups one is required to sign a covenant agreement in which one commits to tithe, attend meetings regularly, obey the leadership, be involved and etc.. These are good things but they should be done out of a pure and free heart and not out of bondage. You also would not have the freedom to visit somewhere else if God called you to visit. Sometimes these groups keep track of your giving and give you ministry opportunities based on whether you tithe or not. The list may go on but I think I have shared enough to help in exposing this false teaching.
Generally, what authority do leaders have in Christ’s Church?
Leaders in the church are given a limited authority to help in carrying out the organization of the Church as well as to help in protecting and feeding the believers. Heb. 13:17 and other scriptures talk about this authority. Leaders are not above or deemed any greater than anybody else in the Fellowship. Their call is more to serve the other Christians that God has given them oversight for. When a leader tries to lift himself up as greater than others or uses the other believers for his own benefit and begins to lord it over and control the believers lives he has abused his God given authority.
Let us look at some areas that scripture says the leader has authority.
1. To teach and preach the word of God from the Bible. The Bible is the words of God and can be taught with absolute authority. Yet, the listeners have the responsibility to examine the scriptures in the Bible to make sure these teachings are scriptural. If they are not they must be rejected as having any authority to rule one’s life. A leader’s responsibility is to teach the truth, not to try and make the believers follow that truth. The believers will give their own account before God if they choose to disobey truth.
2. Leaders have authority to be a godly example to the believers for them to watch and imitate in areas where the leader’s life imitates a godly Christian life. A leader should not be imitated in areas where he demonstrates an ungodly life style. Peter writes that leaders are to be an example to the flock.
3. The leaders have authority to serve the believers and lay down their lives for their fellow Christians. In Christ’s church a leader is to be the greatest servant and to continually humble themselves before the believers. In the world leaders usually do just the opposite. The world leader lords it over those under them and demand that their followers serve them. It should not be this way in the church of Jesus Christ. You can re-read Matt. 20:25-28 again on this subject.
4. Leaders are to guard and protect the believers from deception and dangers to their spiritual life by warning them of the truth. This is done with a servant’s heart through instruction and not through control methods or through a leader raising themselves up above the believers in any way. The truth is what helps to set one free.
5. Leaders should teach believers to follow and obey Christ Jesus rather than the leader. Believers should be taught to be led by the Holy Spirit and to follow the Bible. Leaders should never take the place of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life!
6. Leaders have the option to give advice and counsel on matters that are not clearly dictated in scripture, yet this is not with any authority. The believers should decide freely if they want to take the advice or not. God can help direct us through or leaders; therefore to quickly throw away advice and counsel without honestly examining it to see whether it might be from God or not is not wise.
7. To direct administrative affairs and organization in the church. To bring order and direction to meetings when the body of believers gather together. When the believers come together there needs to be order and not confusion.
8. To share more clearly every area where a leader has authority and what they can do and not do would take another booklet and will differ some based upon different structures in that particular church. Here I have only given a general overview. I will just mention a few things where leaders have no authority in except only to give advice. Who you can marry or not marry. What job you are to take or leave. How to manage your time. How to manage or give your money. What ministry in the Church you have to do. You do have a choice though they could prohibit you from doing a certain ministry in that local church. And etcetera except for truths that are clearly taught in the Bible.
Warning: Do not constantly speak against and slander your leaders because they do not do things the way you would like them or because they are not perfect. There is a time to bring correction to a leader but this should be done in wisdom and with two or three witnesses and should be seldom in most cases. A good leader will be open to receive advice from other believers in the Fellowship.
Warning:In most authoritarian leadership situations, what you share with the leader in private and any of your weaknesses will often be used against you to help slander you and turn others against you in the case you would ever decide to leave their church or decide not to submit to the leader’s control of your life. They will also often make up lies about you or expand or twist the truth in order to turn others in the Fellowship against you and make them afraid of you.