The modern church is quite different from what I have described above.
The pastor is at the centre. The strongest people are also at the centre, close to the pastor. He spends most of his time with them.
There are elders at the centre (E= elder, e = pseudo elder). Some of these elders may have genuine ministries. Pseudo elders are those who are appointed because they have been successful in the world, but have not been called or developed as elders.
There are no clear callings to the fourfold ministries. The Pastor is not clear in his calling/ministry, but is trying to do a bit of everything. Consequently, elders operate in the same way, and do not develop in one of the fourfold ministries. (refer to teaching elders).
Evangelists and prophets (if they have developed) tend to be at the edge of the church. Often they will have cliques surrounding them. Sometimes they will get frustrated in the church and join a para-church organisation or leave the church altogether.
There will be other cliques as well.
Points to note are:
This is really the pyramid model of authority that is used in the world (Bishops).
Everyone is focused on the pastor in the centre. The church is inward looking.
The lines of connection are through the centre. There are very few circular relationships.
A strong church bureaucracy will be needed to hold the church together (Bureaucratic Leadership).
There are many people at various levels of commitment. There is no clear boundary between being in or out.
The weakest people are on the outside. They have limited contact with the best ministries and most contact with the world.
Many Christians get bored and drift back into the world after they have served the Lord for a few years. They are offered tasks in the church, but there often does not seem to be any opportunity for fulfilling ministry in the Church. Most pastors do not understand this. They feel there is too much to do and not enough people to do it. However, from the believer’s point of view, they have either not been trained, or there is no opportunity for ministry.
Many Christians are standing alone. That makes them very vulnerable to the attacks of the devil. They have no spiritual protection. This is extremely dangerous, even if they are mature Christians.
There is so much confusion in the church today that a prophet or an evangelist is sometimes appointed as a pastor.
The Ministry of Word and Sacrament is not a biblical ministry.
Back to the New Leadership Model.
