God’s Delegated Authority is in the Teaching of the Leading ones for Oneness and Building up

The New Testament shows us God’s delegated authority in the leading ones in the ministry; this authority is for building up, and this delegated authority was in the teaching of the leading ones and not in their actions or the persons themselves.

Our God is so wise; in His New Testament economy He has a particular concept concerning leadership, and this concept is completely different from the natural concept.

First of all, as the Lord Jesus said repeatedly, if anyone wants to be a leader or the first, he must be the slave of all.

The one who serves the others is the greatest among them.

This is completely opposite to the natural thought concerning leadership, where people in the world lord it over others and exercise authority over them.

Today many people, including many believers, hate and stay away from things such as authorities or leaders, for their experience with leadership is very negative.

In the church, there should be no permanent or organizational leadership. Nowhere we are told that once someone is an elder, he’s an elder forever, no matter the church he is in.

Nowhere in the New Testament are we told that, if we are a leading apostle at this particular moment, we should be a leading apostle all the time.

Rather, what the Lord has ordained is plurality in eldership, plurality in the apostleship, and plurality in all the services.

Leadership is not something that is imposed on others or something that others vote on and elect from among themselves.

Leadership is something manifested by the ones with an increased spiritual capacity who are in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles and are there to function according to the need.

Many times there is no need for leadership, in the sense that, in the saints’ daily life, in their job situation, in their family life, or even in their desire to move somewhere for a job or for the church life, leadership is not necessary.

Every saint, every believer in Christ, should live before the Lord, taking the Lord as their head.

Every member of the Body should have a personal, intimate, and private relationship with the Head of the Body, Christ, holding the Head so that they may receive the growth in life and may function out from the Head.

No one can direct others in the Body as to what to do, where to go, and how to act – only Christ can.

When it comes to the matter of teaching, however, things are a little different. In the church life, there should be just one teaching, and no one should teach different things (1 Tim. 1:3-4).

If anyone teaches things that are different from God’s economy, leadership is manifested.

May the Lord bring us back to the divine revelation in God’s word and may we remain in the proper church life, properly following the proper leadership for the fulfilment of God’s purpose.

God’s Delegated Authority in the Leading Ones in the Ministry is for Building Up

Some people have problems with any authority; however, without delegated authority, not many things would work but rather, there would be chaos and anarchy.

Without the policemen to enforce and apply the law, lawlessness would run rampant.

Without the judges and the law court to apply the law properly and impartially, with justice, people would do what they want to do, and there will be anarchy.

Even in a proper family life there is delegated authority, for the parents are the authority for the children, and the older siblings are the delegated authority for the younger ones, depending on their maturity in life.

The New Testament shows us God’s delegated authority, which is in the leading ones in the ministry; this authority is not for overthrowing, tearing down, exposing, or criticizing but for building up (2 Cor. 13:10).

Proper authority that is delegated by God to represent Him in the church life is always for building up.

Beginning from Noah’s time, there is such a thing as delegated authority all throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament.

When the people of Israel returned to the good land after seventy years of captivity, Ezra and Nehemiah were the delegated authority, together with Zerubbabel and the priest, for they had the word of God and properly interpreted the word for the people.

Because of their exercise of the delegated authority in a proper way, the people of Israel were purified from mixture of the pagan nations and their customs, reconstituted with the word of God to be a holy nation, and they rebuild the temple and the wall of the city.

Ezra and Nehemiah were persons who were filled with the word of God, constituted with the word of God, and who allowed the word of God to pass through them to bring blessing to everyone.

We need God’s delegated authority, and in particular, we need the word that comes out through that authority.

The New Testament shows us clearly God’s delegated authority in the leading ones in the ministry.

On earth today, in country after country, we see delegated authorities, and many times they are corrupted and improper; however, these delegated authorities keep some sort of order and peaceful situation.

The Bible strongly reveals God’s delegated authority in the church life and in ministry. Such authority is for building up, not for overthrowing.

Such authority, also, is exercised in the teaching of the leading ones, not in their person or in their actions.

God’s delegated authority was in the teaching of the leading ones (see 1 Cor. 4:17-21; 7:17; 16:1; 11:2; 2 Thes. 3:6, 9, 12, 14).

Paul was not an elder in a church or a leading one among the churches; he was an apostle appointed by God for building up, and his authority was his teaching.

Paul exercised his authority in his teaching; when he taught the New Testament economy of God, that was his authority, and he taught the same thing everywhere in every church (1 Cor. 4:17).

When the churches follow the teaching of the apostles, they are under their authority, and therefore they are under God’s delegated authority, which is exercised by the speaking.

May we see that, where there’s the proper speaking, the proper teaching of God’s economy, there is always authority, and this authority is for building up.

Lord Jesus, thank You for bringing us under the teaching of God’s New Testament economy to enjoy Christ for the building up of the church. Thank You, Lord, we can be under God’s delegated authority by being under the ministry of the apostles according to the New Testament revelation. Keep us here, Lord, in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, enjoying You and advancing in You for the building up of the church. Praise the Lord, the delegated authority of God in the church is not for overthrowing but for building up! Hallelujah, we can be under the healthy teaching of God’s New Testament economy to grow in life, be transformed, be built up, and live a life for the fulfilment of God’s eternal purpose!

God’s Delegated Authority is in the Teaching of the Leading ones to Restrict us from being Divisive

When we speak of leadership today, when the word authority is mentioned, many think of hierarchy and organization.

The world is full of organizations and hierarchies, from family life to work life, from society to business, and even in the denominations there is a clear hierarchy.

We thank the Lord that He has delivered us out of the system of Christianity and has brought us into the church life; however, we need to realize that this concept of organization may still be in us.

We need to be renewed in our mind by reading the Bible and realizing the divine principles.

When the Lord Jesus chose the twelve disciples and sent them to be His apostles, He did not organize them nor did He create a hierarchy among them, saying that Peter is greater than others or anything like that.

Rather, all the disciples are on the same level, with only Christ being the Leader, the Teacher, the Savior, and the Lord.

The leadership exercised by Paul and John was not the leadership in an organization; rather, leadership was in their teaching.

Unfortunately, throughout the years the church became so degraded that many times when people think of church they think of pastors, reverends, preachers, televangelists, and all kinds of teachers, having a certain organization in mind rather than seeing the organic Body of Christ.

The Catholic church has the pope as the head of its hierarchical organisation, and all the major denominations have board members, a chairman, and many other organizational titles.

May we return to the divine revelation in God’s word to realize that God’s delegated authority is not in organizational things or in directing others what to do but in the teaching, and this teaching is the unique teaching of the New Testament.

Leadership in the church life is not the leadership in the ministers’ acts but in their teaching, and this teaching is to restrict them and guide the saints not to be divisive.

In 1 Cor. 4:17 and Titus 1:5, Paul asked one of his co-workers to go to a certain place or to remain in one place, but this is not what leadership is; this is coordination among the co-workers in the work of the Lord.

No one should exercise any control over the Lord’s work, and no one should presume to be the leader who directs others on what to do and where to God.

If someone is clear before the Lord that he needs to go to a certain remote city and be there for the Lord’s testimony, and if the Body has the same feeling in his fellowship with the members, no one can tell him not to go.

We simply need to be clear that it is the Lord as the Head of the Body that is directing us and that the Body is in agreement with our feeling.

There should be no restriction exercised in the movement of the workers, in their migration, in their work, or in where to go and what to do.

However, if someone rises to teach something beyond the teaching of the apostles, the leadership needs to rise and tell this one not to teach differently.

God’s delegated authority is in the teaching of the leading ones. Paul taught the same thing everywhere in every church, and this was the demonstration of Paul’s delegated authority.

The leadership in the New Testament ministry is the New Testament teaching more than the leading ones of the New Testament ministry themselves (Acts 2:42; 2 Tim. 3:10).

We do not follow a person; we follow the vision of God’s eternal economy, and we remain in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles.

This doesn’t mean that we reject the minister; rather, we receive the minister and his ministry, but when anyone speaks or teaches things that are different from God’s economy, we do not receive such a one.

Today we are amazed to see how the Lord’s recovery is spreading throughout the entire world, and there are so many dear saints and also many serving ones, those who serve the Lord full-time.

No one should be presumptuous as to directing others what to do.

We should not have a board or a mission to direct the acts of the co-workers; each one must seek the Lord and have His leading, and they need to fellowship with the saints to be in one accord.

In fellowship and prayer, we become clear of the Lord’s leading, and the Body confirms it.

In fellowship and prayer in the Body, it will be clear to us whether to go somewhere or stay, who to go with and where to go, and what should our focus in service be. Oh, Lord Jesus.

May we be recovered to the proper fellowship and coordination in the Body, and may the Lord gain the proper leadership among us according to His economy!

Lord Jesus, keep us in fellowship with You and in fellowship and coordination with the Body. We open to You, Lord Jesus, and we take You as our Head. Direct us and guide us in our daily living, and give us the direction we need in our work for You. Save us from telling others what to do and where to go. May we be one with You in our service to You. May we remain in much fellowship and prayer with the Lord and with the saints in the Body so that we may be clear concerning the Lord’s leading. Amen, Lord, gain the proper God-ordained delegated authority among us today. Gain the leadership that is teaching the healthy teaching of God’s New Testament economy. Make us right in following others. May we follow not persons but the vision, the ministry, and the teaching of the apostles, so that we may be preserved in the genuine oneness in the Body!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1987, vol. 2, “The God-ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy,” pp. 452-453, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2022 winter training), week 10, entitled, The Central and Crucial Point of the Recovery Books of Ezra and Nehemiah — the Proper and Adequate Leadership in the Lord’s Recovery.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – Leadership in the Lord’s Recovery, Part 1: The Lord’s Concept of Leadership versus Man’s Concept, via, Shepherding Words.
  – Leadership in the Lord’s Recovery, Part 2: The Biblical Pattern of Leadership, article via, Shepherding Words.
  – Leadership in the Lord’s Recovery, Part 3: Applying the Biblical Pattern of Leadership, via, Shepherding Words.
  – Leadership depending on spiritual capacity, a portion from, Leadership in the New Testament, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – For the Church should be our service, / ’Tis the perfect will of God; / ’Tis the only way of working / Which the Lord’s apostles trod… / All the preaching of the Gospel, / All the teaching ministry, / Every other kind of service / For the church alone should be. (Hymns #914 stanza 1 and 5)
  – Lord, speak to me, that I may speak / In living echoes of Thy tone; / As Thou hast sought, so let me seek / Thy erring children lost and lone. / O lead me, Lord, that I may lead / The wandering and the wavering feet; / O feed me, Lord, that I may feed / Thy hungering ones with manna sweet. (Hymns #903 stanzas 1-2)
  – Holding Christ, as members growing, / Each his function must observe; / Christ receiving, Christ partaking, / To His Body Christ we serve. / Fellowship and testimony, / Ministry and worship too, / In all helps and ministrations / Christ is all our service true. (Hymns #912 stanzas 4-5)