Overseeing the Preaching and Teaching of God's Word
by Brian N. Burridge ©1994
It's Sunday morning, and the congregation begins to settle in their seats as the organ starts to play. Why are they there? Hopefully, they are there to praise God, fellowship with other Christians, and to learn more about God's word. God gave the responsibility of overseeing the congregation's needs to the elders. This responsibility is a difficult one, not to be taken lightly. They must make sure that their congregation, the flock that they are shepherding, is having their needs met and their hungers fed.
So how do they handle this responsibility? How are they to assure that what is being taught at the pulpit is what the people need?
"The Word of God...is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him." This statement from the Shorter Catechism (Q.2) is of utmost importance. Before Christians can agree on anything, we must first believe this. Once we all agree that our only statement of truth is God's Word, we must then take the logical, but difficult task of interpreting the Bible.
So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading (Nehemiah 8:8).
There has been much debate over issues like baptism, the end times, the age of the earth and so on. Certainly we know the there is only one truth in all such matters. But for reasons unknown to us, God decided not to reveal everything to us. All the debate over proper interpretation of the scriptures has done one very important thing---it has made us prayerfully study our Bibles. We should remember that the writers were writing to the people of their time and we must understand what they meant in that era.
Now let's get back to the problem of the elders lovingly overseeing their congregation. If a group of elders, through their prayerful study of the Bible, are faithfully committed to God's word, then because of their love for the people, they will want to teach the people the truth. This does not mean sheltering them. There is a difference between sheltering and teaching the truth.
A parent that teaches a child about the wrongs of drugs is not sheltering that child from all the views of drug taking. A loving parent won't tell the child that some people say its wrong, and some people say it ok, you just have to decide for yourself. No!
In the same way, a group of elders, with the same teaching and leading responsibility that a parent has, will not tell the congregation that some teach God created man and some teach evolution, you just have to decide for yourself. Certainly not! If the leaders of the church are convicted of a doctrinal truth, they must by God's commands, teach those truths, and see to it that all the teachers in the church, teach the truth as well. Then the congregation by responsibility, must study their Bibles to see if what they have been taught is the truth (Acts 17:11).
How do the elders make sure that the proper doctrinal truths are taught? The only way for the elders to ensure that the proper interpretation of God's word is being taught, is to make sure the teachers are in agreement on proper Biblical interpretation. Historical Doctrinal statements, must be adopted and made available for all to read and study. They should be accompanied with Bible references that clearly show what the statements teach. After all, if the interpretation cannot be proved in the Bible, then it is a foolish interpretation to hold. A church should strive to teach only what the Bible plainly says.
A church without a doctrinal statement is a church of chaos. Some churches believe that it's enough to say their confession is the Bible alone. Imagine a church in which all the elders were against speaking in tongues. What if they were to hire a new Associate Pastor, who is unaware of their opinion on that issue? He then proceeds to lead the people in a session of speaking in tongues during his first evening service. Would the elders have a right to be upset since they believe this practice to be unbiblical? Of course they would, they love God's word and love the people of the church. Had they adopted a doctrinal statement clearing expressing their position on speaking in tongues, and then required this new associate pastor to vow not to teach against this doctrinal statement, they would have saved the church from a very uncomfortable situation.
Recording a church doctrinal statement is beneficial for both the protection of the teacher and for consistency in teaching the congregation. In choosing a doctrinal statement the elders must be sure that they don't add or take away from the scripture. The most important rule in interpreting the Bible, is to only take a stand on a Biblical truth, after careful study and prayer, and only when the Bible is clear. We must be willing to admit when we are not sure what the Bible means in certain verses or sections. We all know there are different interpretations of doctrine. Some doctrinal truths are more clear cut than others.
But whenever the truth can be known about a doctrine taught in God's word, then the elders are responsible to teach the truth, and to ensure that all other teachers in the church, teach in accordance with God's truth.