Beloved,
Similar to the word orthodox, when people hear the word presbyterian it conjures up any number of ideas. Some think presbyterian is a code word for baby baptizers. Others think it is a nice name for theological and moral liberals (it surprises me how often people think this, thanks in no small part to the PCUSA!). Still others think it refers to frost-encrusted traditionalists who don’t have the heart to become Pentecostals.
Presbyterian.
What does it mean?
There are, of course, different ways of answering the question. But the best way, at least to start, is to unpack the word’s etymology. It comes from the Greek presbyteros which refers to the ordained office of elder. To be presbyterian is most fundamentally to hold to a form of church government led by a plurality of elders under Christ.
We could summarize Presbyterianism in this way: the belief that the head of the church, Jesus Christ, delegates His authority to a plurality of ordained men called elders (teaching and ruling) to lead the church under Him at the local, regional, and national level.
As we consider together our fourth core principle as a church, God-exalting Government, we need to unpack this summary statement, beginning with the headship of Christ.
In combating the papacy of Rome, our Confession of Faith states, “There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ” (25.6). The divines provide the following proof texts for this assertion:
- “And he is the head of the body, the church” (Col. 1:18).
- “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body (Eph. 1:22).
Never is a mere man asserted to be the head of the church. Only the crucified and risen God-man exercises headship over the church as His body. And that headship entails absolute authority.
When we talk about the government of the church, we are talking about the authority structure Christ has put in place in the church for her wellbeing. The most fundamental reality for us to grasp about this government is that all the authority comes from Christ. James Bannerman writes, “The Church, as a society, owes its origin to Christ: it derives from Him tis government and office-bearers; it receives from Him its laws and constitution; it draws from Him its spiritual influence and grace; it accepts at His hand its ordinances and institutions; it acts in His name, and is guided in its proceedings by His authority.”
As our exalted Head, Christ exercises absolute authority over us by His word and Spirit. Whatever authority officers in the church like myself might exercise is always a delegated authority. That is why we call elders under-shepherds. Elders are to shepherd under the authority and power of Jesus Christ, the chief Shepherd.
In our culture of celebrity-ism, it is very easy for a local church or denomination to be built around a man. But to be presbyterian is in the most fundamental sense a rejection of such a temptation. To be presbyterian is to build the church around and beneath the Lord Jesus Christ alone. That doesn’t mean you can’t have favorite preachers or pastors. But it does mean that they can never be raised to some kind of idyllic, idolatrous status. Whatever gifts elders have to lead the church are from Christ. Whatever authority elders have to lead the church is from Christ. And lest we deny the most fundamental reality about the church through man-exalting pride and the cult of celebrity, our hearts must be mastered by this doctrine of the headship of Christ. He alone is LORD of the church.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Nick