Freedom vs. Hierarchy

What I really like about the freedom church concept is that it avoids the long and miserable experience of all the top-down, hierarchical, papal, etc. church organization models, with their endless temptations to battle for power and position in the hierarchy. As religious history has shown many times, this temptation to is no respecter of persons. It can happen within the clergy, between clergy and laity, and within the laity, typically with regard to who controls doctrinal interpretation and the money – especially if there’s a lot of money. (For a thought-provoking and frank reflection on this problem, see Andrew Odom’s “Church Politics.”)

Once a church gets into this kind of structure it can be very difficult to get out since its temptation becomes self-perpetuating, as new candidates maneuver to be elevated (organizationally if not spiritually!) to higher levels in the hierarchy as other members submit or are forced out.

What a contrast there is between all this and the Word-following, servant-based freedom model that Jesus provided to make us all truly happy. No zero-sum political gamesmanship there; just “How good and pleasant it is when people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133: 1) Sounds like heaven…