Autonomy of the Local Church

“What makes a Baptist Church…Baptist?” These beliefs have historically identified baptists and distinguished them from other denominations:

• Bible as the only rule for faith and practice
• Regenerate and immersed church membership
• Autonomy of the local church
• Priesthood of the believer
• Soul liberty
• Immersion and the Lord’s supper are the only two ordinances
• Separation, both ecclesiastical and ethical

Today, I’d like to consider the 3^rd statement which concerns where a local church’s authority lies.

Historically, Christian churches have organized themselves following three distinct governmental patterns. Some churches are essentially monarchies where a single individual rules over the congregation. This is found in churches such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox where the churches are under the direct authority of a bishop. Other churches are oligarchies with the authority residing in a group of individuals such as the Lutheran synod or a presbytery. The third category is a democracy, where the governing power rests with the people who make up the congregation. Baptist churches fall into this third category. ¹

It is entirely biblical that the local church rule itself, and that there be no human authority outside of the local assembly.

Why do we place such an emphasis on congregational authority? Is it some sort of misplaced American idealism that favors democracy over other forms of government? Not at all. In fact, it is entirely biblical that the local church rule itself, and there be no human authority outside of the local assembly.

Let’s note, first of all, that the NT teaches it is the duty of the whole church to preserve its unity. Paul exhorts the Corinthian believers to “agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). And to the Ephesians he says that they ought to be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). While each member will form his own views as the Holy Spirit leads him, the final conclusion as to the will of God for the church is only found in sharing our views with one another and finding unity through open-minded dialogue with others who also have the Spirit.

Second, it is the job of the whole church to maintain pure doctrine and practice. This can be seen very clearly in the letters to the seven churches of Asia in the book of Revelation. The charge to obey, reject false teachers and their teaching, and maintain pure practices in the church is given not by a bishop or an outside body but by the Lord Jesus himself directly to the local assembly and all its members. As Paul states in Colossians 1, “He is also head of the body, the church” (v.18).

When Jesus instituted the ordinances, he committed them to the whole congregation to guard and observe.² They serve as a kind of visual theology which is meant to come alongside and reinforce the church’s expression of truth about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, and our fellowship in anticipation of his coming kingdom. And the local church itself is responsible to maintain these ordinances, as Paul says in 1 Cor. 11:2-3: “Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” Then just a few verses later, he urges the members of that local body to follow Jesus’ instructions concerning the practice of the Lord’s Supper.

A fourth example from the NT is how the congregations elected their own messengers and officers. For instance, when the dispute arose in Acts 6 over the neglect of Greek-speaking widows, the apostles directed the congregation to “select from among you seven men…whom we may put in charge of this task” (v.3). This proposal was approved by “the whole congregation” (v.5), and they selected the first deacons to serve the church. Later, when another conflict arose, the church at Antioch agreed to send Paul and Barnabas to the Jerusalem assembly in order to resolve the issue. The book of Acts records that “the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue” (15:2). And in the next verse we read that these men were sent on their way “by the church,” that is, by the members of the local congregation to which they belonged. There are other examples throughout the NT, but these should be enough to demonstrate the principle.

Finally, the whole church is called to discipline an unrepentant brother or sister. In Matthew 18, Jesus taught that rebuke should be an individual matter between the offender and the offended, and others should be involved only if the private approach fails. In cases where the offender stubbornly refuses to repent, Jesus says, “tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (18:17).

When Paul rebukes the Corinthian church for failing to deal with open immorality in the assembly, he tells the whole congregation that, “when you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, hand that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:4-5). He then calls on the members to withdraw from anyone who professes to be a Christian yet is “sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler” (v.11). They are not even to eat with them but are to “Remove the evil person from among you” (v.13). Again, this is the job of the whole church, not simply its leaders.

Jesus is the head of the church, and so we believe that every local assembly answers to Christ alone and not to any earthly authority outside of itself. This is the teaching and example of the NT.

We believe that each separate and individual church is entirely independent of all other churches, persons and bodies of men, either civil or ecclesiastical, and is to be governed by its own members alone, without aid or interference of any other person or persons whatever.

T. H. Pritchard

1. Many Baptist churches operate with a modified congregational structure in which a board of elders makes the majority of the decisions for the church and the congregation only approves major items such as the annual budget, receipt of new members, and excommunication. Since these elder boards are not outside of the local church, these are still considered to be congregational in their government, even though they are not strictly democratic in their operation.
2. We will discuss the nature and number of the ordinances (sometimes called sacraments) in a later article.