House Church Talk - Alexander Strauch on Biblical Eldership

[DanG]

Glenn wrote:
> Dan G.--
> Very hurriedly I'll seek to answer some things from your post this
> morning.  First of all, the Lord has used Alex Strauch to benefit our
> family in various ways over the past ten years.  He was very gracious in
> helping us connect with a small gathering of saints in our area early on
> in our relationship.  I would say he is not at all your typical "Plymouth
> Brethren."  He has promoted Spirit-led brotherly interaction in the face
> of a movement which is fast moving towards more clerical sensibilities
> (despite its roots emphasizing the co-equality and "priesthood of
> believers").  [He has also defended the doctrines of grace while others
> have been taken in by pragmatism and antinomianism.]
> 
> As for the prospect of a "cessation theory of elders" (;-9), I would
> propose that the New Testament presents co-equal plurality of exemplary
> older men in oversight as an apostolic tradition to be followed
> throughout the age.  Many today are denying the complementary truths of
> the "church" in two senses--"the church" as the one body of Christ (Eph.
> 4:5), and "the churches" (I Cor. 11:16, 14:34) plural, in which the
> saints are gathered together.  It may be that an aversion to any
> leadership at all is an overreaction to the prevalent lordliness and
> clerical-mindedness which we see in the denominations which we have fled.
> [To put all this into somewhat of a prophetic perspective then, perhaps
> in overreaction to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans and Balaam
> (authoritarianism) the doctrine of Jezebel (egalitarianism) has arisen.
> It seems that ultimately the two doctrines tend to work hand in hand in
> keeping the saints from the preeminence of the Lord Jesus.]
> 
> Out of time to write on these things for now...
> 
> Grace in Christ,
> Glenn S.

Thanks for the interaction, Glenn.

That is good news about Mr. Strauch - I just know that the plymouth
brethren can be as you also characterized them - quite parochial at
times.  And you seem to know Mr Strauch there in Littleton, CO, still?
 I may have heard him several times as my mother attended that
assembly for some time, and we were in a new assembly in CSpgs some 15
years back.

I also appreicate your comments on throwing out leadership - I hear
those comments loud and clear.  However, there needs to be an equal
caution which I know you hear loud and clear, that we not slip into an
assumption of ecclesiastical order since that is what we understand to
be written about in the Bible.  This type of order established and
demanded among men can be a detriment to the work of God among men if
the structure which we assume to be the understood manner of the Bible
is not able to be seen or implemented among us as we gather.  Indeed,
as you point toward, age and experience speak loud and clear when it
is God who has done the cultivating.  Equally so, Paul must have been
somewhat of a young guy when he attempted to enter Damascus - God had
grown him also.

Somehow, attentiveness seems to focus on "what is proper" or "whad
does the Bible say" to the detriment of other perhaps more important
things - I leave the enumeration of both these categories to each of
you to fill in the blank - but for this thread, we probably are
speaking about leadership to the detriment of (_______ fib?).  I am no
loosey goosey about what we may be ignoring - I am probably to the
right of utilla the hun on most things really.  Hence, my suggestion
would be that we are not taking to task the reality of God in our
lives and assembly as we can/should, perhaps.  Not too many
generations have had a Bible to have in their posession, this is one
huge blessing to us today.  And, this blessing does not come to us at
the hand of a printing press only.  It has been hard won for us today,
and lives were strained or lost in the process of arriving at a hugely
authoritative version for us english readers.  This is a provision of
God to us today, and I take that to be one hugely serious blessing,
and in the face of numerous other challenges to the authority of God
and the salvation which God has mastered for me in Jesus Christ -  For
he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him.  Therefore, I am skeptical and
interested in dialogs that entertain the function and personality of
leadership in the assembly.  Too many problems can be identified with
leadership, and good leadership - we are reading 2Chronicles in our
meeting tomorrow.  That account has leadership importance written all
over it.  And, today is no different among men.  However, God has
given us the Bible.  And the Bible points throughout to Jesus Christ
alone - there is no other.  Can it not be cultivated that this
leadership is core? and needs to be accosted as core? more vigorously?
 We can argue about the downfalls of this, perhaps, but we already
know the downfalls of leadership as we conceive it today - much of
which is poor and leading quickly in poor directions.
DanG ChicagoArea