By now, many of you have probably heard of the Austin, Texas Baptist church which appointed a man who was a practicing homosexual to the position of deacon. Almost everywhere, there was outrage at such disregard for God's word. In fact, the Baptist General Convention of Texas asked that their name be removed from all of the church's signs, letterhead, etc. They agreed to return the church's money and informed the church they were no longer a part of their fellowship.

First and foremost, we do not condone the appointing of homosexuals to any position, and in fact, find it to be against God's will to accept practicing homosexuals (or practicing adulterers, swindlers, thieves or any other type of sinner) into the fellowship of God's people. However, what we find just as troubling (more so, in that it touches far more religious people) is the attitude that a "general convention" could tell this church what to do. What of the Biblical practice of autonomy?

The very word is condemned in some religious circles, as the church which chooses to act autonomously will soon find itself branded as heretics. Large, denominational organizations oversee virtually every aspect of the "church life" of its member churches, whether it is in the form of handing down "from the top" what sort of teaching ought to be done (in particular, "what is the official doctrine?"), or the appointing of the men who will do the actual teaching. Was this the practice of the New Testament church?

First, it should be noted that nowhere in scripture is there a reference to any organization larger than a local church. In addition, there is no reference to churches acting together collectively to accomplish something which one could not. What is found is the account of several individual churches, each with its own individual strengths and problems, acting individually to accomplish God's word.

What is the heirarchy of the Lord's church? Paul said Christ was its head (Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18), and that precludes any man, group of men or organization acting in His place. The instructions for churches come from Him, and from the inspired men who wrote His will for us. He has not instructed us to band together in any form larger than the local church, and he knows that we (local churches) may make occasional mistakes regarding fellowship (see 1 Cor. 5 and 3 John), but no one is allowed to tell us what to do but our head, which is Christ.

Inside the local church, God has made provisions for men to lead us. These men are called elders, bishops, presbyters, shepherds (all the same) and God has given us instruction on what type of men are to be appointed to these positions (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). Even then, these men are not to be like "kings" (lords, 1 Pet. 5:1-3), but are to serve God and to assist us, through their leadership, to serve God as well. In fact, it is Peter who once again brings home the idea of Christ's headship, telling elders to "shepherd the flock" (v. 2), followed by, "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory" (v. 4). No one can find a New Testament example of these men serving over more than one church, or of a man or group of men serving over a group of churches. They serve one church, and that church serves and answers to God.

Under the leadership of these elders, there may be men who are appointed as deacons (again, under the direction of God's qualifications, 1 Tim. 3:8-13), but these are merely servants of the church. They hold no special significance in the governing of the church, except that they may be delegated authority to organize certain aspects of the work of the local church. Otherwise, they are just like any other member. They answer to God first and then to their elders.

What about those other members? They have not joined a denomination, but rather have banded together to create a local church. This church owes no allegiance to any group outside themselves. What they owe is allegiance to God. No governing body, set up in Austin, in Washington or in Rome, has the right to tell this local group of people how to conduct itself in service to God, for only Christ serves as its head.

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