A little too much coffee and Roberts' Rules.
by Jon
#1 Is this polity Baptist?
graph TD
A(God) --> B(congregation)
B --> C(Pastor-Elder)
B --> D(deacons)
graph TD
A(God) --> B(congregation)
B --> C(Pastor-Elder)
C --> D(deacons)
Comments
I would have assumed it was one of these two until I asked Mark Dever about it and he said he would list both the congregation and the elders as deriving authority directly from God. Although elders are appointed by the congregation they don’t derive their authority from it—as in a consent-model of government—but from God.
Caleb – thanks for commenting! I thought I might get a plurality of elders objection, but this is even more thoughtful!
At this level (where all the offices/roles are scriptural), I suppose each box derives authority from God. The “elders” are a divinely authorized office, but also put in relation to a specific congregation with specific members. The deacons are directly authorized by God, but in relation to the other God-authorized groups.
To use a family analogy, God establishes a relationship between husband and wife, but I wouldn’t say that relationship is best described by thinking of the wife “deriving” her authority from husband.
So I think the “boxes” would capture what Mark said to you. Or maybe I could draw a box around the entire church to show that each office has divine authority.