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My opinion regarding pastoral submission

It is forbidden for me as a pastor to give my opinion when God has already given one on the topic. Let me better tell you what God says about it in the Bible: 

  1. The Bible teaches that the authority the dominion given to humans was over the animals and resources of the earth (Gn.1:28; Sal.8:4-8). It was not given to rule other humans but to serve each other in love (Mr.10:42-45; Lc.22:25-26; Mt.20:36; 1Co.13:10; Ga.5:13). 
  2. So the purpose of the authority was to have dominion over the animals and resources of the earth to produce a service or a good that benefits the neighbor.
  3. On the other hand the only person who has all encompassing authority is Jesús (Mt.28:18; Ef.1:19-23; 1Co.15:26-28; Ap.1:7-9)…  the rest of us have only limited authority. Limited to what? to the service or services for which it was given; to a place, to a time, to a group of people (to whom you serve), to a territory, to a moral code. You can see this principle of limited authority in 1Co.12. Jesus is the head, the authority over all the body, and the rest of the members have authority over limited functions within the body. 
  4. Nobody has authority over all aspects of life of another person, except Jesus. And it is forbidden for you to give authority to a person other than Jesus over all aspects of your life: “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings” (1Co.7:23)
  5. The authority of a pastor therefore is limited, and it is given to perform a service, what service? their service is to ministry the word (Hch.6:2; Tit.1:9; Tit.1:1,2,6; 2Ti.4;2); manage the house of God (1Ti.3:14-15; Tit.1:5); and to take care of the people of their congregation (1Pe.5:1-3; Tit.2:15). In other words their authority is limited to matters of the local church: the order of the reunion, topics to preach, the resources, and the staff who collaborate in his service, but nothing else. They cannot exercise authority over other matters in the lives of the members of the church.
  6. There is a confusion because people do not distinguish between preaching,giving a order and giving an advice.
    1. Giving an order: the legitim exercise of pastoral authority to lead his team who service along with him, and to put order in the church meetings. This authority is limited to ecclesiastical matters. 
    2. Preaching: is to announce what God commands over all aspects of life. The pastor doesn’t exercise authority over all aspects of life, he is only announcing what God says in the Bible. His authority as a pastor is only of teaching the word.
    3. Giving advice: It is no to exercise authority but to give an opinion… and you cannot be blamed of disobedience for not following that opinion. You can see Paul in 1Co.7 distinguishing between what God comands and his own personal adivce, and you can see how he limits his authority on matters of marriage by respecting the people’s own decision whether to marry or not.
  7. Also, important to notice, is that the Pastor doesn’t have authority over the service donde within the body of Christ, he can only control the service that is performed in the name of his church, but if it is not done in the name of the Pastors ministry, the body of Christ is free to perform any service to other members and outsiders, as Paul says:
    “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”(Ga.5:13)

We have a workshop about the topic of authority, it is in spanish, but you can use google translator to translate the outline: https://www.minaschurch.org/category/discipulado/nivel2/autoridad/

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