The Sacrifice of Membership in the Body
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The Sacrifice of Membership in the Body
Hebrews 13:17
May 10, 2009
Series 3 Sermon 81
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Introduction
In verse 17 we find a very interesting word. My translation says “leaders.” Yours may say rulers or even a phrase, “those who have rule over you.” It is the Greek word “hegemonai” where we get our word hegemony from. A hegemony in our day and in the ancient world was a power that could exert control over others. During the Cold War the
But to have a hegemony means you have the power and authority to exercise influence on others. That is what the word means. It means to rule or lead by power or authority. In Scripture the word is used several times and in those times there are some qualifiers for the word. The Lord Jesus used this word in Luke 22. Listen to verses 24 through 26.
24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader(hegemonai) as one who serves.
So in the secular world the hegemony leads by coercion and power. But in the
There are other verses that use this same word. Listen to 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13.
12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.
The third passage I want to call your attention to is Hebrews 13:7 where the writer of Hebrews uses the word hegemonai.
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
So let’s glean from this a couple of very important truths about the hegemony that God has set up in the church and just for clarification this is dealing with the church of God. First the church’s leaders should be plural. There is no biblical model for one man leading a church. The biblical model is for a plurality of biblically qualified elders. These biblically qualified elders will serve the church in several capacities. According to 1 Thessalonians 5 these leaders or rulers will labor among the people. The word Paul uses means that they labor among the people to the point of exhaustion. The leaders will pour their lives out for the flock. What is it that these leaders labor at to the point of exhaustion? In teaching you or admonishing you. Hebrews 13:7 tells us what they are to be teaching you and that is the Word of God. These biblical leaders labor to the point of exhaustion in order to teach you the Word of God.
One of the problems that we have in our culture today is that the New Testament church model has been almost lost. There seems to be a large chasm between what the New Testament prescribes and teaches and what is practiced in most churches today. The New Testament model is a plurality of elders leading and feeding a congregation. These elders come from within that congregation. There may be a time where an elder who is gifted in preaching and teaching has to be sought out but the majority of the time in a healthy and vibrant congregation the elders will be brought up within a congregation. Today in churches the eldership has been reduced from an organic raising up of godly men to an internet search for the right resume. And once that man is secured you usually have two polar opposites. Some churches hand everything over to this man and give him full control and simply follow him blindly. Other congregations keep a tight reign on him and he is not allowed to lead them at all. Both are unbiblical extremes and not at all what the Lord had in mind.
So instead of talking about what type of supervision a congregation is supposed to give a body of elders I think our verse shows ultimately where the supervision will come from. There is a passage of Scripture that we often quote. When something happens and we are not able to avenge ourselves what do we say? “Vengeance is mine saith the Lord. I will repay.” In the case of the supervision of elders we can say that same thing just a different way. “Supervision is mine saith the Lord. I will oversee the overseers.” That is not to say that elders do not need congregational oversight at all but rather this is an argument from least to greatest. The greatest oversight is from the Lord. He can more quickly humble a straying elder than a congregation can and will do it far more effectively. There are times when an elder should be reprimanded and sometimes even removed but this is not the point of our text today.
In Hebrews 13:17 there are a couple of warnings for elders that I want us all to pay particular attention to. Look at the verse with me.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.
Number one, the rulers or leaders or elders are assigned the task of keeping watch over your souls. Now before you think for a moment that this is an easy job I want you to understand that the word the writer of Hebrews uses implies to watch over the souls of the people in a way that means you lose sleep over them. The elders are called to sacrifice their own comforts and ease in order to make sure the tenderest of God’s lambs are brought safely to His arms. I want you to notice that the verb is in the present tense. Look at verse 17 again.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.
And what are they keeping watch over? Your souls…. Now I don’t want any confusion here. The Lord is the Shepherd of our souls but in His sovereign will He has placed shepherds over our souls to keep watch over us. This is why there is a plurality of elders in a New Testament church and that is why
So how important is it that we fall in line with what the Lord is revealing to us in this text? Can we just simply dismiss this as a petty detail that we really don’t need? I am afraid that many people have done this but I want you to listen to 1 Timothy 4:13-16.
13 Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery . 15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.
So according to Paul what is the focus of this watching over souls in elder leadership? The focus of elder leadership is to keep watch over souls in order that all of us persevere in the faith. This is not the only verse that mentions this in such strong language. Listen to Acts 20:28-32.
28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers , to shepherd the
Elders, do you hear the concern in the words of the Apostle Paul? Maybe if pastors loved their flocks like Paul loved the churches then there would be a lot less skipping and hopping around. A lot less ladder climbing.
Listen to the heart of the apostle in 2 Timothy 2:8-10.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. 10 For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.
This keeping watch over souls is for salvation. That is easy to see. But there is a way that elders are called to watch over these souls as well. Look back at verse 17 again.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.
Every person that the Lord places under the care of the elders of
1 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Peter says that the elders or leaders or rulers should shepherd the flock of God and he gives three aspects to this shepherding with some negative and positive examples.
1. He says that the elders should exercise oversight.
2. The elders are to do this according to the will of God.
3. The elders are to prove as examples to the flock.
They are not to do any of this under compulsion or for sordid gain or to lord over anyone. But rather are to shepherd voluntarily and with eagerness. Or the way the writer of Hebrews puts it in verse 17, “Let them do this with joy and not with groaning.”
So the church has a role in making the business of the elder, ruler, or leader a profitable one. And that is what our text is about this morning. Not only does it have instruction for elders but there are instructions for church members as well.
Before we get to that instruction let me say a word here. There was once a day when no Christian would ever even consider not uniting with a biblical church. Christians as a part of the larger body of Christ have historically seen the need to be an active and committed member of a local congregation. But in our day it seems that Christians think it is okay to be detached from formal church membership. But let me say to you that it is not okay.
It should not be a hasty decision to unite with a local church formally but at some point you must do so. Husbands and fathers should be bringing your wives and families under the authority of the local church and under the care of watchful shepherds. But, men, you should be bringing yourselves under that same authority and care.
The biblical analogy is clear. The Lord Jesus is the Great Shepherd. His flock has been given undershepherds and we are called as His sheep to be in His fold. Let me ask you, how many wild sheep have you seen running around? Not too many. Outside the fold there is no protection and likewise outside the gates of church membership there is no protection.
Let me read a section to you from Dr. Don Whitney’s book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life where he answers the question why you should join a church.
“The New Testament uses several metaphors to describe churches. Some of these metaphors describe the
A flock of sheep isn't a random collection of ewes, rams, and lambs. Shepherds know their flocks. They know which sheep are theirs to care for and which are not. Sheep belong to specific flocks. This is also the way it should be for God's spiritual sheep. A temple building, just like a church building, shouldn't have any loose bricks or blocks. If it does, something's wrong. Each one of them has a definite place. "There is no place," said an English preacher long ago, "for any loose stone in God's edifice."2 The same analogy is true for a human body. Your body isn't a casual collection of loosely related parts. You don't keep your fingers in your pocket until you need them. They are joined. They are members of the body. The local body of Christ should be like this also-those joined to Christ, who are members of His body-should express that relationship through a visible membership. And in a household, a family, you're either a member or you're not. So if you are part of the family of God, show it by joining a local expression of God's family.
British pastor
God has given us four pictures of the church, not one. This is not just to emphasize and prove the point by repetition, but also to say four different things about what it means to be a member of a church. To be a stone in his temple means to belong to a worshipping community. To be part of a body means to belong to a living, functioning, serving, witnessing community. To be a sheep in the flock means belonging to a community dependent on him for food, protection, and direction. To be a member of a family is to belong to a community bound by a common fatherhood. Put together you have the main functions of an individual Christian. Evidently we are meant to fulfill these not on our own but together in the church. Now can you see the answer to the question why you should join a church?”
Let me say to you that Hebrews 13:17 will not make a lot of sense or have much practical application outside an understanding of meaningful, committed church membership. Plus in the direct context of Hebrews 13 we are talking about worship and sacrifice. Remember last week? Verses 15 and 16 have to do with offering pleasing sacrifices to the Lord on the altar that those who serve the tabernacle have no right to come to. If verse 17 is properly understood in its context then not only is it a privilege to be a part of a local church it is a Christian obligation.
And let me add that the elders of
Context
Let me set the context for verse 17 for you. Start looking in verse 7 of Hebrews 13.
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
This is a call, within the context of worshipping with your whole life, to remember the correct doctrine that had been taught and that even though the messengers change the message stays the same.
Then in verse 9 we are warned to beware of false teaching and false teachers. Read the verse with me.
9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.
Then in verses 10-12 there is a call to be consecrated to God.
10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.
Verses 13-14 is a call to radical Christian discipleship.
13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
And last week we saw that verses 15 and 16 were calls to sacrificial living and that as Christians God expected some sacrifices from us.
15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
So verse 17 set in its context of radical Christian discipleship and sacrifice is a continuation of those same sacrifices that are pleasing to God. As we saw last week God is pleased when we offer Him the sacrifice of praise and when we offer a sacrifice of doing good and sharing with one another. Remember we are New Covenant priests in the service of God who have been given a clear conscience to serve the living God. Remember those three categories that I mentioned last week concerning our sacrifices? All of the sacrifices were to God. Verse 15 deals with our sacrifice to God directed at God. Verse 16 deals with our sacrifice to God directed at people. And verse 17 deals with our sacrifice to God directed at His church. And God is pleased when you have planted yourself in a local, biblical church. And then the Lord gives us instructions for how we are to carry ourselves before those who have charge over us.
PNP
Hebrews 13:17 has two commands for the church member that are pleasing sacrifices to the Lord.
1. We are to obey those that have rule over us.
2. We are to submit to those who have rule over us.
Purpose
My purpose in preaching this verse is to show you how you are to offer a sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord in how you live out your calling as a Christian within the local church. I also want you to understand that not uniting with a local church is in direct opposition to the will of God for the Christian. You see if you refuse to place yourself under the authority of a local church then what authority have you placed yourself under?
RPNP
So look with me at these two commands for the church member that are pleasing sacrifices to the Lord.
1. We are to obey those that have rule over us.
Look at verse 17 again with me.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
The very first word of all the major translations are the same. “Obey.” Whom are you to obey? I like how the KJV puts it, “them that have rule over you.”
Now there are certain subjects that preachers find uncomfortable to preach about. Or we feel inexperienced to do so. At the first church I pastored they expected holiday sermons. Today at that church I am pretty sure that the pastor is preaching about mothers. Well when I was there Fathers Day rolled around and I was expected to give a Fathers Day sermon. I was 26 years old and had the wealth of one Fathers Day under my belt already. Needless to say I felt utterly incapable of speaking from years and years of experience. Abby was a little over a year old and Dani was pregnant with Matthew and I was not even close to having my fatherly training wheels off. So that Sunday morning I stood in the pulpit and I opened my sermon by saying the following. “I do not come to you this morning with a wealth of experience as a father. But I do come to you on the authority of the Word of God.” So I preached a Fathers Day sermon to them and to me.
So this morning I come to you on the authority of the Word of God to say to all of you and to myself that we are commanded by the Word of God to obey those who rule over us. Now I know what somebody in here is probably thinking. Let me paraphrase you. “It’s easy for you to tell us to obey because in reality you are telling us to obey you.”
But I want you to understand that this verse does not just speak to those who are not elders but includes the elders in the command. You see that is the beauty of the local church that God has designed. God never ever sanctions one man in authority over Christ’s church. That is why there is a plurality of elders. And guess who is subject to the elders? That’s right. The elders.
So when our family joined
Folks, in order to line your life up with Scripture you may need to embark on a journey of the killing of pride in your life and come to a biblical understanding of your security. I am not so secure in my Christianity that I have come to the place where I don’t need someone to watch over my soul and none of you should be that secure either. 1 Corinthians 10:12 says:
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
If this were not so important then the Lord would not have put it in His Word. We all need spiritual care and oversight. But I know the American mentality far too well. Some will say that this is intrusive. Others will say that Christianity is a matter of the heart. They will say that they need their privacy and don’t appreciate anyone meddling in their business.
Folks this is why megachurches are pretty much an American phenomenon. What is attractive to people about these megaplexes is the way you can come and go and no one ever knows your name. So there is no accountability. Its drive thru, fast food Christianity that is so far away from the biblical model that I don’t think you can call it church. Sure they try to supplement with so called “small group ministries” but if you don’t want to go you don’t have to. These churches cater to the self centeredness of our culture.
But as Christians we are not called to be like our culture. We are called to live lives that are in accord with the Word of God. And the biblical model for church in the New Testament is a close knit group of believers who love one another, support one another, and hold one another accountable.
I want you to look at the word obey again in verse 17.
The writer selects a different word than what is normally used in the New Testament to call someone to obedience. If you did a word study on this word what you would find is that the word is used to show when someone is convinced of something. There is a trust factor in this word. The writer is not saying that just because the ruler has the title that he is fit to be followed and obeyed. There is a characteristic about this group of leaders that marks them out as those whom you would follow.
What is this characteristic? It goes back to Hebrews 13:7-8. Look at those verses with me.
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
The leaders or hegemony of the church are to be obeyed because they have exhibited faithfulness in teaching the Word of God correctly and have demonstrated a faithful life worthy of imitation. If the elders are reprobate then there is no reason at all to follow and obey these men. You don’t stay.
But if your elders exhibit Christ centered orthodox teaching and their lives are worthy of imitating then the command for all of us is to obey them.
Let me tell you how this should work. As the rulers expound the text of Scripture to you then you should be bringing your life into obedience to the Word of God. This is working toward mutual sanctification. You hear them with a will set to obey what you have heard so long as what they say is coming from the Word of God.
That is why I could stand in that first church that I pastored and speak authoritatively to men who had great grandchildren about fatherhood because I did not then nor do I now come on my own authority but rather on the authority of the Word of God.
In classic rhetoric there is a progression for speaking and leadership. There is ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos is the character or qualification of the speaker. The logos is the message the speaker is bringing and the pathos is the force or passion or emotion elicited by the speaker. Now you can turn these around several ways. There are speakers who will appeal to the emotions of the hearers and try to get their message across that way. Or in more academic settings the ethos of the person speaking is brought forward by introducing them as so and so who holds degrees from such and such university…
But in the church the leader or ruler is held to a different standard. What sets the ruler apart and therefore qualifies him to be obeyed is in a different order. The primary qualification is the logos. That is what Hebrews 13:8 is getting across. The message is the same because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The ethos or character of the speaker is second in importance. A man with a stained character will not represent the truth very well. So he must live the life he is proclaiming. Third is the pathos which is the least important element. Now I am not saying that a man should not appeal to the emotions.
If I lack pathos in my sermons then not only am I communicating that what I am saying is not important but I am communicating to you that you should not believe what I say because I don’t even believe it.
But you get the point. The message is what makes the men who rule worthy of our obedience.
Now let me give you a negative example. Let’s say for the sake of argument that one of our elders decides that he has been visited by the Lord and has been specially commissioned and now can speak as an apostle and write new Scripture. At that point I am not under any obligation to obey this man in anything. As a matter of fact he will now come under the discipline of the church. Obedience to God and His revealed will in His Word will cancel out my obligation to obey this man when he has clearly disqualified himself from leadership. Or if this man morally disqualifies himself from leadership then you are under obligation to discipline and restore this man to fellowship with the Lord. Notice I did not say that he was to be restored to leadership.
So the rulers or elders that we are called by the Lord to obey must meet biblical qualifications. This is why Hebrews 13:9 is where it is. Look at the verse.
9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.
The Lord Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. We hear His voice through His Word and we bring our lives into obedience to that Word. We do this in the church by being obedient to our leaders. Obedience to our leaders ultimately means obedience to God. And to refuse to obey a leader or ruler who is teaching you the Word of God is to refuse to obey God. That is the first command. Now I want you to see the second command.
2. We are to submit to those who have rule over us.
Look at verse 17 again.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them…
I want you to get the sense of the phrase “and submit to them” in the context of verse 17. What we are dealing with is not a simple matter of basic submission to authority but rather a life and death situation. Notice the next part of verse 17.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.
We submit to our leaders because they are watching out for our souls. They are protecting us from being deceived and the possibility of becoming deceivers. Our ears and our minds are protected from the constant barrage of false teaching ever present in our world. They protect us from living self centered lives that deny the sacrificial call to radical Christian discipleship. The leaders pay close attention to their teaching and their doctrine and their lives because by doing this they not only ensure salvation for themselves but also those who hear them. That is the first spiritual benefit of obeying and submitting to biblical leadership. But there is a second benefit also and it is for both leader and church member. Look at the last sentence in verse 17.
Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
The Lord has given the church watchful shepherds for your spiritual protection. He has commanded that you obey and submit to them. And by doing so there will be spiritual advantage to you as the rulers lead and rule with joy and not with groaning.
Here is where we need to be very careful. And even though it is Mother’s Day I want to speak directly to the men. Whether you are single, married, have children or no children by your actions you are setting the tone for your children and grandchildren present or future and for your wife and for those who are watching you. If you are noncommittal to the local church then you can surely expect that those under your authority will not be committed either. You can’t expect your children to do what you yourselves have refused to do. So if you have kept the local church at arms length then expect your children and grandchildren to do the same and then some. Men, if you have not made church membership and obedience and submission to the leaders a priority in your own life then you can not expect that those who watch you will do this either. Men, its time to get committed to the local church. Its time to place yourself under the authority of the local church and offer sacrifices that are pleasing to God. Plus, if you will allow me to draw the line in the sand here, to not bring yourself under the authority of the leaders of the local church is to live in direct disobedience to the Word of God.
So let me ask you. What is keeping you from uniting with this church formally? We have a clear and scriptural command to submit yourselves to and obey the leaders of a local, biblical congregation. It is just a matter of submitting yourself for membership.
Let’s pray.
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