Leadership and Authority in the Local Church

Institutions are dying slow deaths in our culture. Nobody seems to trusts the government, the military, the family, the media, or academia. Institutional decay has led to pervasive individualism. Cynicism abounds--we feel we can trust no one but ourselves. Some feel that every leader is tainted, and every leader is self-serving. No doubt this has impacted the church, and sadly, the church has often deserved this cynicism. The church is for the most part a volunteer organization, so even more than its counterparts, she requires shared purpose, values, and cohesion. This is true now more than ever. Yet those goals cannot be accomplished without the proper exercise of authority from healthy leaders and an all-in attitude of members. Can such a thing happen in our age? I believe it can--but it requires us to go back to the blueprint of the church described in the New Testament.