Leading a local church can sometimes be a tricky thing to do. A pastor desires to be led by Scripture in all things, which is much easier to do when an issue is beyond dispute in the Bible. However, we know that many issues arise in the local church for which Scripture provides no explicit direction. In this case the church looks for implicit direction from Scripture and God-given wisdom in order to make decisions.
One of the topics that can raise questions for a local church is the election of deacons. Since the church that I am privileged to pastor is in the process of electing deacons (which does not happen too often), some questions have naturally arisen. Scripture can help us answer many of these questions, and my preaching has been dedicated to pertinent Scripture passages during the weeks leading up to our deacon nominations.
One question has arisen, however, that is not addressed anywhere in Scripture. I will, therefore, seek to answer that question here. The question is, “What should the church do about men who are ordained as deacons in one church and later leave that church to join our church?” Another way to phrase this questions is, “Should any ordained deacon who joins our church automatically be appointed to the deacon body of our church?”
In some churches, where a strong denominational hierarchy exists, this question might be answered by saying, “Yes, the ordained deacon would be appointed to the deacon body in the new church.” However, in our Southern Baptist church, we believe in the autonomy of each local church. In fact, Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) reads like this:
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
Though our local church cooperates with thousands of other Southern Baptist churches, we are still autonomous. We have only Christ as our head and the Word of God as our sole authority and guide. We see precedent for this autonomy many places in Scripture where individual churches appoint elders and deacons, discipline members, and send out missionaries (Acts 6:3-6, 13:1-3; Matthew 18:15-17). Acts 6:1-7 is particularly instructive with regard to deacons (though the title “deacon” is not used). When the deacons were chosen by the Jerusalem church, the Apostles called the whole church together so the church body could choose the deacons. After the church made its decisions, the Apostles accepted the decisions and appointed the deacons.
Following the example of the Jerusalem church and the other churches we see in Scripture, we should affirm the right of each local church to elect their own deacons. Our church is under no obligation to appoint a man to our deacon body simply because another autonomous church elected him to their deacon body. Ideally, the most qualified men in the church are selected to serve as deacons. Biblically, the decision is in the hands of the local church body.
Again, as a Baptist church that takes local church autonomy seriously, no decision or distinction made by another local church is binding upon our church. Let us pray and allow the Spirit to guide our deacon election. If we will do this, we can have confidence that our election process will honor Christ. We never have perfect wisdom or always make all the right choices, but our church must unite together trusting God’s will to be done.