Did God intend for ministry to be a vocation?

I’m gonna say something that is not going to make me very popular with the “church crowd”. But I think maybe the uncomfortable conversation is one we need to start having for the sake of the modern day church.

Is our modern-day church leadership structure (e.g. head pastors overseeing large, paid staffs) really what God intended for the church?

Because I can’t find anything in scripture to back it up. 

I’ve read through the book of Acts multiple times, specifically studying how the early church was started. I’ve read all of Paul, Peter and John’s letters to the people of the early Christian church seeking clues and affirmation for how to “do church”. 

And here’s what I’ve not found: 

• the role of head pastor (or head elder, priest, reverend, etc.) in a single church
• church leadership as a paid vocation
• an absence of women in leadership and/or teaching roles (more on that later)

Here’s what I have found:

• the Apostle’s traveled to areas to spread the Gospel, gather and baptize followers of Christ, and then they left to do it elsewhere — similar to how many modern-day missionaries function
• the Apostle’s were cared for by the people of the early church in the sense of hospitality, food, supplies, and sometimes money…but they also worked other jobs. Planting churches and spreading the Gospel was their calling, not their vocation.
• the churches “planted” by the Apostles were shepherded by groups of mature followers (what Paul describes as elders and deacons), many of whom were women

Eighteen months ago God woke me up in the middle of the night and told me it was time for church to return to His original design.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what that meant exactly at the time. I knew that something had been feeling “off” for me about how I was seeing local churches function…but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was exactly. So I wrote down everything I thought I was hearing from God and I shared it with my husband and my closest, most trusted fellow-believers. Then I waited to see if they felt it, too. I listened as they validated similar promptings and uneasiness.

Next, I read through Acts like it was a field guide. I saw things I had never seen before. I read each of Paul’s letters to the early church grabbing hold of any clues I could as to how it had been set-up, and how Paul was advising them. I especially studied Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus and what he said about the role of women as leaders and teachers in the church.

**A side note about being a woman teaching God’s word: when I tell people that my husband and I planted a church their response is almost always one of the following:

1. What’s a church plant (fair question)? OR
2. Oh wow, so you’re a Pastor’s wife?  

And I know they don’t mean any harm, but it’s a constant reminder that for many Christians the idea of women teaching in the church is not only unusual, it’s seen as unBiblical…even heretical. But to cling to 1 Timothy 2 while ignoring all of the other many examples of women teachers, priests, and leaders — throughout the Old and New Testament — is myopic and, frankly an attempt to limit God and who He can and will choose to do His work.**

But back to the point — the structure of the church.

Please know, I have SO much respect and love for the men and women I know who have spent years studying God’s word, Biblical history, ancient languages and geography, all in an effort to be equipped to teach Truth to unbelievers and shepherd and disciple existing believers.

But…I see you feeling burnt out.

I see you struggling with loneliness, anxiety, and depression. I see you battling pride. I see you worrying over giving and church finances…afraid to talk about it openly because people see your salary tied to their giving. I see you trying to juggle raising a family and nurturing a marriage while being on call 24×7. I see all the people in your congregation placing you up on a pedestal — because after all, you are supposed to be closer to God than they are — and then condemning you when you teeter on the edge or even fall off. And I have to ask the question: do we still believe that this is what God’s vision was for His church?

I feel pretty convicted that when Paul told us the only head of the church was Christ, he didn’t just mean it figuratively.

I believe it was a warning to the early church not to fall into the same trap the early Jewish leaders had. No man (or woman) is meant to be the head of the church. No man (or woman) is supposed to have all of the power (and burden) of leading an entire group of people. The people are supposed to lead themselves under Christ, with the guidance and discernment of a team of elders.

Church is important. Church is needed — as much today as it ever has been. But church is not supposed to be our vocation. It’s supposed to be how we live our lives in community so that we can go out into our vocations and reach the unbelievers, the lost, and the hurting.