Our Response to Leaders

The Nature of Authority and Submission

Maybe you know someone like this, or maybe I’m getting ready to describe you. I had a friend as a teenager who liked to argue and debate. If you said something was up, they would take the opposite side and try to prove that it was down. It did not matter what the subject matter was. They preferred to debate, and they had a spirit that was, for lack of a better term, rebellious. They did not like to bend their will to someone else. They preferred for everyone to bend their will to them.

From the time we’re old enough to understand, there are people who tell us what to do with the expectation that we will do it. It starts with parents, then older siblings. When I was growing up, my brother would say, “Go change the channel.” We didn’t have remote control. And that was my instruction. Failure to do so would have repercussions, which were rarely pleasant. Then we get into the world, and we have teachers, employers, spouses. We know that there are times in which we are instructed to do something, and the expectation is we will fulfill it.

My teenage friend just automatically took the opposite side. If you told him to do something, he would do the opposite. He would intentionally do the opposite. To say that he had a willful streak would be an understatement. We use words like stubbornness to describe it, or if you want to make it gentle, determination. Either way, it’s the idea that within us there is an awareness that we have to listen to someone else with the expectation of fulfilling a requirement or an instruction.

The Bible talks about submission throughout Scripture. We have in Ephesians 5 passages on marriage and mutual submission. The Bible talks about submission to God in James. And then in 1 Peter and Romans, there are passages that talk about submission to government. We understand the idea of submission. We understand the idea of listening to what someone tells us with the expectation of fulfilling the instructions. And yet there’s a part of us that just says, maybe I can figure this out for myself. The Bible talks about the importance of following leaders, and that takes a spirit that’s willing to yield. But as we will notice in the passage, it isn’t just a spirit willing to yield to leaders. Leaders also have a responsibility to cultivate a spirit so that people want to yield. It’s a balance, which makes today’s lesson both challenging and helpful.

Words Create Images

Words have meaning, and certain words create images. If I were to say the word Thanksgiving, that would create an image for you. It could be positive or negative, depending upon your experience. If I say the word snow, you create an image with that, and it might be peaceful, or it might be the image of being trapped in your house. If I say the word authority, that’s a word that conjures an image.

I propose to you that the word authority itself is neither positive nor negative. It’s a neutral word. But depending upon your experience, it probably conjures an image that is either positive or negative. I’ve had employers who were people of authority. Most have treated me well, some have not. If my picture of authority is based upon my experiences in life, when I hear the word authority, it’s fairly neutral. But if you associate that word with a particular name, it becomes a negative word.

Here’s something critical: the word authority is never used in Scripture in combination with the word elder or overseer. Never. And yet we’ll use that term—elders have authority, or overseers have authority. Where do you get that? Because it’s not in Scripture. That word authority is never attached to elders or the word overseer. I would prefer that we jettison the word authority when we talk about elders.

If you look at Matthew 20, verses 20 through 28, Jesus is very clear that when it comes to authority, authority is attached to Gentile leaders who exert power to enforce their authority. Matthew 20, verse 25: “Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over you, and their high officials exercise authority over them.’” That exercise of authority is coercion by force. But verse 26 says, “Not so with my people.” Jesus says very clearly that this idea of authority is negated in his kingdom. So let’s get rid of this idea that elders have authority, because for some people, the very word is negative. And even if it were positive, it sets in mind a hierarchy that isn’t there in Scripture.

Remember Your Leaders

Let’s get into our text in Hebrews 13, verse 7: “Remember your leaders.” This word for leaders is a big word. I believe it includes elders, but it includes others besides elders. It’s not limited to the word for elders or overseer, but it includes those who spoke the word of God to you. A leader would be perhaps an elder, perhaps a deacon, but also just anyone who brought the word of God to you. Frank is a leader. He brings the word of God to you.

Some translations say, “Remember those who rule over you.” The word leaders is far more accurate. Even the writer of Hebrews is trying to make us understand that leaders have a specific role. They speak the word of God to you, and look at their life and imitate their life. Part of leadership isn’t just merely bringing the word of God to you or sharing the gospel or telling you how God thinks about things. Being a leader also means that the quality of their life is evident and is worthy of imitation.

When we talk about leaders—elders, deacons, ministers, teachers, others who fall under that category—the quality of their life ought to help you decide, “I want to follow them as they are following Jesus.” That’s the point of verse 7. The writer is trying to get us to see the importance of having a compliant spirit when it comes to leaders. Pay attention to their life, and as you see the quality of their life, follow them as they’re following Jesus. After all, they’re the ones who are teaching you about Jesus.

Do you see an expression of authority here? No. What do you see? Leaders who serve, leaders who are engaged with people so that you can see the quality of their life. These are not people who say, “This is what we are expecting you to do.” These are people who come among you so that you can see who Jesus is, not only by the quality of their life but by the quality of their words. These are servants among us who lead in such a way to represent Jesus.

Obey, Persuade, and Submit

Now let’s look at verse 17. The NIV says, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.” Let me start with the first word, obey. That’s a heavy-handed word. The same word is used in Galatians 5. Beginning at verse 7: “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?” There’s the word, obeying the truth. Verse 8: “That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.”

The word means to be persuaded. To be obedient is to be persuaded. There’s a different word for blind obedience. This is a word that means to be willing to comply because you’ve been persuaded. So when the writer in Hebrews 13 says obey, he is saying be persuaded by your leaders. And why are we persuaded by them? By the quality of their life. Their quality of life is persuasive. It’s not just their words being persuasive—certainly leaders use words to persuade—but the quality of their life is persuasive. So we follow; we are persuaded by them. There’s a willingness to be persuaded by them.

And then the writer says, “Submit.” This word means to resist no longer. Here’s what the writer is saying: be persuaded by the quality of the life of your leaders and don’t resist any longer. Do you know what that tells me? There was tension. There was tension between leaders and those who were following. And the writer says, look at the quality of their life. Listen to the quality of their words. And stop resisting. Be persuaded by them.

The NIV adds the word authority, but the word is not there. They add it in order to capture the idea that leaders have the quality of leadership sufficient that you should be following them. The addition of the word authority actually complicates the intent. In verse 7, leaders are those who by the quality of their life and by the quality of their words persuade you to follow Jesus. And as a congregation, that persuasion reduces the tension. You have no desire to resist. You yield to the leaders, not because they tell you to, but because you see by the quality of their life that they’re following Jesus.

Then he says in verse 17, “They keep watch over you as men who must give an account.” Leaders take the accountability for the outcome, no matter what it is. We take responsibility. There are times in which people walk away from Jesus, and we’ve done all that we could to persuade you to stay. We take responsibility for it—not in the sense that we blame ourselves for it, but in the sense that we try to have one more conversation, one more prayer. It’s like the 99 sheep are here, but the one is still out there, and we’re still hunting, still looking, and we have to take accountability for that.

Leaders are telling you about Jesus and hoping you will follow Jesus, but they bear this responsibility for what happens. And then he says, “Obey them, so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, that would be of no advantage to you.” In other words, he’s told them as followers to submit, give up your resistance, because the resistance makes their job more difficult. When he says “not a burden,” that word means to groan. It’s the same word that’s used in Romans 8, where Paul says the creation is groaning for the return of Christ. You don’t want a bunch of groaning leaders. That’s not good for anybody. It’s not good for the church, the congregation, or the body of Christ.

Unity, Service, and Grace

We have really good unity here. I would almost say great unity. And there’s such harmony here, and I am so grateful for that. I have been part of congregational disagreements, and I don’t remember any congregational dispute being about who Jesus is or who the Holy Spirit is or whether there’s a virgin birth or a resurrection. I’ve never heard any congregational disputes over that. It’s usually always about personalities. When I was putting this together, I thought I’d use the term doctrinal. But then I thought, no, because personalities can be doctrinal too. If you’ve got so much pride in you that you’re going to reject your leaders, that’s a doctrinal matter. All the church disputes I’m aware of have been about personalities. It’s usually, “You can’t tell me what to do,” and the leader is saying, “But we’re leading. We’re trying to tell you what to do.” If an elder comes out and says, “Here’s what we’re going to do,” and they expect people to follow without understanding Matthew 20, they don’t understand Matthew 20. And if people in response to how elders try to lead say, “We’re not going to follow,” then you don’t understand Matthew 20. It works both ways. Leaders have responsibility, and those who are following as they follow Jesus have a responsibility as well.

Our unity is so good, and I don’t take it for granted because I’ve seen church disputes, and they are not pretty. That means that we understand leaders see things in a broader perspective perhaps at times, and we have selected leaders because we value the quality of their life and their wisdom. And that’s why we have leaders. So the response to that is yield. Yield. Don’t resist. Cooperate. But let’s throw away this idea that elders have authority. They have the ability to lead you because they are following Jesus, and the quality of their life shows it.

Every elder, every deacon, every teacher, every minister in this congregation is imperfect. We will mess up. Leaders mess up. And understanding Matthew 20, we know that when leaders mess up, they are quick to apologize and repent, and followers are quick to extend the grace of God. Every person in this congregation will mess up. And based on Matthew 20, every leader will extend the grace of God because people are quick to repent and apologize. That’s cooperation. That’s unity. That’s what keeps us together.

This is a lesson not intended to correct anything. It’s a lesson designed to encourage and to support what is already present here. Let’s just keep loving each other. Let’s keep Matthew 20 in the back of our minds. This is not coercion. This is about service. If you want to win, you got to lose. If you want to be first, you got to be last. If you want to be great, you got to serve. And this is about service. By the quality and conduct of leaders’ lives, they serve to show you Jesus, who served first.

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