One of the wonderful things about watching children at play is to see their creativity. Children playing a game seem to have no problem making up rules as they go along. Sometime the rules grant new freedoms. Sometimes the new rules block actions by other players.
Oftentimes, the rules get made by the child with the strongest personality and, interestingly, the rules seem to accommodate that child’s desires more than any other participant. Sometimes it takes the loving intervention of a parent to keep the game on even ground that allows all the children to participate.
Anyone who has ever played a sport understands the importance of rules. Unless one knows what is allowed and what is not allowed, chaos results.
And unless there is someone present to enforce the rules, a player’s passion can cause violations of the roles of other team members. Worse yet, actions that trample another player can go unchecked. Even though they get yelled at a lot, the people in the striped shirts, the officials, make sporting events possible.
The same principle applies when Baptists gather in the Lord’s house to do church. All the participants must understand how the church functions in order to know how each one can participate and what one can legitimately expect from others.
How the church functions is set forth in that congregation’s governing documents.
Every church needs governing documents. They form the guidelines that set forth what the church is about, what is expected from leadership, who is responsible for what, how decisions are made and much, much more. Governing documents include at least a constitution, bylaws, a list of committees and their functions and job descriptions for employees.
Some churches put a lot of detail in their constitutions and bylaws.
Others include only basic information, choosing to put specific information in documents that can be changed more easily than a constitution or bylaws. The major point is that guidelines be established so everyone knows “the rules of the game.”
Pastors and church staff members need to know what is expected of them. Every church has its individuality and its way of doing things. Just because it was one way in a former church does not mean it will be that way in the present church. How many times have pastors and other ministers unexpectedly found themselves in hot water because they did not do something that was expected, they did not do it in a way that was expected or they failed to do something that was expected but never communicated?
When the “rules of the game” are not known by all the players, situations can degenerate into chaos, even in a church.
Church members need to know how they can participate in the life of the church. They, too, need to know who is responsible for what, how decisions are made, how to gain a hearing or to have input about the life of the church. All of this is spelled out in a church’s governing documents.
The Bible is clear that all should be done “decently and in order.” The church is not a place for a power play as if members were reverting to childhood games. It is not a place for manipulation or deceit. It is not a place of control. God is never honored by such selfish motives.
Many churches are unaware that without governing documents, the laws of the state become guidelines.
Every state, including Alabama, has laws relating to conduct of nonprofit and charitable organizations, and churches fall within this legal definition. Generally, state courts are hesitant to become embroiled in church affairs except where property is concerned.
Yet there are enough cases on the books to convincingly demonstrate that a majority vote does not always carry the day in court when, in the absence of governing documents, the process used does not comply with state law.
For Baptists there is another concern, a theological concern. The Baptist understanding of the priesthood of believers teaches personal accountability to God and personal responsibility before God.
Personal priesthood is part of the birthright of every person born again through faith in the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin. Personal priesthood cannot be given away by the believers nor can it be taken from them. Baptists believe that each individual is accountable and responsible to God for his or her decisions and actions.
That theological commitment is another reason Baptist churches need governing documents. A constitution, bylaws, committee responsibilities, job descriptions — all of these outline how a local church functions as the body of Christ. That means the governing documents outline how members can participate in the life of the body of Christ. They tell how members can express their accountability and responsibility to God for their local church. No church belongs to the pastor. No church belongs to a particular family. No church belongs to a certain member. A Baptist church belongs to all the members of that congregation. All are accountable and all are responsible.
A church that fails to provide sufficient governing documents is violating its own faith by placing barriers in the way of members’ expressing the priesthood to which they have been called as children of God.
This is not to say that every member will be involved in every decision. That is impossible. But it is possible to help everyone know how a particular congregation does church and for a church to conduct itself in such a way that its theological commitment to the doctrine of priesthood of believers is honored in practice. After all, it is the body of the church that has ultimate earthly power.
A church is not a group of children and should not be left to the creative whims of some group or individual.
A church is more like a team working together under the direction of Jesus Christ. The governing documents help all members of the team understand how the team listens and responds to the directions of its coach. Governing documents ensure that team members respect the roles of one another and that no team member gets trampled by the passions of an overzealous player.
Governing documents are important. Every church needs them.
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