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One
Rudder.....One Pastor???
Some people will go
to great lengths to try to defend their man-made
ideas, traditions and personal aspirations! When light begins to
shine brightly through the darkness, it may surprise you to
see what they will come up with to try to avoid the presence of
light!
Awhile back, an
intellectually minded brother was brought into a local
congregation to specifically help defend the One-Pastor
Governing System and refute the teaching of Biblical Eldership.
In the course of his lecture, he appealed to the design of a
ship’s navigational system to support his position of a
Moses-Style Governing System for a congregation of the New
Testament church. His argument went something like this:
A ship has only one
Captain. That Captain commands and steers the ship in the proper
course of direction on its way to its final destination.
He then likened the
Captain to the Holy Spirit, which was given to lead and to guide
the people of God. After making this typology connection, he
discussed the purpose of the ship’s rudder. As most know, a
rudder is a vertical plate made of metal, fiberglass, or wood at
the stern of a ship that can be turned horizontally to change
the ship's direction when in motion. He then went on to compare
the rudder to a local Pastor. His argument was that since a ship
can have only one rudder, there can only be one Pastor per
congregation.
After giving this
comparison, he suddenly cautioned the audience against looking
at the New Testament Greek language as they may become
“confused”. No further comment or explanation was given with
regard to this statement and in his mind his case was well made.
He ended his lecture with confidence, much to the delight of a
few Biblical Eldership opposers who were energized by this
profound typological comparison.
First, let us say that
we have an appreciation for all who are willing to discuss and
look into the teaching of Biblical Eldership whether they be
supporters or nay-sayers. Having good spirited dialog and open
debate is healthy to any discussion or issue. Secondly, we
appreciate this brother and any effort that he has made to look
into the teaching. While we differ theologically with our
brother, we love and respect him and we realize that as we all
must do, he too must walk in the understanding that he has. We
have no personal axe to grind with our brother or with anyone
else.
With that said, we
take strong exception with our brother’s position and believe he
is in theological error.
From a pure
typological perspective, if we can prove that it is possible for
a ship to have more than one rudder, his argument falls upon
itself. According to his own reasoning, if a ship can indeed
successfully operate with more than one rudder, then a
congregation can successfully operate with more than one pastor. Let
us proceed with this line of argument first, and we will then
examine the scriptures to see what referenced “confusion” we can
find with regard to a ship’s rudder.
The picture above
shows the USS LST-325 unloading at low tide during the Normandy
invasion. It clearly shows this Naval vessel had “twin rudders”,
which are visible at the stern of a ship. While most ships
operate with one single rudder, clearly there are some who have
multiple rudders. Therefore, our brother’s argument using
typology has suffered a serious blow, by it’s own merit.
Now, let us examine
the scriptures for any evidence that we may uncover. In Acts 27,
we find an account of a ship with 276 shipmates aboard,
including Paul the Apostle. A storm with “tempestuous winds” had
arisen and the ship was in danger of going under. Verses 13 – 39
of this chapter describe the daily ups and downs of a ship in
the midst of a storm. By Acts 27:40, the storm had passed, and
the crew were endeavoring to direct the vessel into port. Here,
the only place where we find reference to a ship’s rudder in the
entire Bible, we find the following:
Acts 27:40
“And when they had
taken up the anchors, they committed [themselves] unto the sea,
and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the
wind, and made toward shore.” KJV
Let us examine a few
other translations of this same scripture:
“And, having cast off
the anchors, they left [them] in the sea, at the same time
loosening the lashings of the rudders, and hoisting the foresail
to the wind, they made for the strand.” - J.N.Darby Translation
1890
“And the anchors
having taken up, they were committing [it] to the sea, at the
same time -- having loosed the bands of the rudders, and having
hoisted up the mainsail to the wind -- they were making for the
shore” - Robert Young Literal Translation 1862, 1887, 1898
“So they cast off the
anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the
ropes that tied the rudders; then hoisting the foresail to the
wind they made for the beach.” - Revised Standard Version ©
1947, 1952
The Greek word used
here in this scripture for rudders is in the plural (see Strongs
#G4079). From this unique reference in the New Testament, it is
evident that they had in this ship more than one rudder! No
wonder our brother didn’t want us looking into the Greek!
The rudder bands
mentioned here were probably the cords or fastenings, by which
the individual rudders could be made secure to the sides of the
ship, or could be raised up out of the water in a violent storm.
While the precise form of these rudders among the ancients is
not entirely known, it is clear by the plural use of the Greek
word in this scripture text, that there were some ancient ships
in Bible times with multiple rudders, this particular ship being
one of them.
Our brother’s argument for the one-pastor governing model has
now completely fallen apart by his own reasoning.
In reality, a better typology might be that the church is
represented by the Old Ship of Zion, victoriously sailing
through every storm of adversity that comes her way. The Captain
is no one but Jesus Christ Himself, the Captain of our Soul! The
happy crew members are the saints and the wind blowing in our
sails is the Holy Spirit! Our final destination? Heaven, with
frequent stops along the way to pick up weary passengers whose
lives have become shipwrecked by sin.
What a much brighter picture is this typology example than the
legalistic argument for an unbiblical one-pastor governing
system.
Whatever typology we may wish to apply to a particular matter,
let us be careful to not overlook sound scriptural reasoning
when making such application. The Word of God and the Spirit of
God were given as witnesses to truth and they must be kept first
and foremost in the formation and validation of any doctrinal
teaching. |
