17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
The leaders/pastors/elders of a church are placed there by God and they are servant leaders who lead the congregation in God's stead, imitating the example of Jesus Christ. What a tremendously sobering responsibility for those in leadership! That is huge!
And, as the congregation, our job is to obey their teaching and submit to their authority.
At the same time, all the previous teachings of Hebrews is true as well - which means that we are not to be drawn away by false teachers. There will be some elders or teachers who become corrupt and deceived - so their authority is not absolute, nor is it above limit or correction.
This means that those of us not in leadership positions are not to be slackers or unconcerned with doctrine. Rather, we have the responsibility ourselves to be dedicated to learning God's Word, comparing what our preachers say to what the Word says, so that we will not be deceived.
John Piper.....a church should have a bent toward trusting its leaders; you should have a disposition to be supportive in your attitudes and actions toward their goals and directions; you should want to imitate their faith; and you should have a happy inclination to comply with their instructions.
Now you can hear that these are all soft expressions: "a bent toward trusting," "a disposition to support," "a wanting to imitate," "an inclination to comply." What those phrases are meant to do is capture both sides of the Biblical truth, namely, 1) that elders are fallible and should not lord it over the flock, and 2) the flock should follow good leadership.
Where these two truths are working, it is a beautiful thing. We have tasted it and we should pray with all our hearts that God preserve it and deepen it among us for the good of the people and the glory of his name in this city and around the world.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Hebrews 13:18-19
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