Andrew D. Clarke, Serve the Community of the Church: Christians as Leaders and Ministers (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 305 pages.

Clarke’s interest lies in discerning the attitude towards leadership in the early church, in New Testament times. Rejecting the traditional, protestant position that the early church was essentially a charismatic community which, through time, sublimated the offices identified in the later Pauline epistles, Clark leads us into a fascinating study of the real tensions over various styles of leadership that he traces in the New Testament, models present from the very beginnings of the church. His thesis is that leadership did exist in the earliest Christian communities, but that a distinction needs to be made between ‘the social processes that were active in a given Pauline community and the nature of godly leadership to which Paul appealed in his corrective statements’ (p 172).

Andrew D. Clarke

Clarke begins by seeking to identify the models of leadership present in the 1st century Graeco-Roman context. He reviews, in the 1st part of his book, leadership models in the Graeco-Roman city, the Roman colony and city, in voluntary associations, the family and household and the Jewish synagogue. In the 2nd part of the book, Clark goes on to trace the struggles over issues of leadership within the early Christian communities. On the one hand, there are the norms of community leadership carried into church from the wider community which influence the attitude and behavior of Christians in their embryonic gatherings. On the other hand there is the influence of Jesus, and the challenge to work through the implications of our life in Christ, in influencing how leadership is to be construed and applied.

Clarke’s excellent scholarship is not unapplied. Subtly yet respectfully, he leads us to see where his meticulous study would take us. In what is the best study in Biblical models of leadership that I have read, he makes a bold yet soundly based affirmation: that Christian leadership, properly understood, is fundamentally different from the models that operate in worldly structures. Clark carefully and thoroughly works through the implications of what any Greek scholar can confirm: that Paul deliberately avoids describing himself as a ‘leader’ and disregards extra-New Testament words for ‘leader’ as descriptors for any key function in the church. What a disturbing yet liberating discovery of a basic, biblical truth this could be for those entrusted with leadership roles in today’s church.

This book is a must for all who would take seriously the Bible as leading us into alternative way of leading the church.

Reviewed by James Purves

Pneuma Review: How do you feel the Pentecostal/charismatic church today is doing at understanding and effectively communicating the teachings of the Bible? What can leaders do to improve?

French Arrington: Generally speaking Pentecostal/charismatic preaching and teaching is not substantive in biblical content. In making this observation I must ask, however, what sector is being evaluated—North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, etc.? The different parts of the world are not on the same page when it comes to Christian education. For the most part, there is a dearth of knowledge of the Bible in evangelical churches. It may be that Pentecostal/charismatic churches are farther behind the curve of evangelical churches for these reasons: (1) Extreme emphasis is placed on praise and celebration at the expense of teaching the Word of God. (2) Some churches no longer have Sunday School or use the Sunday School hour to study subjects other than the Bible or Christian doctrine. (3) Many pastors do not preach expository and doctrinal sermons nor sermons that are solidly rooted in the Scriptures. (4) Some make a practice of selecting a few popular issues in which to focus in a year’s preaching rather than providing some balance in their preaching.

I think there are a number of things church leaders can do to help their congregations to be more biblically literate: (1) cultivate a climate of serious Bible study packaged in a way that appeals to contemporary churchgoers. Such a climate begins with the pastor and other leaders who take seriously the Word of God in their preaching and teaching. (2) use visual aids (chalkboard, bulletin inserts, projector, computer, etc.) in preaching and teaching: (3) employ language that is understandable and meaningful to the congregation. I know that language can be a problem, especially in communicating the teachings of Scriptures to a younger generation. (4) encourage the reading of the Bible by distributing a weekly guide for family Bible reading and devotion. (5) teach the people how to study the Bible and how to lead a small group Bible study.

Let me make a few more observations. There is a real need for pastors to be biblically and theologically informed. Such pastors will recognize the importance of following the church calendar or some other guide to ensure that in preaching and teaching the congregation gets a “balanced diet” of the Scriptures. They will be equipped to focus their preaching not only on personal needs in the congregation but also on the great truths of the faith. Furthermore, they will be able to discern heretical teachings masquerading as authentic Christianity and the authority of Scripture being sacrificed on the altar of pragmatism or political correctness.