Congregationalism is From Satan: Congregationalists Respond

Last week I wrote a brief post regarding Dr. James MacDonald's argument that congregationalism is from Satan.  As I predicted, many have responded and the folks at Harvest Bible Chapel (where MacDonald serves as its senior pastor) have themselves responded to their critics.  Below are just a few links.

James MacDonald - Congregational Government Is From Satan | This is the original article where MacDonald lays out 5 reasons why he rejects and seemingly abhors Congregationalism.

Dr. Denny Burk - Is Congregationalism From Satan? | Dr. Burk argues that some of MacDonald's reasons for rejecting Congregationalism (and Burk is a Baptist like me, thus he is a Congregationalist) is rooted in pragmatism, not Scripture.  In defense of MacDonald, it is inaccurate to write off his argument as simple pragmatism.  MacDonald is not a pragmatist and has spoken out against it.  He cares about Scripture and I genuinely believe that MacDonald has come to the conclusion that Scripture doesn't affirm or encourage Congregationalism.

There is a fundamental flaw at the heart of this argument. McDonald’s evaluation is driven more by pragmatic observation than by the Bible. In other words, he has seen examples of congregationalism in practice, and he has concluded that it doesn’t work. It creates forums for division, it crushes pastors, and it negates pastoral authority. . .


If you read his discussion under each of these points, I think you’ll find that at least three of his five reasons are not biblically founded, but pragmatically founded. He observes abuses of congregationalism and reasons backwards that there must be something unbiblical about congregationalism itself. But we could level that argument against any form of church government. Believe me; I could multiply anecdotes of Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Elder Rule models that have gone seriously awry. Every polity can be used by Satan so long as there is sin in the world. But susceptibility to corruption is no way to make a final judgment about any of these forms of government. On that criterion, they all fail miserably.

At the end of the day, the question we have to answer is this. What does the Bible teach us about God’s aim for the administration of His church? But McDonald helps us very little on this point. He has no serious engagement with the biblical arguments in favor of congregational polity. For that reason, this blog post falls really flat.

Jonathan Leeman (9Marks) - Congregationalism Is Used by Satan...Like He Uses Everything Else | A good article making good points.  He concludes:

In one sense, congregationalism is reality, as I’ve often heard Mark Dever say. People are going to vote with their feet no matter which polity they belong to.

Yet more importantly, it’s our conviction that congregationalism in the context of elder leadership just makes the most sense of two streams of biblical teaching. On the one hand, you see a stream of passages in which Jesus and the apostles seem to entrust final say to the entire gathered congregation (Matt. 18:15-20; Acts 6:2-6; 1 Cor. 5; 2 Cor. 2:6; Gal. 1:3-10). Every single Christian, every single church member, is going to give an account to God for the role he or she played in preserving the gospel from one generation to the next. He will give an account for whether or not he tolerated false teachers, for whether or not he abided unrepentant sin within the body. Woe to the congregation that does not act to protect and proclaim the gospel!

On the other hand, you see a stream of passages which call Christians to submit to their leaders (Heb. 13:7,17; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2-3). Every single Christian, every single church member, in the ordinary course of the Christian life, is called to practice submitting to King Jesus by submitting to the earthly authorities he has placed over us, from parents, to presidents, to pastors. It's how we grow, flourish, and prosper. 

It’s tempting to pick one of these streams rather than the other. But we need to strike the balance by figuring out how to put both together. If we don’t, the ship can veer toward unwieldy hyper-congregationalism, or it can veer toward an abusive elder rule. King Jesus, in his wisdom, appears to have opted for something in the middle. Along these lines, an elder-led, congregational-rule model seems to work best and best satisfy the biblical mandate.

Thank you, James, for provoking we who are congregationalists to think more carefully about how Satan would trip up a biblical system. He’s always trying to abuse and misuse God’s good gifts. So we must labor together to fight the good fight of faith.


Jonathan Leeman - Clarifying "Congregationalism" | Leeman returns with another post in response to MacDonald over at 9Marks.  This is quickly, and predictably, becoming a debate between Harvest Bible Chapel and 9Marks ministry.  Consider the conclusion:


Take a moment to thank God for James MacDonald, and the care he’s taking with matters of polity, and how he’s pushing us all to be more biblically careful with our polity. Pray that you and I would be careful, too.

James MacDonald -  Responding to Satanic Attacks on My Post about Satanic Congregationalism |  Now MacDonald offers more details to his original post.  Here is his summary:

Solicit wisdom from the congregation? Yes, Elders should do that.
Prayerfully consider the counsel of the congregation? Yes, Elders should do that!
Subject the congregation to a public forum where any member can speak and decisions are made by voting and Elders must follow a mandated percentage of voters? No, Elders should not do that!



For more:
Theology - MacDonald:  Congregationalism is From Satan