Harmful Hierarchy Part 1

I find ironic (even hypocritical) the doctrine of submission to authority as it is widely taught in Protestantism.  The word Protestant means one who protests, and it comes out of a nearly 500-year-old tradition (the Protestant Reformation started in 1517 A.D.) that sprang from the questioning of church orthodoxy by Martin Luther and other reformers.  So, how is it that any Protestant can prohibit another Protestant from being true to the Protestant tradition when he wants to question authority?

Further, many of the existing Protestant denominations rose out of their own protests against earlier groups.  I was raised in the Missionary Church, which was started by a non-conformist named Daniel Brenneman who staged an exodus from the Mennonites.  Yet the Missionary Church is staunch in its doctrine of submission to authority.  Hmm.  Forgetting our roots, aren't we?

I know that this teaching comes from several references citing the naming of elders in the early church and encouraging the respect of those elders.  I believe in respect for elders-- and everybody else in the Body.  Yet the strict and overbearing adherence to this  doctrine regularly generates a forced subjection and oppression that is destructive to multitudes of believers every year as leaders lord it over their people-- in direct defiance of Christ's teaching to the contrary (Matt.20:25-28).*
The submission teaching is an example of a contrived exegesis, and those who promote it are effectively robbing Jesus to pay Paul.  That is, they violate the primary teachings of Christ (servant leadership) while elevating the secondary teachings of Paul (submission to authority).
Further, it's catholic dogma, so Protestants who espouse it are virtual traitors to their own Protestant roots.

The fact is that church leaders often get stuff wrong, and when it happens, there should be questioners who, like Martin Luther, and like Paul who confronted Peter with his hypocrisy (Gal. 2:11-14), will speak up in respectful and appropriate protest.

Shane Claiborne speaks for me when he says, "Dissent is a gift to the church."

Shane Claiborne, author The Irresistible Revolution, thesimpleway.org


See Part 2 of this post for more of who speaks for me on this topic.


*To see a representation of the multitudes of Christians who are hurt every year by harmful hierarchies, visit: www.batteredsheep.com