When Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne on Christmas Day 800 A.D., he was introducing a novel rite into the ancient coronation ceremony. The question that soon developed was whether the Pope, by crowning Charlemagne, was conferring divine authority upon him, thus making his rule legitimate, or simply performing a ceremonial act that recognized Charlemagne as God’s duly appointed king.
In other words, where did Charlemagne’s authority come from? From God or the Pope? The implications of this question are massive and became the source of a conflict between church and state over the next four hundred years in the West.¹
Similar questions can emerge over the role of the congregation in recognizing elders. Is the congregation, by affirming an elder through congregational vote, conferring authority upon him or simply recognizing him as a God-given gift to the congregation?
In this article, I want to clarify that the mechanism of affirming elders (congregational vote) is not to be understood as the source of the elders’ authority.
Although elders are recognized by the congregation through a vote, they do not derive their authority to teach and oversee from the congregation but from God. As Paul writes in Ephesians 4:11,
To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.
