Christian Organization by H. W. COTTRELL

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Oct 22, 1903

Christian Organization

By H. W. COTTRELL

H. W. COTTRELL

“Let all things be done decently and as in order.” I Cor. 14:40. A true Christian is orderly as the result of organization, or reconstruction, and he will always recognize organization by first being orderly himself. Order is heaven’s law. Lucifer was cast out of heaven because he refused to recognize organization. He who is not orderly is not in harmony with God and heaven. Order must exist in the child of Christ, and in the church in all its manifestations,—in the church local; the church as a conference, which is only a union of local church organizations; the church as a union conference, it being but a larger manifestation of the church caused by a blending of certain local conference interests; the church as a general conference, which may be truthfully regarded, in our work, “the church militant,” which exists as the result of a mutual union of all its departments back to the individual Christian.

There is nothing surer than that the work of reorganization must be brought out in the individual heart, before it can be experienced in any department of the church militant, except simply in outward form; which would be only formalism, and this is mockery in the sight of God, who requires true organization. He who is organized within, will not do, or desire to do, unlawful things, and will freely grant to others all the liberties he takes or desires to take himself. Christian organization means the uniting of all the powers of the individual life, to think and to act aright.

This requires the surrender of all to Christ,—the surrender of our highest natural aspirations, our property, desire for prominence, the will—self. When this is really done, the work of reconstruction is accomplished. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (new creation). If several persons who are thus reconstructed unite their spiritual interests, they form a local church of Christ. Each of these individuals had his Christian rights before they blended their interests to form a local church. And being Christians, they would not have to surrender any right previously held; for they would be in possession of none but those due the real Christian. In true church organization, the rights and privileges of each Christian are multiplied as many fold as there are individuals in the organization, while the rights of no one are in the least diminished. But this would only make them the more Christlike, rather than puff them up. “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” I Peter 5:5.

That a church may be the best fitted to do the work assigned it by the Lord, there should be at least one man who is full of the Holy Spirit selected and set apart by the laying on of hands and prayer, to serve the church as its elder. An elder should be, and is, a special servant of the church. He should be “apt to teach.” It is a noble thing to be called to service, not as hired servants, but as sons and daughters of a loving Father. There should be other servants in the local church; namely, a deacon, treasurer, etc. The duties of a deacon are set forth in Acts 6:2, 3.

The duty of the members of the church, including ministers and officers, is to be Christians. The membership should stay up the hands of those whom they have selected by their own free choice to fill these offices. They need the prayers and assistance of their brethren. The calling to such work is a holy calling. The office implies service for others. The duty of the first servant of a local church—the elder—is to “feed the flock of God . . . taking the oversight thereof, . . . neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.”

The elder is elected by the membership of his own church, and not by other local churches; hence his ordination and official duties are of course restricted to the church which elected him, and to no higher office than that to which he was ordained. He is qualified to administer the ordinance of baptism to those desirous of uniting with his local church, but not to those uniting with other churches; for his election and ordination are local, not general. It is his privilege and duty to administer the Lord’s supper. He is not, however, qualified to solemnize the rite of marriage, and if he does this, he violates church order and the laws of the State. If love and harmony prevail in the

life of each member of a church, peace will reign in that church. Several such churches uniting their spiritual interests form a local conference church. This is only a larger expression of the church of Christ. Each local church has its rights by local organization before it unites with others to form a local conference, as truly as a Christ-organized individual has his personal rights before he becomes a member of a local church.

As surely as the individual retained every Christian right he had when he united with the local church, and as these rights were multiplied as many fold as there were members in the church, so the local church retains all its Christian privileges when it unites with the local conference; for it is a part of the whole, enjoys all it enjoys; and its rights, as well as its service, are multiplied in the same ratio. To illustrate: Every member of the human body, figuratively speaking, enjoys its own rights, and evidently those of all other members that are joined to form the human body. He who will not unite his interest with others, but must have his own way to the detriment of all others, has only the outward form in theory, and he himself needs reconstruction.

The officers, or special servants of the people, in the local conference church are selected by the people in a similar way to those of a local church. The president is the first servant of the conference church, by vote of all the local churches composing the conference church, and all the people composing the churches. While each member of the body of Christ is to serve every other member, yet the church in its larger manifestation may have special servants, such as ministers, teachers, editors, doctors, business men, Bible workers, nurses, canvassers, colporteurs, etc.

I will notice the duties of only a few of these laborers. A licentiate is one chosen by the conference—the church in this larger manifestation—to improve his gift in a broader work of ministering to the people. Not having been ordained, he should not administer the ordinance of the Lord’s supper, or baptism, or solemnize marriage; but the ordained minister may celebrate all ordinances of the church, solemnize marriage according to the usage of the denomination and in harmony with the law of the State, and is local pastor for the time being of any local church with which he may be by the conference advised to labor; while the president of the conference, who is servant of all others in a certain sense, is, by the voice of all the people, and from the very nature of his office, the first pastor of every church in his local conference. The selection and ordination of a person to the highest office of service embraces all offices below. But the selection and ordination of an individual to a lower office does not embrace the duties of the higher office.

When an individual is called of God and ordained to the ministry of the Word his services are not restricted to any local church, land, or clime, so long as he is loyal and true to his calling.

A number of these local conferences, which, for convenience, we have been pleased to call conference churches, may unite, as did the local churches when they formed a conference, and thus is formed a union conference,—the church in a still broader sense. Then several of these may form themselves into a still larger conference, which may well be called “the church militant” so far as our work is concerned. In true Christian expansion nothing is lost, but much gained. No Christian rights or privileges are sacrificed, but each is greatly magnified in Christ the Lord.

The future welfare of each person depends upon an individual Christian organization.