Who Is Your Covering?

A Fresh Look at Leadership, Authority, and Accountability
By Frank A Viola

http://www.ptmin.org

©2001. Present Testimony Ministry



Permission is granted to those who wish to copy and distribute the material in this book,
but it must not be sold or re-published without the express permission of the author.



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FOREWORD

Remember the children's story, The Emperor's New Clothes? In it, a child verbalized that which the adults already knew but were hesitant to admit. Frank Viola, in this revealing treatise on 11 church authority," is like the small boy who finally blurted out, "But the emperor has no clothes on!"

Most believers probably already suspect that all is not well in Zion, but they are slow to question the status quo. After all, who wants to get branded as a troublemaker? The appalling fact of the matter is that most systems of church polity are utterly without Scriptural clothing!

So exactly who has authority over whom in the church? Should a pastor or even a plurality of elders control a church? What is accountability all about? Do denominations afford protection from doctrinal error and moral failure? Do we need modern day apostles to tell us what to do? How does the spiritual gift of "ruling" fit into things?

When I was a career pastor, I struggled with these issues. Surprisingly, none of them were really dealt with during my time in seminary. Once in the ministry, I discovered that most of the pastors with whom I discussed these things had never really thought through them either. It was a major paradigm shift for me just to go from believing that there should be a single pastor in every church to believing in a plurality of elders. As it turned out, that was just the tip of the iceberg-there is so much more to this issue of leadership that the number of elders becomes almost irrelevant, Frank's expos6 is both thorough and Biblical. Every relevant passage dealing with leadership and authority is considered. I promise that this book will enrich your understanding of authority in God's kingdom.

May our Lord be pleased to use the truth contained herein to free the legions of followers and leaders who are trapped in the bondage of hierarchical church systems. As Jesus said, "the truth shall set you free "

Steve Atkerson
Atlanta, Georgia



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PREFACE

n my last book, Rethinking the Wineskin: The Practice of the New Testament Church, I set forth the fundamental principles that governed the practice of the early church and contrasted n with those that characterize the modem institutional church. The book was favorably received and has managed to influence the birth of a number of New Testament-styled churches in this country and abroad.

As expected, some of these fresh and budding testimonies have home the brunt of misunderstanding and opposition from leaders in the organized church. In particular, they have generated acute questions regarding ecclesiastical authority. Namely, they have been asked the same question religious leaders asked our Lord centuries ago: "By what authority do you do these things, and who gave you this authority?" (Matt. 21:23).



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INTRODUCTION

"So who is your covering?"

This is the terse query raised by many modern Christians whenever they encounter those who meet outside the institutional church. But what is at the heart of this inquiry? And what Biblical basis undergirds it?

These are the questions that will engage us in this book.

It is my contention that a great deal of confusion and subnormal Christian behavior is connected with a modern teaching known as "protective covering." This teaching holds that Christians are protected from doctrinal error and moral failure when they submit themselves to the authority of another believer or organization.

The painful experience of many has led me to conclude that the "covering" teaching is a matter that greatly troubles Zion today. And it desperately begs for critical reflection.

In the following pages, I attempt to cut through the fog that surrounds the difficult issues attached to the "covering" teaching. Thorny issues like church leadership, spiritual authority, discipleship, and accountability. I also seek to outline a comprehensive model for understanding how authority operates in the ekklesia (church).

Is "Covering" Covered in the Bible?

Strikingly, the word "covering" only appears once in the entire NT. It is used in connection with a woman's head covering (1 Cor. 11:15). While the Old Testament uses the word sparingly, it always uses it to refer to a piece of natural clothing. It never uses it in a spiritual way. Nor is it ever used in connection with authority and submission.

So the first thing we can say about "covering" is that there is scant Biblical evidence upon which to construct a doctrine! Yet despite this fact, countless Christians glibly parrot the "who-is-your-covering" question. Some even push it as a litmus test to measure the authenticity of a church or ministry.

If the Bible is silent with respect to "covering," what do people mean when they ask, "Who is your covering?" Most people (if pressed) would rephrase the question to be: "To what person are you accountable?"

But this raises another sticky point. The Bible never consigns accountability to human beings! It consigns it exclusively to God (Matt. 12:36; 18:23; Luke 16:2; Rom. 3:19; 14:12; 1 Cor. 4:5; Heb. 4:13; 13:17; 1 Pet. 4:5).

Consequently, the Biblically sound answer to the "to-whom-are-you-accountable?" question is simply: "I am accountable to the same person you are-God!" Strangely, however, this answer is usually a prescription for misunderstanding and a recipe for false accusation.

So while the timbre and key of "accountability" slightly differs from that of "covering," the song is essentially the same. And it is one that does not harmonize with the unmistakable singing of Scripture.

Unearthing the Real Question Behind Covering

Let us widen the question a bit. What do people really mean when they push the "covering" question? I submit that what they are really asking is: "Who controls you?"

Common (mis)teaching about "covering" really boils down to questions about who controls whom. And the modern institutional church is built upon such control.

Of course, people rarely recognize that this is what is at the bottom of the issue. For it is typically well clothed with Biblical garments. In the minds of many Christians, "covering" is merely a protective mechanism.

But if we dissect the "covering" teaching, we will discover that it is rooted in a one-up/one-down, chain-of-command style of leadership. Within this leadership style, those in higher ecclesiastical positions have a tenacious hold on those under them. Oddly, it is through such top-down control that believers are said to be "protected" from error.

The concept goes something like this. Everyone must answer to someone else who is in a higher ecclesiastical position. In the garden-variety, post-war evangelical church, this translates into the "laymen" answering to the pastor. In turn, the pastor must answer to someone with more authority.

The pastor typically traces his accountability to a denominational headquarters, to another church (often called the "mother church"), or to an influential Christian worker. (The worker is perceived to have a higher rank in the ecclesiastical pyramid.)

So the "layman" is "covered" by the pastor. The pastor is "covered" by the denomination, the mother church, or the Christian worker. Because each is accountable to a higher ecclesiastical authority, each is protected ("covered") by that authority. So the thinking goes.

This "covering-accountability" template is applied to all spiritual relationships in the church. And each relationship is artificially cut to fit the template. No relationship can be had outside of it-especially that of "laymen" to "leaders."

But this line of reasoning generates the following questions: Who covers the mother church? Who covers the denominational headquarters? Who covers the Christian worker?

Some have offered the pat answer that God covers these "higher" authorities. But such a canned answer begs the question. For why is it that God cannot be the covering for the "laymen"-or even the pastor?

Hmmm . . .

Of course, the real problem with the "God-denomination-clergy-laity" model goes far beyond the incoherent, pretzel logic to which it leads. The chief problem is that it violates the spirit of the NT! For behind the pious rhetoric of "providing accountability" and "having a covering," there looms a system that is bereft of Biblical support and driven by a spirit of control.



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Excerpts from "Renewing the Wineskin," by Frank Viola

"Straight Talk to Elders," by Frank Viola

May 17, 2001, August 15, 2001. March 21, 2003.