Evangelicals, Biblicism, and Church Polity

From Matthew Barrett, at TGC:

Evangelicals unite around many basic doctrinal values (like the Trinity and the authority of Scripture). But we disagree over forms of church government. Does that mean, then, that the Bible doesn’t provide sufficient direction to bind one’s conscience toward a certain form?

I believe the answer to this latter question must be no. I am an evangelical, and I’m happy to participate in wider evangelicalism knowing that there is liberty to affirm diverse and even conflicting forms of church government. However, I still believe that a Baptist ecclesiology (specifically, in my case, a congregational, plurality of elders model) is thebiblical form of church government.

However, not all agree or at least want to define evangelicalism in this way. Take Alister McGrath for example. He writes, “Historically, evangelicalism has never been committed to any single model of the church, regarding the New Testament as being open to a number of interpretations in this respect and treating denominational distinctness as secondary to the gospel itself” (Evangelicalism & the Future of Christianity, 81).

As you read Barrett’s proposal (continuing after the jump), I wonder if you think this escapes the charge of biblicism made so clear recently by Christian Smith? [Barrett assumes the coalition nature of the evangelical, accurately I think.]

Here he rightly explains that evangelicalism has never been committed to any single model of the church. He also affirms that denominational distinctness is secondary to the gospel itself, which is a defining mark (perhaps the defining mark) of evangelicalism. However, I want to take issue with one small aspect of his sentence, namely, that evangelicalism regards the New Testament as being open to a number of interpretations in respect to a single model of the church.

Now, we do want to make sure we are interpreting McGrath correctly. After all, could he not merely be saying that evangelicalism allows for diverse interpretations of the New Testament in regards to a model of the church? Upon further reading of McGrath it becomes clear that he means far more. For example, after he rightly emphasizes the importance of the church, he then says:

Evangelicals are aware of the importance of a well-informed biblical model of the church; they, in common with many other Christians, remain unpersuaded, however, that the New Testament intended to lay down precise details of church polity. This minimalist attitude to the doctrine of the church does not mean that individual evangelicals do not have well-defined understandings of the nature of the church; rather, it points to no single such doctrine being normative within the movement, since the New Testament itself does not stipulate with precision any single form of church government that can be made binding on all Christians. (82).

And again, he writes:

The evangelical perception that the New Testament allows a considerable degree of diversity in relation to theories of the church has had several major consequences. . . . (1) Evangelicalism is transdenominational [and] . . . (2) Evangelicalism does not necessarily take the form of a denomination in itself, possessed of a distinctive ecclesiology, but can also be a trend within the mainstream denominations. . . . (3) Evangelicalism itself represents an ecumenical movement (emphasis original).

So close, but still not close enough. Notice the words in bold. There are two problems here. First, I believe the New Testament does lay out a normative model for church government. Granted, none of these texts explicitly says, “Thus says the Lord . . . this is what church government shall be.” Nevertheless, by inference, looking at how the early church structured itself and how the apostles instructed the early churches, I believe we can justifiably say what church government should look like.

And then his major point:

Returning to McGrath, I believe he has wrongly defined evangelicalism at this point. It would be much better to say the following: While evangelicalism does not prescribe a certain form of church government in order to be an evangelical, nevertheless, those within evangelicalism may believe that the New Testament does.