The local church is God’s divine organization.  It is organized according to the specific instructions of God.  It is His revealed will that local churches be made up of elders (also called bishops and pastors), deacons, and saints (Philippians 1:1).

A model church follows this pattern of organization.  This is not to say that local churches without elders and deacons are automatically displeasing to God.  We must remember that elders and deacons must qualify to be such (1 Timothy 3:1-13) and some local churches simply do not have men who do so.  We call that being scripturally unorganized.  It is not an ideal situation, but if brethren behave and act lovingly toward one another, they can still have a God-pleasing local church.

Every local church should either have elders and deacons or be striving to have them.   Furthermore, a local church must have the right kind of organizational structure to be a model church.  In the New Testament, local churches that had elders always had a plurality of them.

Acts 14:23 (ESV)
²³  And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.    

Notice, the word elders is plural while the word church is singular.  This is the consistent pattern when passages refer to the elders of a local church (Acts 20:17, 28; Philippians 1:1; 1 Peter 5:2).  A church that is scripturally organized, and in a position to be a model for other churches, has a plurality of pastors.

Sadly, the religious world today does not follow this pattern.  Denominational churches, almost without exception, have a one-pastor system, or a least a single pastor who has the authority over everyone else in the church.  Some churches have assistant pastors, but they have to answer to the head pastor.  Examine the Word of God, and you will find that no such arrangement can be found in the Bible.  The so-called clergy-laity distinction is something that man has created, not God.

Not only did local churches in the first century have a plurality of elders, but those elders only oversaw the church that appointed them to that position.

1 Peter 5:2 (ESV)
²  Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

There was no such thing as district bishops, diocesan bishops, etc., in the New Testament; only local churches with elders that oversaw the one church of which they were members.  Isn’t it amazing how far man can drift away from the simple patterns that are outlined in the Word of God?

There are three categories that local churches can be in when it comes to organization.  1) Scripturally organized.  2) Scripturally unorganized.  3) Unscripturally organized.  Most churches fall into the last category.  Only those in the first can be model churches.  

As you wind down for the night, think about these things