Hierarchy, Bureaucracy, the Church, & You, Pt. 1
A hyrax. A.K.A., rock badger, or coney. Looking down on humanity.
In her review of The Shack, A. Lenore noted that the book describes a Trinity with a blurred hierarchy at best, to no hierarchy at all. A. Lenore also noted (sorry for the double noting) that this lack of hierarchy and blurring of the persons of the Trinity was shot down as heretical centuries ago. On a side note, The Shack depicts ‘Papa’ (a.k.a. the Father) as possessing nail scars in her hands. That too is a heresy long ago condemned called patripassianism which means that the Father suffered on the cross as the Son. This is connected to a concept of modalism whereby there is one essence of God, who chooses to reveal Himself in differing modes, like Father, or like Son, etc. But that is an aside.
A. Lenore pointed out that “hierarchy” is a dirty word now. It is no longer popular in many churches that are influenced by post-modernism and liberal definitions of “fairness” and “equality”. Hierarchy elicits imagery of power mongering, control, and abuse. People, quite naturally, push back against having hierarchy, “leaders”, heads, etc. I think this fear of hierarchy is quite evident in the recent demagoguery of US corporate CEOs and the resultant mob protests outside of people’s homes in Connecticut.
I would propose that what we (and I certainly include myself here) push back against is not hierarchy, but bureaucracy. Hierarchy is necessary. The Church has believed for two millennia in a hierarchy within the Trinity (called the monarchy of the Father). We see hierarchy in nature, whether it be the food chain or within pack/hive/group species. Hierarchy isn’t the true issue. Bureaucracy is.
The word bureaucracy comes from a string of French words ultimately meaning “dark brown” which was related to the color of desks. Bureaucracy is often a necessary layer of organization. Ideally, it should help keep an organization, well, organized and under control. Although budget committees are usually the butt of many jokes, what would it look like to not have a budget bureau? Who would call the shots?
However, instead of the bureaucracy existing to serve the people, it usually ends up being the other way around. The people exist to serve the bureaucracy. A bureaucracy doesn’t have to be a Soviet style, multi-layer mess. Within the church, it can be as small as one person (the solo, small church pastor, or the church secretary), a tight little oligarchy (the head person and their acolyte/followers), or as large as the various layers of ministers and support staff and committees at a mega church.
Ostensibly, a bureaucracy is designed to streamline an organization, and to invest in a few people (by the many) the responsibility of managing the assets of the organization. However, typically the bureaucracy allows a small number of people to control as large a group as possible. As I am theorizing, the bureaucracy is there to tell the church congregants what their options are and to suggest a course of action. This becomes more insidious if the person on top is egotistical, power hungry, or a control freak. That person uses the bureaucracy to control, rather than the bureaucracy being used to serve.
Christianity has always had hierarchy. But in Christ’s hierarchy, it is those who serve the most who are on top. These people are shepherds, not kings. Christ Himself is the Chief Shepherd. During His time walking in Israel, He had a hierarchy as well: the Inner Three of James, John, and Peter (who all, ironically, struggled with that whole serving the most thing, see Mt. 20:20-28, Mk. 10:35-40, Jn. 21:15-22), the Twelve, the Seventy, and beyond.
But again, to beat that dead horse, His hierarchy is one of service, not leading/controlling/directing. This is in direct contrast to bureaucracies we see in Big Brother government (currently en route in the US). To sum up, hierarchy isn’t evil. Even bureaucracy isn’t existentially reprehensible. Even David had a bureaucracy while he was on the run from Saul (it was essentially a gang). But, when the bureaucracy is about control and power rather than service, (which it pretty much always becomes, sadly) then, Houston, we have a problem.
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