For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (2 Timothy 1:6)

Timothy received “the gift of God” when Paul laid hands on him. This refers to either the same incident mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:14, where it is said that a body of elders laid hands on Timothy (in which case Paul would have been one of the elders), or a separate event in which Paul alone laid hands on him. There is no biblical evidence to suggest that the laying on of hands, even when spiritual gifts are conferred, is reserved for the formal ordination practiced today. Nevertheless, one theologian equates what Paul describes here with the formal ordination of our denominations. Then, he remarks that ordination is not a recognition of gifts already present, but a bestowal of gifts not previously possessed. And, he adds, this gift is the authority to preach.

All three points are either wrong or misleading.

First, there is insufficient biblical evidence to establish the theory of ordination affirmed by denominations today. In fact, there is insufficient biblical evidence to establish formal denominations themselves. There was church order, believers working together in agreement, and conferences of elders to discuss doctrinal matters, but all this does not translate into an elaborate institution governed by regional and national councils. If a group of believers decide to join together in this manner to provide mutual support and accountability as a matter of practical advantage and convenience, I do not oppose it. However, it should be wrong for them to despise or criticize or in any way think less of other Christians who operate according to biblical principles but differ from them in details not defined or restricted by biblical principles. The biblical principles for church government are rich, clear, and inflexible, but they permit much freedom in the details, and they simply do not require a denominational structure, or many of the theories and practices assumed today. If you impose your own principles of church government on others when Scripture does not teach or require them, then you are following the example of the Pharisees, in that you claim to protect the prescribed order of the church, when you are in fact protecting traditions invented by men.

Second, it is misleading to say that ordination is not a recognition of gifts already present, but a bestowal of gifts not previously possessed. It is too broad of an inference from such a narrow and specific verse. According to the Bible, God bestows spiritual gifts in different ways. Sometimes they are directly given without any human agency. Sometimes they are given in answer to prayer. For example, Paul tells the person who speaks in tongues to pray that he may interpret. Then, sometimes they are given through human agents, as when the elders and Paul laid their hands on Timothy. What we call ordination is a public recognition of the calling. The calling is already there, whether or not the church acknowledges it. Spiritual gifts always follow the calling. They support the person’s calling, and enable him to fulfill it. But gifts are not always bestowed through ordination, nor is recognition of the call by the church always necessary. What if God calls someone to rebuke the church or oppose a denomination? Who ordains him then? Or does that never happen? What is the biblical evidence that makes our denominations and their formal recognition necessary? There is no rigid principles of ordination in the Bible. It is a matter of church order. Sometimes God uses it, sometimes not. God is still God. Whether or not our church policy permits him to be God, he can still do what he wants.

Theologians often assert doctrines that restrict the right practices to those already affirmed by their denominations. They start from the Bible, then they add their traditions to it, and the result is their denominational policies, which they assert to be the pure scriptural doctrine and criticize those who disagree. But the Bible’s teaching leaves room for God’s sovereignty, much variety, and the freedom to adapt. Christians could accept the church order prescribed by their traditions as a matter of practical convenience, but once it becomes more than that – once it becomes a formal doctrine that defines right and wrong – they should rebel against it. Let no man rob you of the freedom that Christ has purchased for you. Woe to the denomination whose rebellion against the gospel is built into its church order and policy.

Third, as for the authority to preach, this at least needs to be clarified. The Bible teaches that all Christians are priests in Christ (Revelation 1:6). And since we are all priests, the irresistible implication is that all Christians may preach and administer communion and baptism. The curious thing is that not all churches and denominations that admit the former (that all believers are priests) will at the same time acknowledge the latter (that all may preach and administer the sacred ordinances). This is because those in these churches and denominations are hypocrites. They say what they must in order to distinguish themselves from the Catholics, but then they practice the same thing in their own congregations. The New Testament indeed teaches that there should be leaders within congregations, and as a matter of church order, they are usually the ones who preach and administer communion and baptism. It is to maintain excellence in the church’s operation and to prevent chaos and confusion. However, other Christians are not barred from these things as a matter of doctrine and principle.

God is greater than our traditions and our denominations. So many people say they believe this, but they deny it in their doctrines and practices. If God wants to ordain someone, he really does not need any human approval or acknowledgement. He often arranges human recognition to maintain good order, but nothing in Scripture indicates that this must happen or that it must happen a certain way. Christ is the only mediator between God and men. We must not allow anything in our church policy that seems to deny this.

If God wants to deliver his words or his blessings through men, that is his right. But if he wishes to deliver these directly, it is not up to the church to forbid him. The church is a community of people individually redeemed and called by God. He does arrange people to believe the gospel by the ministry of human agents, such as the preaching of a pastor or a member of a particular church. He does this for a number of reasons, such as to establish order, community, and relationships among men, and to exercise and reward those who preach. But God does not need human agents even when it comes to the preaching of the gospel, and we must not resent or reject someone if he receives something from God without our mediation.

If you fear that this would lead to chaos, then it shows that you have quite thoroughly adopted the mentality of the Pharisees and the Catholics. This is the mentality that thinks we need to use human traditions to enforce divine precepts, and that by removing the freedom that divine revelation permits, including the freedom that God leaves for himself. If someone converts to the Christian faith or operates a ministry apart from our control, his faith and ministry are still subject to the word of God, and can be tested by the word of God. And this is the only legitimate basis to test his conversion or calling to the ministry. He has no obligation to answer or submit to human traditions that he has not promised to keep. And if these traditions violate the word of God, he has an obligation to break them.

It may be true that the church has fallen on hard times. Many people are drifting away from the local congregations, and false doctrines abound. However, the answer is not a theology of control through man-made traditions, but a theology of freedom in Christ. Let Christ draw the people that he has chosen and called. As for Christians, you are accountable to Christ, not to human traditions. Therefore, defy them when appropriate and necessary. It is often acceptable to submit to human customs for the sake of love and order, but not because it is required of you as a matter of principle.

Mark 9 tells us that a man was driving out demons in the name of Jesus, but the disciples told him to stop because he was not one of them. Jesus answered, “Do not stop him. No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about him, for whoever is not against us is for us.” Who ordained him? By whose hands did God confer spiritual gifts upon this man? Even Jesus on earth did not do it. But God in heaven did, and apparently, without any human agency or approval. As one New Testament scholar observes, Jesus himself did not have official human sanction for his ministry. Human traditions are often just as dangerous as the threats to order that they seek to eliminate. And they often stray far from the orthodoxy that they claim to protect, to the point that they would even mandate the murder of the very Son of God. All Christians must be free to serve God, under the strict but sometimes broad guidelines of the word of God, and not the restrictions of human traditions.