The Moses Principle

Personally I am torn on this issue but I am not sure it has to be an either-or. The children of Isreal rejected Moses as the leader of Israel. And they did it on at least two occassions. Everyone voted against Moses, even his own brother and sister. Yet, God supported Moses as leader of Israel and he persisted.

Acts 6 is about Jewish-Gentile fellowship and justice
The example of the selection of deacons in Acts 6 required choice from within because of the nature of the injustice that was being corrected. If the Jewish apostles had chosen men to administrate the Gentile widow's money then the charge that it was business as usual could have been made. That is why bringing in people from outside the traditional power circle can make sense - one area that Calvary has both excelled and failed at the same time.

It was better to allow the Gentiles to chose among themselves men that they trusted. That way it could not be a Jewish-Gentile split. That seems to be the message (at least to me) of Acts 6. Paul (and Luke in Acts) pick up this message in many Epistles.

Gal 3:28 has the final word. The Gospel is not Jewish nor is it Gentile. It is universal.

Perverting the Moses Principle
As to the Moses principle, in the case of the apostles initially it was fairly obvious (at least in hindsight) who was chosen by Jesus and who wasn't. Then along came Saul (Paul). He spends most of his ministry proving his apostleship. After all, he didn't walk with Jesus, nor was he an eyewitness at the empty tomb. His appearance was later and for the most part alone - other than a couple of folks that Jesus spoke to about Saul. These others are significant in Paul's testimony.

It seems to me that the only one who can testify about a person's authority and authenticity is the Spirit of God.

How then do we pick our leaders?
I suggest that God ultimately is the one who picks them. Human systems have developed to recognize this selection by God - imperfect as they are. Seminaries (or in the case of Calvary Chapel Bible colleges) allow the folks who are in the system to observe at close proximity those who will ultimately be candidates for ministry.

Ministry will always have an old boys network. Chuck Smith used the "Grasshopper, when you can snatch the pebble from my hand you will be ready" method with Greg Laurie and it worked for them. After Greg had scrubbed enough toilets at Costa Mesa Chuck felt he could trust him with a Bible Study in Riverside. The rest is history (albeit perhaps more revisionist than factual).

The Nature of the church
The church is a human-Divine institution. Divine because it is God's church. Human because we frail humans inhabit that institution. It is like the Scriptures, a product of the Spirit of God but with human frailty evident at every turn of a page.

The Problem Restated
People labor within the system that is at hand. Few try other systems. CC folks believe their leaders who tell them that the Moses principle is the best way to run a church. Others buy into the American notion that we should all have a say - even the unspiritual and undisciplined.

People leave congregational churches and go to authoritarian churches because they like the easy answers being provided for them. They are tired, in some cases, of the squabbles that come with diversity of opinion. They like that the pastor can make a decision and that's the way things will be.

Other people leave authoritarian churches and go to congregational churches because they have learned to think for themselves. Unfortunately some that think they can think for themselves are uninformed.

But is there no hope?
There is hope since the church is Christ's. He is the one who ultimately will discipline. This does not mean that there are no temporary injustices, to the contrary. However, it does mean that we have to recognize His headship. The church does not belong to Greg Laurie, Chuck Smith, nor the collective that we call "the congregation". The church is Christ's. It is His possession. If we really believe that then how could we not have hope?