Disorder Is Not Freedom

The New Testament doesn't imagine a church without order. It assumes one — and builds on it. God didn't leave that to chance. Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus about almost nothing else. And Hebrews 13:17 puts it plainly: Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls.

Disorder is not a sign of freedom. It is often a sign of neglected authority.

Some will hear that and think of men who got hurt under bad leadership. Now — men have abused authority. That's a sin problem, not an order problem. Elders who lord it over the flock have sinned, and God will deal with that. Peter said it himself — not for filthy lucre, not by constraint, not as lords over God's heritage (1 Peter 5:3). But you don't tear down the house because somebody swung the hammer wrong.

Order protects doctrine from drift. It holds people together when personalities clash. And it ensures that somebody is actually watching for your soul — that you're being shepherded, not just attending. Without that, the sheep scatter and the wolves find an open door.

The church was built to endure. To preach the Word through hard seasons, make disciples across generations, and still be standing when everything around it isn't. Order is what makes that possible.

Where order is rejected, the saints drift. They always do.