Organizational systems sound like something that we might be trying to commandeer from the business world. As we look through the structure of the Bible, however, what we can see is that most of the systems that exist in the business world were commandeered from the Bible.
Consider the organizational systems of God in Genesis 1-2. No matter if you believe in 7-day creation, intelligent Design, evolution, or some variation in between, what is evident is that God is purposeful, strategic, and employs an organizational system for the benefit of the earth. The similarity in all the theories of creation is the progression by which it all came together.
Consider the way in which the Pentateuch unfolds. Genesis is creation and fall, Exodus is redemption and the beginning of restoration, and Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are the setting up of organizational systems for the life of the Israelites. Through Moses, God gives moral, civil, and ceremonial law. God speaks to the people about health and hygiene, city lay-out, and a calendar of feasts. While we typically skip over these books, they are a profound picture of the need for structure and organizational systems for the benefit of God’s people and the widows, orphans, poor, and immigrants.
Exodus 18 (Jethro’s advice to Moses) is without a doubt the most obvious passage when it comes to organizational development. Governments, businesses, schools—almost every organizational system in the world follows the model set forth here by Jethro. Moses is so taken by the instruction that he implements Jethro’s advice immediately. Although the word is not used, Jethro must have seen the marks of burnout in Moses’ life, or at least the beginnings of it. Jethro’s intervention came at just the right time for Moses and all of the Israelites (and for all of us).
In the book of Acts, Luke clues us into the structure of the New Testament church. Acts 6 is the typical example in the formation of deacons within the church. The elders state, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.” Thus, the model of elder, deacon, and member is set up within the early church.
In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul gives us a picture of the body of Christ being as complex as the human body—each person having a significant role and job to do. Paul points out the ridiculousness of one part saying to the other, “I don’t need you.” This picture shows us not only the innate structure that exists within the church, but the pitfalls of not living within it.
In Ephesians 4, Paul, after laying down a great treatise on the work of Christ and the Christian’s identity, reveals that God gave “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and the teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.” Not only does Paul show us the abundance of need for qualified leadership, but he also reveals that this leadership group is not to do the work, but rather to equip the saints (members) for the work. Paul spends the rest of Ephesians showing that one of the first marks of understanding the gospel is the ability to live in submission—a necessity for organizational systems.
At the close of Paul’s letters we typically see him talking to the leadership that he has developed in each of the churches he started. Organizational structure was something Paul was interested in developing as soon as he got to an area where he was starting a church, and he continued to write about it in his letters to those churches once he had moved on.
All of scripture resounds with order, structure, and organizational development. It’s our privilege as leaders to examine the scriptures and realize the significance of this to our calling.