The Head Makes The Decisions

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.” (Colossians 1:17,18, NIV)

We have seen in Ephesians 1 and Colossians 1 what Paul says about the headship of Jesus. What does the head do for the body? This is my simple answer. First of all, the head receives input from every member. As I understand it, every part of the body has a direct line to the head.

Secondly, and I think this is the vital issue, the head makes decisions. It acts on the input that’s received and it makes decisions. But its decisions are in the interest of the whole body, they’re not simply the response to the plea of one member. Like you may be hanging from a cliff with nothing below you, your fingers are aching and you want to let go and your fingers say, “Let me let go!” and the head says, “No, you can’t let go because the rest of the body will go with you.” So, the head makes decisions but they’re not necessarily the decisions that every individual member would want.

Thirdly, having made the decision, the head initiates the action. It decides what to do.

And fourthly, having initiated action, and in a sense, turned the members loose, the fourth thing it does is it gives ongoing direction. It doesn’t back off totally from the situation and say that’s it. But it just, as it were, supervises the members carrying out the decision that the head has made.

I believe that all those apply wherever the Bible speaks about headship. And furthermore, I believe actually headship is the principle of government that’s portrayed in the Bible. I hope I won’t shock you if I say that the kingdom of God is not a democracy. In the last 50 or 100 years, democracy has become so fashionable in some parts of the world that everybody assumes it’s the right form of government.

Let me offer you the comment of Plato on the five forms of government. I don’t often quote Plato but I think he’s so right here. And it’s so in line with the Bible. He says there are five possible forms of government.

Number one, monarchy. The rule of one good man. He says that’s the best.

Number two, aristocracy which is the rule of a few good men. Which is second best.

Number three is democracy which is the rule of the people. Which, he says, is the weakest of all forms of government. He also says about democracy: “If pastry cooks and doctors had to compete for the votes of children, who would get the most votes?”

Then going further down there’s oligarchy which is the rule of a few bad men.

And right at the bottom is tyranny, the rule of one bad man.

And what does the Bible present to us? Monarchy, isn’t it? But Jesus is a wonderful King and He’s going to share His rule with people He has trained to rule with Him.