People Clamor For Organizational Structure

Dwight Smith
May 5
1 min read

Hands hold fanned-out 100 dollar bills over blue jeans. Gray background. Text shows Benjamin Franklin's portrait. Mood: secure.

For many of us, it is not the complexity of God’s design in Christ’s body that overwhelms us, but instead it is its simplicity.

People clamor for organizational structure in this existence because they seek safety. We comply by structuring the church because we (leadership) seek significance.

The body of Christ does need structure, and people can have safety without it becoming sin, even while leaders can have significance without sinning.

However, when structure turns into an institution, people opt for safety instead of actively engaging with the world through the gospel. Leaders then prioritize institutional significance over the measured empowerment (divestiture of power to others) of Christ’s people within God’s grace design.

In this scenario, we have both succumbed to sin. Worse, we have cut off the single most important instrument besides the Holy Spirit that God has to engage the world with His grace message—people!