The Lord Jesus Christ is over all creation, and He is the supreme commander in chief of the church. The Greek word kephale, translated head, refers to authority. It was commonly used as a metaphor for the leader of an organization like a general over an army. Christ is the authority over everything in the church, He holds the position of prominence and is the focal point of the glory.

This is true by virtue of the fact that the church is His body. Of course, this is a metaphor and pictures the relationship of believers to Christ very aptly. We are to Him as a body is to its head. The head is the nerve center, the central processor, which controls the rest of the body. When you hit your thumb with a hammer, the nerves transmit a signal to the brain in your head, which interprets this as pain. The head in turn sends a signal to the other hand to drop the hammer and hold the hurting thumb tightly. It all works together, under the control of the brain. In the same way, Christ is the head of the body.

Crucial at this juncture is to ask what is His goal as head of the church? Paul states it simply, God desires the church to be the fullness of Christ. Tomes  have been written about this through the writings and in the lives of Christians in church history. But, the fullness of Christ has also, and more fully, been made known as Christians live, learn, worship and fellowship together today. Christ is made known as we minister Him to one another, when we become the channels of the grace God has promised us. In some ways, the saying is right, that the church is God’s incubator for Christian growth and service.

There are corollaries to the truth that Christ is the head of the church. No man should dare take on that role! The pervasive practice today, sad to say, is for churches to have a hierarchy type of authority structure with the pastor or “senior” pastor ruling and ministering over all. One man is at the pinnacle of the organization. This is simply unbiblical and dishonoring to Christ who is the Head of the church. Lip-service may be given that Christ is the “invisible” head, but actions reveal true beliefs. For too many the real leadership of the church requires an organizational head, like a spiritual CEO. But we have no New Testament teaching of an earthly head to the Church universal or the church local. The standard of governance is a plurality of godly men called elders, who are very clear about their position as under-shepherds, with Jesus Christ being “The Chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:4).