Jesus Christ is universal head of the church (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:23; Col. 1:18). No mere man should try to supplant the place of Jesus. After all, He built the church (Mt. 16:18) and purchased it with own precious blood (Acts 20:28). The church wears His name (Rom. 16:16). To exalt another as head or wear another’s name should be repulsive to any who wish to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul addressed this problem at Corinth when he wrote: “Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:12-13). Only Jesus Christ was crucified for us (1 Pet. 2:24). Into His name we were baptized (Acts 8:16; 10:48; 19:5), and there is no salvation in any other name than His (Acts 4:12). Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth (Mt. 28:18). Whatever we do must be done in His name, by His authority (Col. 3:17).

Each congregation of the Lord’s church is autonomous and self-governing. The New Testament shows that a plurality of men (called elders, shepherds, or bishops/overseers) supervise each congregation (Acts 14:23; 20:17, 28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), among which they labor (Acts 20:28; 1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Pet. 5:1-4). The NT never mentions archbishops above these local leaders which would make decisions over multiple congregations; it only mentions Jesus Christ as the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4) to whom elders, as stewards of souls entrusted to them (Titus 1:7), must give an account in the final day (Heb. 13:17).

While God’s wisdom is seen in each congregation of His church operating independently without human governing committees dictating policy to the local congregations, this does not mean that individual congregations of the Lord’s church never cooperate with each other in the Lord’s work. Acts 11:27-30 records a prophetic announcement that a great famine would come during the reign of Claudius Caesar. The disciples determined to send relief to the churches of Judea. The benevolent funds were sent to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul (Acts 11:30). The church at Jerusalem did not order the church Antioch around. Neither did the congregation at Antioch dictate to the congregation at Jerusalem what it should do. Yet, funds were sent to help with a relief effort; the implication is the elders oversaw the distributing of necessities to the final recipients who were in need. Thus, the elders of a congregation may choose whether to opt into a scriptural work and cooperate with other congregations in the effort.

Moreover, congregations in Macedonia and Achaia gathered contributions for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem (Rom. 15:26; 1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8-9). From Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 16:1, the churches of Galatia were also gathering funds for the saints in Jerusalem. Just because an effort is big—supported by multiple congregations—does not make it wrong or unscriptural. There may be other reasons why an effort should or should not be supported. As long as each congregation remains autonomous, then many congregations may contribute to an effort overseen by elders in a local congregation. Great work that abounds through many thanksgivings to God is the result when congregations of the Lord’s church cooperate to help saints and all in need (2 Cor. 9:12-15). Let us seize opportunities afforded to us to do good and glorify God (Gal. 6:10).

Many of us had “show and tell” in elementary school. We would bring an item of interest to school, stand up in front of the class to display it, capture the interest of our classmates, and tell why this item was interesting or important to us.

The New Testament presents Jesus to the world first by showing us who He is, then by telling us about Him. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John contain His miracles, interactions with people, and accounts of His death and resurrection, while the epistles focus more on the significance of His redemptive work. Consider Colossians 1:12-20 which tells us of what God has done in Christ: delivering us from darkness into Christ’s kingdom, purchasing our redemption through Christ’s blood, placing Christ as head over the church, creating all things by Him, giving Him preeminence in all things, making peace through the blood of Christ to reconcile all things to Himself, etc.; these tell us about Christ. The gospel accounts more often show us Jesus.

Now this is not an absolute, mutually exclusive distinction, for John begins by telling us of Christ: His existence with the Father in eternity past, His role in creating all things, and how light and life come from Him (Jn. 1:1-3). Yet, John 1:14 does transition into the earthly life of Jesus by saying this about the Eternal Word: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Throughout the rest of the book, people are shown the glory of the Father through Jesus. When Nathanael was skeptical that the Messiah’s hometown would be Nazareth, Philip said “Come and see” (Jn. 1:46). Jesus told Nathanael he would soon see greater things than the miraculous knowledge Jesus displayed when first meeting him (Jn. 1:51). Greeks came wanting to see Jesus and Philip brought them (Jn. 12:20-21). When Philip asked to see the Father, Jesus said if you have seen Me, then you have seen the Father; at least believe for the miraculous works (Jn. 14:8-11). The purpose of John’s gospel account was to show the signs that produce belief that Jesus is the Son of the living God (Jn. 20:30-31).

Jesus understood that His sacrificial death and resurrection would glorify the Father. Jesus dying on the cross for the world should hold an amazing interest for us. The crucifixion will draw all men to Him (Jn. 12:32). Christ crucified is the ultimate love shown.  “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 Jn. 4:9).

After the gospel accounts record the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the command to tell what God has shown is given (Mt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16; Lk. 24:46-48). Luke begins the book of Acts by noting that his first book was about “all that Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1). Jesus showed us how to live by first doing the will of the Father (Jn. 8:29). Jesus resisted temptation in the wilderness Himself first (Mt. 4:1-11), then He taught and preached (Mt. 4:23; cf. Mt. 5-7).

Paul told Titus to show himself as an example to others by his good deeds (Titus 2:7) and also to tell people how to conduct themselves by speaking, exhorting, and rebuking with all authority (Titus 2:15). Let us show the work of the gospel in the way we live our lives and then tell others about the gospel when they notice (1 Pet. 3:15).