The Roman Church’s influence has scarred the evangelical church in Italy, but the right response is a return to a biblical vision of leadership, ministry involvement, and giving.
*This article is the second in a two-part series.
14 min read
Introduction
In the previous article, we began to see the Vatican’s shadow over the global church, but especially the Italian church. An early exegetical misstep at Matthew 16:18 led the Roman church from the third to the twentieth centuries to gradually attribute gross authorities to the pope, such as plenitudo potestatis (“fullness of power”) and infallibility ex cathedra (when speaking “from the throne”). This history has left lasting effects, even among believers who have left the Catholic Church and embraced the gospel of grace. The true church in Italy faces a plethora of ecclesiological problems due to the strong presence of entrenched Catholicism. What are those challenges, and how does the Bible answer them?
Contemporary Challenges in the Evangelical Church
Time and again, the Roman Catholic Church’s grip leaves bruises on the lives of believers who are saved out of it and become members of conservative, Bible-based churches. Conservative churches in Italy are 1.1% of the population, and about 90% of the members are first-generation newborn converts to Christ out of the Roman Catholic Church.1 The Holy Spirit’s work radically changes them and opens their eyes to understand the true gospel. He helps them recognize that Scripture is the only sufficient authority in the church of Christ. Through His illumination, they understand that the pope, bishops, and priests do not represent Christ and that they are not the ultimate authority in the matter of faith. Nonetheless, newly converted Italians tend to join churches that are weak in ecclesiological convictions.
Too often, biblical leadership in the church (pastors/elders and deacons) is missing or at best malfunctioning, and the church body appears to be dysfunctional in its duties and responsibilities. Because of the ever-present reality of the Roman Church in Italy and its counter-reform strategy adopted at the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and reaffirmed with the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), evangelical churches have struggled in organizing the new and small communities of believers into functional models of biblical ecclesiology. The average size of an evangelical church in Italy is about fifteen people. In some cases, there are no more than two families. Few have a fully developed leadership that practices a biblical philosophy of ministry. They often gather several times a week to study the Bible and worship, but many do not know why they do what they do.2 This lack of direction and leadership greatly weakens the life and function of the church in Italy.
By God’s grace, ministries like The Master’s Academy International and others are beginning to impact Italian churches for good. Their goal is a biblical ecclesiology with functional leadership and a faithful philosophy of ministry. Consequently, the appointed leaders of these Italian churches have a responsibility to help new converts think biblically and overcome faulty concepts of the Christian life. Italian churches and ministries to Italian churches face three central challenges: a lack of leadership, a lack of ministry involvement, and a lack of giving.
A Lack of Leadership
Faithful elders of the evangelical church have before them the honor and the duty of fulfilling the commission of Jesus to teach His true disciples to observe all that He commanded (Matt 28:19–20). That includes, in Italy particularly, the important matter of biblical eldership and leadership of the church, which have too often been neglected.
The first challenge, then, is raising up faithful shepherds of the church. Few men aspire to serve as elders in the church. It is common in Italy to see churches that have only one leader; churches with three or more are rare. There are even cases of small believing communities where the men have abdicated their responsibility to lead, and the women have assumed leadership in order to continue weekly meetings and fellowship.
What is the reason for such weak leadership? It would be irresponsible to place complete blame on the Roman Catholic Church. It is also true, however, that the prevailing structure of church leadership in Italian society is the one modeled by Catholicism. Consequently, many would find it difficult to even consider taking responsibility as a leader.3 The average Italian would understand to some degree what it means to be a priest, bishop, cardinal, monk, or friar, but the difference between the biblical concept of an elder and a Catholic priest would be confusing, to say the least. Moreover, many brothers in Christ would find it shameful to be confused with a priest. Therefore, too many refuse to assume leadership simply because they do not understand biblical eldership. This is the greatest issue that the church in Italy faces.
A Lack of Ministry Involvement
Another challenge that we face in Italy as leaders is that those who get saved out of Catholicism bring with them many customs they learned from the Catholic Church. Italians are accustomed to the priest doing everything involved with the local church’s function, and therefore, many expect the same from the pastors of evangelical churches. Members do not take ministry upon themselves (cf. Eph 4:11). The Catholic Church has always taught that the parishioners have to take care of the things of the world, while the “specialists,” the prelates, focus on the things of the kingdom of God. Because of the chasm between the prelates and the laity within the Roman Catholic Church, Italian converts commonly bring this same mentality into the life of their evangelical churches. Problems in the church are thus compounded when members are passive, and the church leadership is weak.
A Lack of Giving
A third problem that Italian converts from Catholicism often bring with them is an unbiblical understanding of giving. Throughout the centuries, the leaders of the Catholic Church manipulated the people in order to enrich their own pockets.4 In response, evangelical leaders must teach new believers that giving is not intended to enrich the leaders but instead to sustain the vital ministries of the church.
Evangelical churches in Italy are now facing financial instability due to the lack of direction in leadership, the hesitancy in believers with regard to giving, and the fear that leaders might use church funds for themselves. Consequently, the majority of pastors are forced to be bi-vocational in order to survive. They do not have the time to take part in formal training,5 which often results in a lack of biblical knowledge and, ultimately, perpetuates weak leadership.
In short, the church in Italy faces serious problems. In her context, she is prone to superficial preaching and teaching, divisions and quarrels, and immorality among her members—issues which are scarcely addressed under weak leadership. Hence, Italian pastors (like me) need to clearly teach the characteristics of biblical church leadership and strive to model Christ’s intended ecclesiological authority.
A Biblical Response
Ironically, we find the answer to the problems facing the evangelical church in Italy in the passage that we have been considering from the beginning: Matthew 16:16–19. The same passage that the Roman Catholic Church has misused for centuries can help evangelical pastors find needed guidance and strength. Three applications are key.
The Church Belongs to Christ Alone
First of all, the church exists solely because of Christ, the Son of the living God. He is building it, and He is its foundation (Matt 16:16, 18; 1 Pet 2:4–6). The church, then, must help converts to understand that it belongs to Christ alone. We are His body as an assembly of redeemed people only because He gave His life as a ransom for us (Eph 5:23; 1 Pet 1:18, 19). We do not owe anything to any man or institution; we owe everything to Christ our Lord.
The true church is comprised of authentic believers who understand the precious sacrifice of Christ, live according to the practical implications of the gospel, and practice what their Master and Lord teaches in the Bible (John 8:31; 15:14). Thus, we are first and foremost accountable to Christ, who knows exactly what is in the hearts of men (John 2:25; Acts 1:24). Pastors, elders, or overseers—by whatever name—do not vicariously take the place that belongs to Christ, for He Himself, through His Spirit, is in the midst of His church, local and universal (Matt 18:20; 28:20; Rev 1:12–20).6 This is an important difference from Catholicism that we must teach.
Pastors Are Neither Popes Nor Priests
We are all “sons of men” and must recognize our human dependence upon Jesus as the Christ—the only “Son of the living God”—for an effective ministry in the church (Matt 16:17). He is the true head of the church. He is above every rule, authority, power, dominion, and name—including, whether true or false, bishops, cardinals, pastors, or popes (Eph 1:20–23; Col 1:15–20).
Also, pastors and lay elders are not the evangelical equivalent of Roman Catholic leadership figures. True pastors acknowledge that they, as leaders, are as much in need of God’s grace as the rest of the church, if not more. For church leaders are responsible before God not only for their own lives but for the lives of the believers God has entrusted to their care (Acts 20:28; Heb 13:17). We all, as wise builders, must be careful how we build on the foundation that has already been laid (1 Cor 3:9–15; Eph 2:19–22). If we inflate our own authority or sanctity above our fellow believers, we are deceiving ourselves and rebelling against Christ (Matt 20:25–28; Luke 12:42–46).
Notwithstanding the abuses of power witnessed by the history of the church, God has indeed instituted authorities in the church. First, He appointed men as overseers, elders, and shepherds—interchangeable terms referring to the one office of pastor7—temporarily entrusted with leading the flock and setting an example of Christian living (Eph 4:7–16; 1 Tim 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9; 1 Pet 5:1–4). Second, He gave deacons to serve the congregation and assist the elder-overseers (1 Tim 3:8–13; cf. Phil 1:1). Rightly understood, aspiring to the office of an elder bears no resemblance to becoming a priest. It simply means that a man of God has responded affirmatively to God’s call to serve the local church through preaching, teaching, counseling, and shepherding. All of these are critical functions of this noble office.
Yet leaders must understand the importance of Jesus’s words: “I will build My church” (Matt 16:18). Pastors and deacons can do nothing in the church unless Christ empowers them (John 15:5; cf. 2 Cor 2:15–16; 3:5–6). It is Jesus who builds His church, not Peter nor anyone else. It is Jesus who will protect His church from the gates of Hades, not mere men. It is Jesus who made Peter a pebble in the church’s foundation, not the foundation itself. The leaders of the church do not take the primacy or priority over the local church, Christ does (Col 1:13–20). Biblical leadership affirms apostolic teaching as the biblical foundation, having Christ Himself as the cornerstone on whom His church, not the pope’s, is built (1 Cor 3:11; Eph 2:20; 1 Pet 2:4–7).
Disciples Invest in the Ministry
Once biblical leadership is modeled faithfully, the chasm between leadership and laity narrows. The more we invest in biblical leadership, the more that leadership will help believers to understand their roles and responsibilities in the church. In Matthew 16:24–27, Jesus continues to describe the life of true disciples:
If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay each one according to his deeds. (LSB)
Without any distinction in function or role, every disciple of Christ is called to take up his cross and follow his Master. There should be no spectator mentality in the true church. There is a cost to being a disciple, and the cost is not only for a few. Every disciple of Christ must be ready to lose everything, understanding that his reward is not found this side of heaven (cf. Matt 5:12; 6:1, 20; 19:21). As Christ promised, inasmuch as He is the one who builds and protects His church, He is also the one who will reward His church at its glorification (Matt 19:27–30; Col 3:23–24; 2 Tim 4:8; Rev 22:12).
True disciples of Christ also understand how important it is to invest the money God has provided them in the advancement of His kingdom. Investing money for God’s kingdom is not intended to enrich the pockets of church leaders. Rather, faithful giving in the church supports vital ministries that promote the growth of the church, including both individual members and the congregation as a whole (Acts 4:32–35; 2 Cor 9:6–15; 1 Tim 5:17–18; 3 John 5–8). If church leadership models a biblical philosophy of ministry, making disciples according to the Great Commission (Matt 28:19–20), then church members should follow by investing their time, money, and resources so that the name of Christ is glorified, His gospel is proclaimed among the nations, His disciples are made, and saints grow in His likeness.
Call to Action
In these two articles, I have not attempted merely to demonstrate that the Roman Catholic interpretation of Matthew 16:18 is inaccurate while the evangelical interpretation is accurate. In many ways, the Italian evangelical church has been swayed by the leadership structures of the Roman Catholic Church, in whose “back yard” she lives, and Italian evangelicals must overcome that influence by restoring biblical ecclesiology.The Italian church must reject imitating a false ecclesiology predicated on a single passage of Scripture that has been misused and divorced from context. Matthew 16:18 does not speak to apostolic succession, much less papal authority, a concept that gives men an authority that belongs to Christ alone. Awareness of the deep impact of the Roman Catholic influence on Italian evangelical churches must prompt the Italian church to evaluate and strengthen its view of church leadership according to biblical principles rather than cultural, historical, or traditional impressions. This generation of believers is called to invest time, money, and resources in developing men qualified to lead in churches that follow the instructions of Christ.
The Verbum Evangelical Institute of Theology is attempting to face these challenges by investing in men who understand how important it is to grow as church leaders. We desire to come alongside churches to provide the biblical training that is desperately needed. Our desire is to train men to exegete, teach, preach, and minister the Word of God so that a transformation in churches occurs by the power of the Spirit of Christ through the Scriptures. Transformation does not happen because of men’s cleverness. Only through the faithful proclamation of the Bible will we be able to understand God’s intended purpose for the church in all its facets.
We must remember that a biblical church recognizes Christ as the head of the body and pastors as His overseers, His under-shepherds of the flock of God. They are watching over the life of the church, leading them with the Bible in hand, and serving the body of Christ for His glory. Then believers will faithfully respond to their Master through His Word by obeying its proclamation. Then they will labor selflessly, harmoniously, and sacrificially to advance God’s kingdom in their lives, in the lives of their families, in the lives of their neighbors, and to the ends of the earth.
May we pastors, Italian or otherwise, truly follow Peter’s example to serve our Master faithfully: “I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder . . . shepherd the flock of God. . . . And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Pet 5:1–4).
Gianluca Pollutri (MDiv, ThM, The Master’s Seminary) serves in Florence, Italy, with his wife, Sonia. He is actively involved in church planting, disciple making, and leadership training. Gianluca also teaches at the Verbum Evangelical Institute of Theology, a TMAI training center.
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1. See Operation World, “Italy,” accessed June 20, 2018, https://operationworld.org/locations/italy/.
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2. I am not claiming that this is the case for every evangelical church in Italy. But it is a strong reality that must be addressed. I am sure that no one in Italy would disagree that the one important element the church in Italy misses the most is a strong model of biblical leadership. Thankfully, there are several churches that, by God’s grace, are growing into a functional model of biblical leadership.
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3. In fact, I remember many times when I personally had to explain to my Catholic family and friends both that I am an elder and what an elder is—I am married, I can work, I can live a normal life like anybody else, and I have desired and been confirmed by the church to take up a leadership role as prescribed by the Bible.
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4. This is a common opinion that the Italians hold regarding the Roman Catholic clergy. But there are many priests or devout Catholics who gave their lives because they believed in the Church’s cause, unfortunately, to preach the wrong gospel (Matt 7:21–23).
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5. Virtually all of the students that attend the Italian Theological Academy in Italy struggle to find time and money to invest to grow in their knowledge of the Bible and pastoral training. The Italian Theological Academy works in this environment with this purpose in mind, trying to build up stronger leaders to make a great impact in the church.
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6. In fact, the “Vicar of Christ” was a title some church fathers used for the Holy Spirit. Cf. Tertullian, Prescription Against Heretics 28 (ANF 3:256); On the Veiling of Virgins 1 (ANF 4:27).
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7. See John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 4.3.8.
