Proverbs 28:2 teaches that when a people transgress, many princes arise: the less people govern themselves, the more human oversight multiplies. John Adams observed that the American Constitution suited only a moral and religious people, and William Penn said that those who will not be governed by God must be governed by tyrants. The same principle applies to the church. The Worldwide Church of God grew to about 150,000 members, yet perhaps only 20% still hold its doctrines, which suggests most never truly lived the faith. Carnal men then imposed policies on a largely carnal organization, and the many princes needed to maintain control show that many members were not governing themselves. Heavy-handed leadership reveals a governor's mistrust of the governed. That mistrust is sometimes unwarranted, when the leader cares more about position and power than about service, and sometimes warranted, when the governed keep producing the works of the flesh. As Paul dealt with the Corinthians, such people must be handled carnally rather than spiritually. The ideal is different. Jesus contrasts the Gentiles' lording over subjects with His own servant leadership. Paul tells the Ephesian elders to shepherd the church, not oppress it, and says the ministry has no dominion over the faith of members but works with them for their joy. He also acknowledges limits to the sphere God appointed them. Peter likewise tells elders to shepherd willingly and set an example. Hebrews 13:17 still calls for obedience to those who must give account to God. God gives ministers to edify the church, though they are not infallible and false ministers exist. Members who learn from them and govern themselves make rigid control unnecessary.

Human authority overreaches when it tries to force righteousness through regulation, because only a changed heart produces right conduct, and governments cannot change hearts. Citizens fuel the problem by demanding that leaders fix every problem and provide for every need, so freedoms shrink while the governor's responsibilities expand and the governed's contract. The church is not immune, whether through dictatorial leaders or members who expect the church to do everything for them. God is creating man in His character image (Genesis 1:26), and that requires real choice (Deuteronomy 30:19). Regimenting every word and deed, whether by God or by human government, produces no character. God wants sons and daughters who have made His values their own and choose rightly of their own volition, not people who are merely good at following orders. Jesus' words in Luke 22:24-26 set the boundary: the Gentile kings lord it over people and are called "benefactors," whether by enforcing order through force, coercion, threats, and fear, or by making people dependent on their gifts. Christ says, "But not so among you." Those with authority in His church are to serve, not rule. Service means neither iron-fisted control nor doing for members what they should do for themselves, since both stunt character and leave people unprepared for eternity. It means using the gifts given for edifying the body toward the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13, 16), without taking more authority than He has given.

God has established a hierarchy of authority in the church, and rejecting it as anarchism is as much an error as abusing it through authoritarianism. Paul ranks apostles, prophets, teachers, and the other gifts in I Corinthians 12:28, and the ranking rests on gifting, authority, and responsibility, not on worth or potential. God gives differing gifts, and to whom much is given, much is required. These differences are God-given rather than inherent, so they give no ground for boasting (I Corinthians 4:7). Because the Body needs all its members, no part may say it has no need of another, so no one may decide he has no need of those to whom God has given greater authority or responsibility. Hierarchy literally means a set-apart leader, and in its highest sense the hierarch is Jesus Christ. The same ordering appears in I Corinthians 11:3: Christ is the head of every man, man the head of woman, and God the head of Christ. What God hates is sin, wickedness, and oppression. Carnal men have misused His structure, both in the church and in marriage, lording authority over others rather than serving as Christ did (Matthew 20:25-28). Authority is therefore limited by love, the more excellent way of I Corinthians 13, which governs everyone whatever his gift. The fault lies in the carnality of those who abuse authority, not in the order God established. Changing the structure may ease the symptoms of authoritarianism, but only complete conversion heals the disease. God's church is not anarchistic.