GTG, you almost make it sound as if authority is a bad thing.
Certainly we need watch out for tyrants, wolves in sheeps clothing, false teachers, and false Christs.
But in regards to the Church, any church, no one puts you under authority unless you voluntarily submit to it. If you are going to be involved with a body of believers there has to be order and discipline, just a joining a lodge or club requires certain rules to abide by. And there has to be leadership to encourage adhere to these rules. A pastor's job is lead the church in the direction that he believes God is guiding him and to provide spiritual counsel to those within his care.
That said, the pastor also has the responsibility to God for his flock and thus higher accountability. And he must also recognize first and foremost that Christ is the head of the church and that anything done in the church ought to bring glory and honor to Him. And a wise pastor will seek counsel from other leaders in his congregation, other pastors, and any authoritative scriptures that he abides by so that he can make the important decisions.
At the same time, he ought to recognize that he is human, and admit that he is not perfect. But that he has a heart for God and for people. And people in the congregation ought to regard him as human and not put him so far on a pedestal for him to pridely fall. Yet recognize that God placed him in a position of authority in the church to lead them.
A church working toward a common goal or goals must be organized and each memebr ought to have some part in bringing those goals into fruition. As the pastor sees fit, he may call upon certain members to perform certain tasks. But he's not just going to choose just anyone. He's going to look for men and women who have demonstrated themselves to be faithful in little things before handling larger tasks. New members must first prove themselves faithful with small things simply for the fact that many of them have left without being intergrated into the body. He wants to be sure they are going to stick around.
The pastor is experienced in how the church operates effectively from past experience. He knows the ins and outs, knows what works and what doesn't, for the most part. Say someone wants to start a new ministry, like for example, a food bank for the poor. Well, the pastor may question the practibility of having a food bank, especially when the church is small and ill-equipped to handle a food bank. He may question who would be eligible to utilize the food bank, would it be for less fortunate members of the church or for the general community? How will we know for sure that the recepient is truly needy (there has been a lot of fraud in his past experience)? What criteria would be established? How is it going to be run and who will run it? You know, questions that may not have occurred to the eager member who wants to do good.
If you want to be a loner Christian, then don't go to church. But if you want to be part of a community of believers that band together toward the goal of bringing the kingdom to every creature, then you have to understand that for the sake of unity there must be leadership and authority involved.
One day Christ will show His authority as He rules His Kingdom. We are told that He will make us kings and priests, but what are you doing to prepare yourself as a good and faithful servant. What are your doing with the talents that He has bestowed upon you? Sure, you can do some stuff individually, but there is strength in numbers. Israel had to operate as a nation in order to be blessed, so they submitted themselves to leaders like Moses, Joshua, and David. Christianity is not meant to be experienced individually. How are we ever going to love our neighbor as ourselves if we aren't interacting with them?
