Unquestioning Submission to Elders Is Unbiblical

"So, the Scripture simply asks the congregation to obey just as it asks a child to obey his parents. Not to decide whether the parents are right or wrong, but to obey. To submit there must be unity." ~John MacArthur, 1993

This isn't what Scripture teaches. 1John 4 says to test vigorously every spirit and 1&2 Timothy, Titus, and 3John for example also talks about this. So does 1Peter 5.What MacArthur is describing and perpetuating is over-lording. There is no such thing as blind submission. There is no such thing as obedience as a child to a parent in the elder-congregation biblical construction. Elders aren't our parents. We are anointed with the Holy Spirit and have the Word and hear His voice, so when we test elders and find them out of order, going beyond Scripture, and demanding us to obey their conscience, grasping at keeping their authority and territory over the people, that's actually a cult.

Only when an elder speaks in line with the Scriptures, do we obey, but not when they go beyond it. It's that simple.