Contents
Introduction
Last week’s post argued for a subsidiarity-integrated centralisation. As a recap, subsidiarity-integrated centralisation is a governance model in which the central authority coordinates matters of doctrine, liturgy, formation, and canonical oversight, while local ecclesial communities address matters that require contextual pastoral discernment.
Since my approach is Christo-centric and the Church is the mystical body of Christ, it is important to examine how Christ adopted this strategy. This is the focus of today’s post.
The Example of Jesus
Subsidiarity-integrated centralisation is deeply rooted in the ministry of Christ, as Christ neither governed alone nor left everyone to act independently at all times.
The theological foundation of subsidiarity-integrated centralisation can already be discerned in the economy of salvation. The Father entrusted to the Son the singular mission of redeeming humanity, while the Son exercised that mission in perfect communion with the Father’s will (John 3:16-17). This singular mission of salvation was central to the coming of Christ into the world, his teachings, his miracles, his choice of disciples, his passion and death, and his resurrection.
Hence, Jesus repeatedly insisted that he came not to do his will, but the will of the Father who sent him (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38), and regularly communicated with him regarding his mission.
Since the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, the pattern of mission found in Christ naturally becomes the pattern of ecclesial governance. Although the mission was central and entrusted to Christ, Jesus never acted alone. He entrusted significant responsibilities to others according to their capacity. To the twelve, Jesus gave authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity (Matt 10:1). He sent the seventy to towns where he would go himself (Luke 10:1). This delegation reflects the principle of subsidiarity because although Jesus gave them instructions, he did not micromanage how they responded to every pastoral situation as they encountered people in their locality.
Where the instruction ended, the disciples, while remaining faithful to Christ’s teaching, chose to adapt to realities on the ground.
Nevertheless, this subsidiarity remained integrated with Christ’s leadership, as the disciples always returned to report their experiences, just as Christ regularly prayed to the Father. In the case of the seventy who reported to Christ that demons were subject to them, Christ commended and empowered them for further pastoral action (Luke 10:17-24).
Furthermore, although Jesus commissioned all the disciples, he made Peter the leader of the Church he would establish. Jesus specifically prayed for him so that his faith might not fail and that he might strengthen his brothers in their weaknesses (Luke 22:32). In doing so, Jesus assigned Peter a special role, subject to his pastoral discernment.
Feeding of the 5,000
Just as in the Christocentric theology of economic centralisation, subsidiarity-integrated centralisation is most explicit in Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 reported in Mark 6:35-44, with parallels in Matt 14:15-21, Luke 9:14-17, and John 6:3-13. When Jesus preached until evening, his disciples told him to send the people away to buy food in the villages because it was a lonely place and it was getting late. Jesus replied: “You give them something to eat”. The disciples asked whether they would buy two hundred denarii worth of bread for them to eat. Jesus replied: “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”
This is where centralisation begins to take shape. First, the five loaves and two fish were brought to Jesus, the central authority. Next, Jesus utilises his position as the central authority and “commanded them all to sit down by companies upon the green grass”. As the gospel reads, “So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties”. There were about five thousand men. Hundreds and fifties are perfectly divisible by 5,000, suggesting careful planning. Next, Jesus blessed the five loaves and two fish, broke the loaves and divided the two fish. All ate and were satisfied, and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.
Hence, in the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus initiated the miracle, defined the objective of feeding them, blessed the bread, and entrusted the task of distributing it to the disciples. Jesus commanded the people to sit, but the disciples organised how they sat and facilitated the distribution. Jesus commanded that the leftovers be collected, but the disciples decided how to gather them.
Subsidiarity-integrated centralisation was indispensable to this miracle and to the successful feeding of over 5,000 people. Why? If the bread and fish had not been brought to the centre, they would not have been multiplied by the leverageable advantage of Christ’s coordinating authority, namely, the unique capacity of the central authority to generate outcomes that are impossible through isolated local efforts. A leverageable advantage enables an organisation to achieve greater results without a proportional increase in resources (to be discussed in more detail next week).
Second, if the bread and fish had been multiplied without central coordination, there may have been a massive stampede, as each person might have struggled to get bread and fish for themselves and their family.
Third, central coordination enabled the equitable distribution of bread and fish and, given that the bread and fish used came from a lad, an equitable redistribution to those who had none. Everyone ate as much as they wanted. The organised distribution prevented disorder and ensured that all were served before the remaining fragments were collected.
No doubt, there was a slowdown in decision-making and action because Christ had to wait for them to respond to the question about the available loaves and fish. However, subsidiarity also played out because Jesus did not stifle the disciples’ innovation. Jesus did not tell them exactly how to find out what food was available. He simply told them: “Go and see”. How the disciples found out was entirely their own making.
Conclusion
Beginning with the salvation story and extending to his life and teachings, Jesus provides a theological model for understanding subsidiarity-integrated centralisation. The feeding of the 5,000 provides the clearest example of this model. Hence, while Christ performed the miracle, the implementation required coordinated participation with his disciples. Therefore, neither complete centralisation nor complete decentralisation would have achieved the same pastoral fruitfulness, except a subsidiarity-integrated centralisation.
Next week, we shall examine more closely how subsidiarity-integrated centralisation creates leverageable advantages that strengthen the Church’s pastoral mission.
May God continue to help us🙏🏾
K’ọdị🙋🏾♂️
