Its yucky.
Paul says in Galatians 6 that we are to do this in a spirit of gentleness, keeping watch on ourselves as well. The solution is to preach and teach the whole counsel of the Word of Godboth Gods gospel and Gods law, meaning both the new creational ministry of the Spirit of God through the shed blood and resurrection glory of the Son of God, as well as the life of faith, the life of obedience to the Son. No. The authority of the eldership comes from God and not the congregation (Acts 20:28; Eph. Elders are called to visit those who are spiritually and physically sick or weak (Jas. Most church discipline happens under the surface and in a very organic way. Those who lead well are worthy of double honor (1 Tim. The focus of the qualifications is on who a person is more than what a person does. Yet, overseers and deacons were also mentioned in Pauls earlier letter to the Philippians (1:1). My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill.
In addition to being disobedient to Gods will, perversion of His pattern for the church generates additional temptation, pressures, and finally, corruption that would not be present if we would "build all things according to the pattern". 4:11). Moreover, we must be vigilant to compare all human directives with the Bible - the words of Christ. as they order them..
Further illustrating His ultimate position, Jesus is also spoken of as a King and His people are referred to as citizens of His kingdom (Colossians 1:3; John 18:33-37). No, we want the text to lead, speak, direct, and change us. It is therefore less like a king and a kingdom than it is like a shepherd and a flock. 13:17; cf. He alone holds all authority over the church, filling many positions: Savior, High Priest, King, and Prophet. The only qualification that directly relates to an elders duties in the church is that he must be able to teach (1 Tim. Fourth, elders and overseers are never listed as separate offices which suggests that the three-tiered ecclesiastical system is foreign to the New Testament. This obviously precludes narcissistic pastors, building churches as little towers of Babel to their own glory.
Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. The most noticeable distinction between elders and deacons is that deacons do not need to be able to teach (1 Tim. 3:45; 5:17) and teaching (1 Tim. Because they are given the same tasks, they should be viewed as representing the same office. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. This is why Paul is able to tell the Corinthian assembly to Be imitators of me, just as I imitate Christ. You should expect your elders to be and remain biblically qualified, so that you could say, Yes, I will order my home, my vocation, my childrearing, my finances, my doctrine, etc. 5:13) and teaching (1 Tim. Just as elders have authority in their homes, so also they have authority in the church (1 Tim 3:45). This essay is part of the Concise Theology series. So this morning, we will take up the duties of church leaders to the church. This reference denotes the authority of His position and office.
Churches had qualified, designated leaders who served the church under the lordship of Christ, guided by both the Scriptures and the Spirit. Shameful. The duties of the elders also infer a certain amount of authority. Like elders, deacons must lead their families well. In the New Testament, Jesus chose twelve apostles to lead the church. As head of the church, He is the supreme authority on all matters. In the recordigns of Acts, Luke commended the people of Berea for their diligence in checking the teachings of the apostle Paul against that of the Old Testament scriptures (Acts 17:10-12). Listen to Pauls charge to a pastor he mentored in 2 Timothy 4:14, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 2:2), so also elders are to raise up the next generation of leaders and disciple-makers in the church. Apart from the foundational offices of apostles and prophets, the early churches had qualified leaders, elders and deacons, who served the church under the lordship of Christ, guided by both the Scriptures and the Spirit. It is the formal, acknowledged relationship of a member of the church universal to the church local. Therefore, in our effort to obey Christ, Who is the head of the church, let us likewise "Test all things; hold fast what is good" and be sure that we "do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." The church is full of the disease of sin, uncorrected and festering like gangrene in a wound.
The elders are to be models of self-government and family government in order to be models of Christ. Second, elders are never given a separate list of qualifications. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths., In a section of one of his works called The True Nature of a Gospel Church and Its Government John Owen wrote, The first and principal duty of a pastor is to feed the flock by diligent preaching of the word. And then in a sermon on the duty of a pastor, he added, He is no pastor who doth not feed his flock.. First, elders or overseers are given the same tasks as pastors of shepherding (Acts 20:17, 28; Eph. This gift is partly comprised by the abilities that are graciously given to those who fulfill the offices and roles described in verse 11: "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers." Lets pray. 12:28; 14:20). 5:14). Even without counting the fact that the painting is a violation of the Second Commandment, it is problematic. 5:4) who lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11; cf. Prophets are rarely mentioned in the life of the early church, with most of the references found in the book of Acts (11:28; 13:1; 15:2223, 32; 21:11). There are two compelling reasons these terms represent the same office. 1:1). 15:13). They also ensure that the people are properly observing the Lords Supper as they gather. The New Testament presents a consistent, though perhaps not completely uniform, pattern of church leadership. Prayer preaches that a pastor doesnt trust in his own sophistry or fine speeches to change and help the people. Therefore, these titles serve more as labels, distinguishing the different works and roles rather than serving as a title. However, in both 1 Timothy 5:1725 and Titus 1:5, elders are also mentioned. The office of deacon is a separate and distinct office to that of the elder (or overseer or pastor). 5:22). Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.. However, some of these labels are indeed made in reference to a special office. 5:14). Now, as Jesus teaches us in Matthew 18, if a brother wont repent of sin after you have approached them and shown them that what they are doing is sin according to Scripture, the next stage of discipline is to bring along other brothers or sisters, in order that we might meet the requirement of the law of God that all charges be established on the basis of two or three witnesses. But when referring to deacons, Paul omits the section where he compares managing ones household to taking care of Gods church (1 Tim. As the title indicates, their primary mission was sharing the gospel with others. Shepherds cant love to fighttheyre not to be quarrelsomebut they must be ready to fight. 3:8, 12). For example, Galatians 6:6 mentions that those who receive instruction should support the one who teaches. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1213, Paul exhorts the congregation to give recognition and respect to those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. The author of Hebrews likewise urges the congregation to obey their leaders and submit to them (Heb. Whenever a Christian helps another Christian see and repent of sin and move towards maturity in Christ, church discipline is successfully taking place. The word deacon comes from the Greek term diakonos, which normally means servant. In some contexts, however, the term can be used more formally to designate someone who holds an office in the church. The overwhelming evidence in the New Testament is that every congregation was led by a group of elders and not merely by a single pastor. Now listen, because I know the little painting that comes to mind as you hear what Im saying right now, the one of the long-haired Jesus with the little lamb over his shoulders. The other office, that of deacon, was intended to serve the needs of the flock and to enable the elders to carry out their responsibilities. Church discipline is tragically avoided and neglected in the church todayand to our shame and our ill health. In 1 Timothy 3, Paul gives qualifications for the two offices, with qualifications for overseers in 3:17 (see also Titus 1:59) and deacons in 3:813. Again, Ephesians 2:20 confirms that the church was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. This essay is freely available under Creative Commons License with Attribution-ShareAlike, allowing users to share it in other mediums/formats and adapt/translate the content as long as an attribution link, indication of changes, and the same Creative Commons License applies to that material. Such a man is disqualified. The New Testament presents a consistent, though perhaps not completely uniform, pattern of church leadership. Now, this duty is impossible to rightly discharge unless an elder also discharges the third duty well take up this morning: An elder must discharge the ministries of the Word and of prayer. Please make sure all fields are filled out. ", "build all things according to the pattern", Various Teachings Endorsed by the Local Church. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. Third, elders are teachers of Gods word (Eph. When Paul writes the Pastoral Epistles, there are two established offices in the churchoverseers and deacons. Although the New Testament does not designate a particular number of elders to lead the church, there is a consist pattern of each church being led by a plurality of elders. In Ephesians 4:11 Paul mentions that the risen Christ has given leaders to the church, including apostles, prophets, and evangelists (cf. Lastly, one of the duties of the leaders of the local church is actually the last mark of a true church that the Reformers identified: Practicing church discipline. "Test all things; hold fast what is good", "do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Another important and fundamental aspect of a local church are its various offices and roles. You are not being picky or divisive or rude or legalistic to insist on these things in anyone sitting in the offices of the church. They must follow the example of Jesus, the chief Shepherd (1 Pet. When we compile a complete list of the offices and roles found in the New Testament church, we discover the following list of offices in the church, along with the following synonyms: Of course, no study of the offices of the church would be complete without first examining the one who died for the church and by whose name it is called - Jesus Christ. This is especially true for apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (and the apostle Paul). The leaders need to make sure that the members of the church are in obedience to the command of the Lord Jesus in the Great Commission of Matthew 28 to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. We said that local church membership is the pronouncement, This person is a member of Christs Kingdom, by a local assembly of Gods people. 4:11; 1 Tim. One of the offices was variously called elders, overseers, or pastors (all three of these terms refer to the same group and were used interchangeably in the New Testament). Elders must not only teach the Word, they must also pray for the flock. There was a plurality of elders at the churches in Jerusalem (Acts 11:30; Acts 15:4, 2223), Antioch of Pisidia, Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe (Acts 14:23), Ephesus (Acts 20:17; 1 Tim. Right? One way the Reformers sought to clarify how we ought to think of the one true, apostolic church on earth even in the context of many local churches was to try to boil down what must be present for a church to be a true church. For example, many churches that shut down during the current government-issued crisis continued practicing what they called The Lords Supper by encouraging people to just grab something thats close to bread and whatever juice or fruit drink you have on hand, and well be doing digital communion.. While elders do have authority to lead the church, their authority should be balanced by the congregation. Doctrine and teaching is essential, but not sufficient. This is why we dont typically start with our own ideas of what people need and then find some verses to support it. Paul writes to Titus instructing him to appoint elders in every town (Titus 1:5), but when he gives the needed qualifications just two verses later he switches to the term overseer (1:7). Other titles that are also used for church leaders include elder and pastor. Although the term pastor (or shepherd) is commonly used in our modern church context, it is used only one time in the New Testament as a reference to a church leader (Eph. 13:17; see also 1 Cor. The very word pastor is a farming wordthe leadership of the church is a pastoral thing. We are therefore in a place where the church is like orphan children with no parent who will love them enough to correct them.
Paul says in Galatians 6 that we are to do this in a spirit of gentleness, keeping watch on ourselves as well. The solution is to preach and teach the whole counsel of the Word of Godboth Gods gospel and Gods law, meaning both the new creational ministry of the Spirit of God through the shed blood and resurrection glory of the Son of God, as well as the life of faith, the life of obedience to the Son. No. The authority of the eldership comes from God and not the congregation (Acts 20:28; Eph. Elders are called to visit those who are spiritually and physically sick or weak (Jas. Most church discipline happens under the surface and in a very organic way. Those who lead well are worthy of double honor (1 Tim. The focus of the qualifications is on who a person is more than what a person does. Yet, overseers and deacons were also mentioned in Pauls earlier letter to the Philippians (1:1). My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill.
In addition to being disobedient to Gods will, perversion of His pattern for the church generates additional temptation, pressures, and finally, corruption that would not be present if we would "build all things according to the pattern". 4:11). Moreover, we must be vigilant to compare all human directives with the Bible - the words of Christ. as they order them..
Further illustrating His ultimate position, Jesus is also spoken of as a King and His people are referred to as citizens of His kingdom (Colossians 1:3; John 18:33-37). No, we want the text to lead, speak, direct, and change us. It is therefore less like a king and a kingdom than it is like a shepherd and a flock. 13:17; cf. He alone holds all authority over the church, filling many positions: Savior, High Priest, King, and Prophet. The only qualification that directly relates to an elders duties in the church is that he must be able to teach (1 Tim. Fourth, elders and overseers are never listed as separate offices which suggests that the three-tiered ecclesiastical system is foreign to the New Testament. This obviously precludes narcissistic pastors, building churches as little towers of Babel to their own glory.
Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. The most noticeable distinction between elders and deacons is that deacons do not need to be able to teach (1 Tim. 3:45; 5:17) and teaching (1 Tim. Because they are given the same tasks, they should be viewed as representing the same office. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. This is why Paul is able to tell the Corinthian assembly to Be imitators of me, just as I imitate Christ. You should expect your elders to be and remain biblically qualified, so that you could say, Yes, I will order my home, my vocation, my childrearing, my finances, my doctrine, etc. 5:13) and teaching (1 Tim. Just as elders have authority in their homes, so also they have authority in the church (1 Tim 3:45). This essay is part of the Concise Theology series. So this morning, we will take up the duties of church leaders to the church. This reference denotes the authority of His position and office.
Churches had qualified, designated leaders who served the church under the lordship of Christ, guided by both the Scriptures and the Spirit. Shameful. The duties of the elders also infer a certain amount of authority. Like elders, deacons must lead their families well. In the New Testament, Jesus chose twelve apostles to lead the church. As head of the church, He is the supreme authority on all matters. In the recordigns of Acts, Luke commended the people of Berea for their diligence in checking the teachings of the apostle Paul against that of the Old Testament scriptures (Acts 17:10-12). Listen to Pauls charge to a pastor he mentored in 2 Timothy 4:14, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 2:2), so also elders are to raise up the next generation of leaders and disciple-makers in the church. Apart from the foundational offices of apostles and prophets, the early churches had qualified leaders, elders and deacons, who served the church under the lordship of Christ, guided by both the Scriptures and the Spirit. It is the formal, acknowledged relationship of a member of the church universal to the church local. Therefore, in our effort to obey Christ, Who is the head of the church, let us likewise "Test all things; hold fast what is good" and be sure that we "do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." The church is full of the disease of sin, uncorrected and festering like gangrene in a wound.
The elders are to be models of self-government and family government in order to be models of Christ. Second, elders are never given a separate list of qualifications. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths., In a section of one of his works called The True Nature of a Gospel Church and Its Government John Owen wrote, The first and principal duty of a pastor is to feed the flock by diligent preaching of the word. And then in a sermon on the duty of a pastor, he added, He is no pastor who doth not feed his flock.. First, elders or overseers are given the same tasks as pastors of shepherding (Acts 20:17, 28; Eph. This gift is partly comprised by the abilities that are graciously given to those who fulfill the offices and roles described in verse 11: "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers." Lets pray. 12:28; 14:20). 5:14). Even without counting the fact that the painting is a violation of the Second Commandment, it is problematic. 5:4) who lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11; cf. Prophets are rarely mentioned in the life of the early church, with most of the references found in the book of Acts (11:28; 13:1; 15:2223, 32; 21:11). There are two compelling reasons these terms represent the same office. 1:1). 15:13). They also ensure that the people are properly observing the Lords Supper as they gather. The New Testament presents a consistent, though perhaps not completely uniform, pattern of church leadership. Prayer preaches that a pastor doesnt trust in his own sophistry or fine speeches to change and help the people. Therefore, these titles serve more as labels, distinguishing the different works and roles rather than serving as a title. However, in both 1 Timothy 5:1725 and Titus 1:5, elders are also mentioned. The office of deacon is a separate and distinct office to that of the elder (or overseer or pastor). 5:22). Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.. However, some of these labels are indeed made in reference to a special office. 5:14). Now, as Jesus teaches us in Matthew 18, if a brother wont repent of sin after you have approached them and shown them that what they are doing is sin according to Scripture, the next stage of discipline is to bring along other brothers or sisters, in order that we might meet the requirement of the law of God that all charges be established on the basis of two or three witnesses. But when referring to deacons, Paul omits the section where he compares managing ones household to taking care of Gods church (1 Tim. As the title indicates, their primary mission was sharing the gospel with others. Shepherds cant love to fighttheyre not to be quarrelsomebut they must be ready to fight. 3:8, 12). For example, Galatians 6:6 mentions that those who receive instruction should support the one who teaches. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1213, Paul exhorts the congregation to give recognition and respect to those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. The author of Hebrews likewise urges the congregation to obey their leaders and submit to them (Heb. Whenever a Christian helps another Christian see and repent of sin and move towards maturity in Christ, church discipline is successfully taking place. The word deacon comes from the Greek term diakonos, which normally means servant. In some contexts, however, the term can be used more formally to designate someone who holds an office in the church. The overwhelming evidence in the New Testament is that every congregation was led by a group of elders and not merely by a single pastor. Now listen, because I know the little painting that comes to mind as you hear what Im saying right now, the one of the long-haired Jesus with the little lamb over his shoulders. The other office, that of deacon, was intended to serve the needs of the flock and to enable the elders to carry out their responsibilities. Church discipline is tragically avoided and neglected in the church todayand to our shame and our ill health. In 1 Timothy 3, Paul gives qualifications for the two offices, with qualifications for overseers in 3:17 (see also Titus 1:59) and deacons in 3:813. Again, Ephesians 2:20 confirms that the church was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. This essay is freely available under Creative Commons License with Attribution-ShareAlike, allowing users to share it in other mediums/formats and adapt/translate the content as long as an attribution link, indication of changes, and the same Creative Commons License applies to that material. Such a man is disqualified. The New Testament presents a consistent, though perhaps not completely uniform, pattern of church leadership. Now, this duty is impossible to rightly discharge unless an elder also discharges the third duty well take up this morning: An elder must discharge the ministries of the Word and of prayer. Please make sure all fields are filled out. ", "build all things according to the pattern", Various Teachings Endorsed by the Local Church. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. Third, elders are teachers of Gods word (Eph. When Paul writes the Pastoral Epistles, there are two established offices in the churchoverseers and deacons. Although the New Testament does not designate a particular number of elders to lead the church, there is a consist pattern of each church being led by a plurality of elders. In Ephesians 4:11 Paul mentions that the risen Christ has given leaders to the church, including apostles, prophets, and evangelists (cf. Lastly, one of the duties of the leaders of the local church is actually the last mark of a true church that the Reformers identified: Practicing church discipline. "Test all things; hold fast what is good", "do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Another important and fundamental aspect of a local church are its various offices and roles. You are not being picky or divisive or rude or legalistic to insist on these things in anyone sitting in the offices of the church. They must follow the example of Jesus, the chief Shepherd (1 Pet. When we compile a complete list of the offices and roles found in the New Testament church, we discover the following list of offices in the church, along with the following synonyms: Of course, no study of the offices of the church would be complete without first examining the one who died for the church and by whose name it is called - Jesus Christ. This is especially true for apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (and the apostle Paul). The leaders need to make sure that the members of the church are in obedience to the command of the Lord Jesus in the Great Commission of Matthew 28 to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. We said that local church membership is the pronouncement, This person is a member of Christs Kingdom, by a local assembly of Gods people. 4:11; 1 Tim. One of the offices was variously called elders, overseers, or pastors (all three of these terms refer to the same group and were used interchangeably in the New Testament). Elders must not only teach the Word, they must also pray for the flock. There was a plurality of elders at the churches in Jerusalem (Acts 11:30; Acts 15:4, 2223), Antioch of Pisidia, Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe (Acts 14:23), Ephesus (Acts 20:17; 1 Tim. Right? One way the Reformers sought to clarify how we ought to think of the one true, apostolic church on earth even in the context of many local churches was to try to boil down what must be present for a church to be a true church. For example, many churches that shut down during the current government-issued crisis continued practicing what they called The Lords Supper by encouraging people to just grab something thats close to bread and whatever juice or fruit drink you have on hand, and well be doing digital communion.. While elders do have authority to lead the church, their authority should be balanced by the congregation. Doctrine and teaching is essential, but not sufficient. This is why we dont typically start with our own ideas of what people need and then find some verses to support it. Paul writes to Titus instructing him to appoint elders in every town (Titus 1:5), but when he gives the needed qualifications just two verses later he switches to the term overseer (1:7). Other titles that are also used for church leaders include elder and pastor. Although the term pastor (or shepherd) is commonly used in our modern church context, it is used only one time in the New Testament as a reference to a church leader (Eph. 13:17; see also 1 Cor. The very word pastor is a farming wordthe leadership of the church is a pastoral thing. We are therefore in a place where the church is like orphan children with no parent who will love them enough to correct them.