What We Believe: Offices in the Local Church

My next post was going to be concerning women's roles in the church, but I realized that before I could discuss that topic effectively, I needed to lay out what the Bible says about church leadership and organization and then move on to women's roles within that structure.

We believe that the Bible provides very specific instructions concerning the structure of the local church.

The plan for church organization is really quite simple as laid out in Scripture, but throughout the two millennia since its founding, fallible men have made it more and more complicated.  Men have developed more "efficient" extra-church systems like synods, conferences, councils, presbyteries, general assemblies, etc.  Complicated intra-church systems have been devised as well, confusing the roles of pastors/elders, ministers/deacons, evangelists/preachers, and adding new official positions and titles to the church that never existed in Scripture, many of which come from running a church like a business instead of a family.

But what does Scripture really say about church organization?  In this article, I will only examine intra-church organization (that is, the offices of the local church) and tackle extra-church organization in a separate post.

Christ:  The Head of the Church

Christ is the only head of His church.  We see this in:

·         Colossians 1:18 - "And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence."

·         Ephesians 1:22-23 - "And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." 

·         Matthew 28:18 - "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

There is a lot more to be said about even this simple point, but that will be a post of its own someday.  If you'd like to see it sooner rather than later, let me know.

Elders:  The Authority in the Local Church

Each local church should be governed by a plurality of qualified shepherds/elders/bishops/overseers/pastors/presbyters.  Out of familiarity, I will simply say “elder,” but know that this term includes all the others listed above and each of those terms can be found in Scripture and refer to the same office.

What does an elder do?

An elder guides the church and is responsible for the souls of the flock.

·         Hebrews 13:17 – “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account.  Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

·         I Peter 5:1-3 – “The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:  Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.”

·         Acts 20:1 and 28 – “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church….  Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

An elder has the authority to rebuke false teachers.

·         Titus 1:9-14 – “…holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.  For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain…. This testimony is true.  Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth.”

An elder is to be respected and honored amongst the congregation.

·         I Thessalonians 5:12-14 – “And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.  Be at peace among yourselves.”

·         I Timothy 5:17, 19 – “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine….  Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.”

An elder has the authority to invoke the healing power of the Holy Spirit.

·         James 5:14 – “Is anyone among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of Lord.”

Who can be an elder?

There are two main passages on the qualifications of elders which literally list out the habits and character traits that must be present if a man is to be considered for the office of an elder.  Instead of re-listing them, I’ll just post the passages:

·         Titus 1:5-9 – “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you—if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.  For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast to the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”

·         I Tim. 3:2-7 – “This is a good saying:  If a man desires the position of a bishop*, he desires a good work.  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.  Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

* Literally overseer

Conclusion

So we can see that the elders are “in charge,” so to speak, of the local congregation, under the headship of Christ, who is the head of the universal church.  They are appointed by other elders (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5) or—if there are no elders yet in the church—by the congregation according to the guidelines set out in I Tim. 3:27 and Titus 1:5-9.

We can also see from the use of the plural “elders” (or other term) in most of the verses above, that unlike many man-made systems, for each church there is a plurality of elders rather than a plurality of churches to one elder.

Some of the confusion about this office is due to the multiple terms used for it, but we can see from the verses above that each of the terms listed in the opening paragraph of this section refer to the office of “elder.”

Lastly, I found this website to be helpful in expounding upon some of the questions I don’t have the room or the time to do here:  http://bible.org/article/who-should-run-church-case-plurality-elders.  However, I do not agree with his thoughts on the term “pastor,” as it comes from the Greek poimen, which means “shepherd,” which we know is another word for “elder.”

Deacons:  The Appointed Servants of the Local Church

Each local church should be served by qualified deacons/ministers.

What does a deacon do?

A deacon serves the local congregation in various capacities, most notably in ministering to the needy of the church.

·         Acts 6:1-6 – “Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.  Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.  Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”  And the saying pleased the whole multitude.  And the chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.”

Who can be a deacon?

The qualifications of deacons are laid out in the following passage, and are fairly self-explanatory. 

·         I Timothy 3:8-12 – Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.  But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.  Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.  Let deacons be the husband of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.  For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Conclusion

Deacons are men who serve the church in an official, appointed capacity.  They must be men of good reputation and spiritually strong in order to fill this office.  They are chosen by the congregation and appointed by the elders.

Other words that can be used for deacon are "servant" and "minister," all of which come from the Greek diakonos.

It is generally understood that new, young congregations do not have to have deacons right away, as there are usually not enough qualified men to fill both offices.  In this case, elders should be appointed as soon as possible, and deacons appointed as there is need (not to mention qualified men).

Other Church Titles

We only have the scriptural authority to have very specific church offices (elders and deacons), and we are limited to what we can use as titles for the offices by Scripture as well.  (Our words are obviously in English, but the meaning should translate from the Greek, and if the meaning is different, then that word should not be used.)

This is why I do not believe an office such as “lay leader” should exist.  Everyone should participate to their fullest ability in the church under the elders’ leadership—not the leadership of a layman.

Also, using the term “father” as a title in a spiritual sense to refer to a mortal man is forbidden by Christ himself (Matthew 23:9).  Many denominations do this, both Catholic and Protestant, in direct defiance of Christ’s command.

Conclusion

Despite my many words, the structure of the local church is really quite simple.  Christ is the head, the elders are the leaders, and the deacons are the servants. 

Does this mean that “non-titled” members do not lead or do not serve?  Of course not!  We should not wait for a title before we lead and serve for Christ, both in the church and in the world.  But men with these titles have the specific responsibility (and in the case of elders, the authority) to do these things, and will be held responsible for how they fulfilled their offices on Judgment Day (I Pet. 5:3; I Tim. 3:12).

This would be a better figure if the members didn't appear "under" the deacons, but it's a neat illustration nonetheless.