In our last study we discovered how the
body of Christ and His church are one in the same. We studied the body
and how it is made up of many members, but all are the same in that they
share the mind of Christ despite their varied functions. We saw how the
denominational approach to the Lord's body cannot be valid, in that each
religious organization has a different mind, therefore a different
head. We considered how each of us might know we have the mind of
Christ: through obedience to His word, just as He was obedient to the
will of His Father. Now lets take a detailed look at the Lord's body.
I'd like to start by considering the
organization of the church. In the religious world today we see many
different organizational schemes to the various religious bodies around
us. They range from complete autonomy for an individual congregation
one hand, to near complete lack of autonomy and subjection to a national or
international organization on the other. What guidelines on organization
does the Holy Spirit through the Bible give us?
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What non-miraculous offices are
authorized within a local congregation of the Lord's body? I emphasized non-miraculous in this point,
since we know that the church had people in the first century who were
endowed with miraculous gifts and served the church with these gifts (1
Corinthians 12). We have seen in another study ("Why must we use the Bible only")
how miraculous gifts ceased upon the death of the last person to whom these
gifts were given by the laying on of an apostles' hands. Today, only
non-miraculous offices exist in the Lord's church. What are these
offices?
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The Elder (also referred to as the bishop, shepherd,
overseer, or pastor): The elders are the overseers of an individual
congregation of the Lord's body. Notice how I included the terms
"bishop" and "pastor" in the list of synonyms for the
office of the elder. Many denominations have established separate
offices for bishops and pastors. Why did I include these two terms as
synonyms for the elder? Please turn to Acts
20:17. Here we see Paul calling the elders of the church to meet
him at Miletus. Now turn to Acts
20:28. Here Paul tells the elders to "take heed
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy
Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He
hath purchased with His own blood." Here we see Paul referring to
the elders as "overseers." The Greek word translated
"overseers" is episkopos.
The word is translated into English using two different words: overseer
and bishop. Only one other Greek word is translated
"bishop" in the NT: episkope.
Episkopos refers to the bishop himself, and episkope refers to
the office he occupies. In the Greek, there is no difference between
the overseer and the bishop. In Acts 20:28 we see Paul calling the
elders "overseers." Those who translated the NT from Greek
into English could have used "bishop" instead. So we see that
the elder may correctly be referred to as an elder, overseer, or bishop.
But what about "pastor?" This word is used only once in the
entire NT (KJV): Ephesians
4:11. Here the Greek word is poimeen,
and is translated elsewhere in the NT as "shepherd" or
"shepherds." What did Paul tell the elders to do in Acts
20:28? "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock,
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers" What does a
shepherd do? He feeds the flock! Isaiah tells us about this duty
of a shepherd in chapter
40, verse 11 of the book named for him: "He shall feed his
flock like a shepherd." So when Paul tells the Ephesian elders to
feed the flock entrusted to their care, he was telling them to serve as a
shepherd to the flock. The Greek word translated "shepherd"
is poimen, which is translated "pastors" in Ephesians 4:11. We see an elder being instructed to
feed the flock in 1 Peter
5:1-2.
Therefore, an elder is also a pastor, an overseer, a bishop, and a
shepherd.
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Who may serve as an elder? Specific
qualifications for the bishop are given in 1
Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus
1:5-9. I've provided links to these verses so you may study them
for yourself. I'll mention a couple of these qualifications, since they
relate directly to the qualifications for bishops established by many
denominations. We see from these two passages that the bishop must be a
married man ("the husband of one wife") and he must have children
("having his children in subjection..."). Many denominations
teach that the bishop must be unmarried.
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How many elders comprise an eldership?
More than one. Paul sent Titus to "ordain elders in every
city" (Titus
1:5). Luke records in Acts
14:23 that there were elders ordained in every church established by Paul
on his first missionary journey with Barnabas. The singular
"elder" is used only 8 times in the NT, and each time refers to a
specific individual or one of advanced years. Paul warns the Ephesian
elders that some among them would "arise, speaking perverse things, to
draw away disciples after them" (Acts
20:30). So even among the eldership there would be those who would
pervert the truth of God. If a single elder were appointed, the
opportunity for the flock to be corrupted by his evildoing would be greatly
enhanced. Having a plurality of elders offers an opportunity for the
faithful elders to discipline the one doing evil before the entire flock is
corrupted. Paul tells Timothy to hear an accusation against an elder
only if two or more witnesses to his wrongdoing are present. But if
they are, that elder is to be rebuked before the entire congregation, so that
others also may fear (1
Timothy 5:19,20). The elders are to serve as examples to the flock
they lead (1
Peter 5:3).
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The Deacon: We read of the office of deacon in 1
Timothy 3:8-13. The Greek word translated "deacon" is diakoneo,
and is translated elsewhere in the NT using the terms ministered,
ministering, serve, serveth, and served. The plural diakonos
is translated minister, servants, and servant in addition to
"deacons." Clearly we see the role of a deacon in these
terms: one who serves the church. However, this is not a minister
as we usually think of the word today (that is, a preacher). While a
deacon certainly may preach, the deaconship has been given a particular place
in the church. Paul states, "they that have used the office of a
deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the
faith which is in Christ Jesus" (1
Timothy 3:13). So we see the deaconship is a specific office in a
local congregation of the Lord's church, to be filled by qualified men.
Paul lists the qualifications necessary before one can be considered for the
office of deacon in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. Please link to the scripture
above for a full account, but again we see that the deacon must be a married
man with children. We read of the presence of both bishops and deacons
in the church at Philippi in Paul's introduction to his letter to the
Philippians (Philippians
1:1). Since an eldership must be present to oversee the
congregation, the office of deacon should be vacant until after a group of
elders have been appointed. Once this has occurred, deacons may be
appointed to serve the congregation under the oversight of the eldership.
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Other positions of service within the
church: Only the eldership
and deaconship are specific offices within the local congregation, to which
Paul gives specific requirements before one may occupy them. However,
other positions of service with the church are mentioned in the NT.
These include evangelists and teachers (Ephesians
4:11). In this verse Paul also mentions apostles and prophets, but
we know from study of the NT that nobody today can fulfill the requirements
one must meet to fill these positions. In Acts
1:21-22 Paul lists the requirements one must meet to be selected as an
apostle. Nobody today was alive during the time of the baptism of John
to the ascension of Jesus into heaven after His resurrection. In 1
Corinthians 12:10 Paul lists "prophecy" as one of the
miraculous spiritual gifts given to members of the church. However, we
seen in Acts
8:14-17 how those prophets gained this ability: through the laying
on of an apostles' hands. When the last apostle died, the last true
prophet had been made. When the last true prophet died, the end of
prophecy occurred. So these were miraculous positions filled by men during
the period of time prior to the completion of the written word of God.
For further studies please see my article titled, "Why must we use the Bible only?"
In Ephesians
4:12 we see the purpose of these various positions of service:
"For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ;” So those who serve as evangelists and
teachers have a responsibility to minister and edify.
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The Members: Peter describes the members of the Lord's
body as "lively stones" who "are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by
Jesus Christ" (1
Peter 2:5). He continues in verse
9 of the same chapter: "But ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;” Here we see that
each and every member of the Lord's church is a priest, making up a royal
priesthood to show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of
darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). We see in these verses
the source of the denominational practice of a priesthood separate from the
membership of the congregation: this doctrine is of man, not of
God. Likewise the members of the Lord's body are referred to as saints
throughout the NT writings. The plural "saints" is used 60
times in the NT, while the singular "saint " is used only once (Philippians
4:21). The one time Paul uses the singular he is actually referring
to the plural, instructing the Philippians to "salute every saint in
Christ Jesus." He tells them to salute each member of the body in
a personal fashion. Philippians
1:1 is a good example of the use of the plural "saints" in the
NT. Paul writes this letter "to all the saints in Christ Jesus
which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:” So again we see
the denominational practice of declaring special honor upon long-dead members
of a religious body by calling them "saints" is a practice not of
God, but of men. Living members of the Lord's body are each and every
one a saint and a priest.
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Is a congregation of the Lord's
church autonomous, or is it subject to a national/international organization? What does that word "autonomous"
mean? I've provided a link to Merriam-Webster's on-line dictionary
should you wish to read the definition for yourself. M-W tells us that
something that is autonomous has the right or power of self-government, can
carry on without outside control, or is capable of existing
independently. The word "denomination"
refers to the absence of autonomy of an individual congregation of a
particular religious organization. M-W defines a denomination as
"a religious organization uniting local congregations in a single legal
and administrative body." So any religious body, which has any
type of organization unifying more than one congregation of people together
in an administrative or legal sense, is a denomination. Therefore any
congregation of people belonging to a religious denomination is incapable of
existing independently (in one fashion or another). The local or
national organization of that religious body carries some legal or
administrative control over the individual congregation of members.
Do we find within the scriptures support for a local or national
organization of the Lord's body? Since the word
"denomination" is so prevalent when referring to religious
organizations today, is that word found in the New Testament? No.
The word denomination referring to different religious bodies is a term used
by man to refer to these various organizations. But is the concept
of denominationalism applied to the Lord's church found within the NT, even
though the word is not?
Let's begin by considering again the
eldership. As we noted above, elders were appointed in every city
visited by Paul on his first missionary journey. The eldership has the
responsibility of looking out for the spiritual welfare of the flock they
have entrusted to their care. There are no scriptures in the NT
authorizing the establishment of a bishop or groups of bishops that oversee
an area, region, state, nation, or denomination. Again consider the
wisdom of this autonomous arrangement of individual congregations. If a
bishop or group of bishops who were not faithful to the word of God oversaw
an area or region, then the entire area or region is at risk of
apostasy. We've seen this time and again with different denominations
in the very recent past. I'm sure many of you are aware of the
embezzlement scandal within the leadership of the Baptist church a few years
ago. Such a scandal would never have occurred had the commandments
regarding church organization given by God been followed. Unfortunately
we frequently hear of scandals within the Catholic priesthood, which often
include charges of molestation involving one of the priests and a young
boy. Had the commandments regarding marriage and fatherhood for bishops
given by God only been followed it is likely many of these unfortunate events
would never have occurred. Paul tells us in Romans
6:19 that good cannot come from iniquity. When man fails to follow
the commandments of God, only iniquity results. But when man follows
the commandments of God and yields his members as servants to righteousness,
holiness results (Romans 6:19).
I've heard of Acts
15:1-29 being used as justification for a central authority for a
denominational group. Let's look at these verses and determine whether
this is valid or not. We see in verse 1 that certain men came from
Judea had come to Antioch (chapter 14:26-28)
and began teaching that the saints at Antioch could not be saved unless they
were circumcised after the manner of Moses. Paul and Barnabas disputed
with them (verse
2). It was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and certain others would go
to Jerusalem and ask the apostles and elders about this question (3).
In Jerusalem, they declared to the church, the apostles, and the elders all
that God had done with them (4). But in the church at Jerusalem there
were Pharisees who were believers. This group rose up during this
meeting and declared that it was necessary to keep the law of Moses with regards
to circumcision (5). The apostles and elders came together as a group
to discuss this matter (6). Peter and James delivered eloquent speeches
showing how God had declared the Gentiles partakers of His grace in the
church, and that the Jews were unable to bear the yoke of circumcision during
the period of time the law of Moses was in effect (7-21). It was
decided that a letter would come from the apostles, elders, and the whole
church instructing the Christians in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia to do the
following: abstain from meats offered to idols, from blood, from things
strangled, and to keep from fornication (22-29). Why was it necessary
for them to write this letter and to send these men out again to deliver
it? Because certain people had gone out from the Jerusalem church,
troubling the saints in Antioch with the demand that they must be circumcised
to be saved (24)! Why did I highlight the phrase above? The
meeting was held in Jerusalem for several reasons: the apostles were
there, and the false teachers had come from the Jerusalem congregation.
This wasn't a general conference of bishops from around the world who met to
discuss how a denomination would practice its religion. This was a
meeting between religious leaders from a church that had been taught false
doctrine and the leaders of the church from which the false teachers had
come. The letter generated from this meeting was sent specifically to
the congregations in the region affected by the false teaching. One
cannot use this example to justify the existence of central bodies that guide
the doctrinal stance and practices of so many religious organizations
today. Congregations of the Lord's body are designed to exist
independent of every other congregation. By doing so, should one congregation
fall into apostasy as the result of false teaching, all of the congregations
in an area, region, state, or even nation won't fall into the same trap.
Summary
In our study of the organization of the Lord's
body we've discovered that the church consists of believers who have been
added to the body of Christ (Acts
2:47). These saints reside in various locations throughout the
world, but as a whole make up the church. The Lord has instructed His
people to assemble on a regular basis. These local congregations of His
people throughout the world are organized in a fashion authorized by
God. Each congregation is independent and is overseen by a group of
elders. Deacons serve the congregation in various ways. Commonly
an evangelist is present among the members of the congregation. Several
members also serve as teachers. We've seen how the Lord does not authorize
the various denominational conferences. The practice of exalting one
man as bishop over an area or region is also not scriptural. To declare
a long-dead member of a religious body a "saint" is a practice
devised by man and has no authorization in the inspired word of God. To
many these points may seem trivial. But unfortunately the news is
frequently filled with accounts of wrongdoings that result directly from
man's unwillingness to obey the commandments of God dealing with the
organization of His church. We'd do well to remember Paul's statement
in 1
Corinthians 1:25: "Because the foolishness of God is wiser
than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." When we
question the pattern authorized by God for the organization of His church we
are relying on the wisdom of man that will never match even the foolishness
of God. The Ecclesiastes writer closes his book with the
admonition: "Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is
the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes
12:13,14)
Church
Organization
