Perhaps no institution is more synonymous with the image of Christianity than the church. After all, Christ and his disciples showed great love toward the Church and it's members. Interestingly, however, the Bible contains little on how our churches should be organized. This is where the theology of ecclesiology come in.
A Brief Dive into Church History
Not much is known about the structure and operations of the church in the decades following the death and resurrection of Christ. This is likely due to the conditions that early Christians faced: persecution by Israel and Rome and minimal resources to spread the Gospel, let along record their daily meetings. Still, some documents still exist and we can piece together a picture when they are paired with descriptions of the early church in New Testament.
Early church leaders were referred to by many different names: teachers, apostles, prophets and many more. This suggests that the early church probably had very little leadership structure at all. This would make since considering they had all been following Jesus for some time and were probably left overwhelmed at the responsibility of leading believers in the years after His death. That being said, within the next 100 years, the church seemed to have 3 distinct leadership positions: bishops, presbyters and deacons. Interestingly, the deacons were the ministers and bishops served a more administrative role. Presbyters was just a fancy name for elders.
What Does The Bible Say?
Most mentions of the Church in the New Testament are in reference to the body of believers worldwide. However, we can gather a lot from the letters of the apostles. In 1 Corinthians, Paul lists the hierarchy of the church in his time: "first apostles, second prophets, third teachers (1 Corinth 12:28)." In Acts 13:1, church leaders of Antioch were again referred to as prophets and teachers.
Acts 6:1-4 adds that apostles were able to appoint men to serve the community due to the increased demand from the "widows". These men were called later called deacons and their duty was to serve the community while the apostles (and presumably prophets and teachers as well) spread the Gospel through "prayer and ministry of the Word." The only presumed deacons named in the New Testament is Stephen, Philip, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolaus. Interestingly enough, they are not referred to directly as deacons; the only person in the entire New Testament referred directly as a deacon is a woman named Phoebe (Romans 16:1). However, many translations refer to her as a "servant of the church," but the Greek translation uses diakonos, the same word used for deacons throughout the New Testament. Also, Paul notes she was a "patron of many and of myself as well," similar to the job description provided in Acts 6.
1 Timothy is perhaps the most useful book when studying ecclesiology as it lays out qualifications and duties for deacons, elders and bishops (overseers in many translations). Of interest is the fact Paul divides the elderly into widows (women; 5:3-10) and presbyters (men; 5:17-22). Both are meant to be subject to honor from the entire congregation but also the chief decision makers of the church as Paul says the elders are to "rule well" and James 5:14-15 outlines their place in communal prayer. Widows have authority over their children and grandchildren or younger women of the church. Of note, considering presbyters are sometimes called elders and so are overseers/bishops, it is possible that they were all the same.
Bishops (also referred to as elders and overseers) are clearly outlined in the letter of Titus. There isn't much to highlight other than that they are to "teach sound doctrine."
Interpretations and Traditions
It would be lengthy and pointless to go through the organization of every major denomination. Some churches have extensive church governments while some are lead by a preacher and a few deacons. Some churches belong to national denominations while some are completely confined to their part of the city. Instead, I can only offer some applications.
First, women absolutely have a place in church leadership. While the Bible clearly disqualifies them from some positions (elders/overseers) there are still many that they may be appointed to. Often, churches almost completely suppress women in the church and rob them of any sort of voice in church affairs. Given that some early deacons were women and they are to have some authority over some groups, they should have a voice. Many churches simply don't allow women to simply speak. This is not an interpretation of the Bible; it's a tradition of misogyny. Until the last 100ish years, women lacked rights in society and that creeped into the church. That is the only explanation as to how women were important to the early church yet completely disregarded as time went on and even into today.
Second, leadership roles and qualifications, though sparsely mentioned, are clear in the Bible. Thus, churches should be following them. We often think about how women shouldn't be pastors, but rarely think about how pastors shouldn't be doing the job of the widows outlined in the Bible. Many churches simply appoint pastors and deacons to run everything. As the church or ministry grows, it will simply become too much. As the early church did, they should not be afraid to create many leadership positions, especially ones where currently leadership are not qualified for. However, some church leaders are afraid to expand the leadership board as it disrupts their form of hierarchy; as power is limited, it decreases as it is dispersed to other individuals. Church leaders should be able and willing to distribute responsibilities to those willing and qualified, just as the apostles did instead of taking everything in the church upon themselves.
That being said, I have much respect for the leaders in our churches and all congregants should join me in praying for them often, especially in the times of pandemic and social injustice we live in now.
-Jacob
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