God's
System
Ephesians chapters 3 and 4
Alexander Campbell is probably best known for his
books.(15)
entitled "The Christian
System" in which he gives his understanding of the scriptures on the
constitution of God's church. That work, together with much of his other
writings, greatly influenced a movement in the USA towards "restoring New
Testament Christianity" generally known as "the restoration movement." Churches
of Christ in the United Kingdom were encouraged to learn of this movement
and began exchanging letters with churches of Christ in the USA. This first
came to my attention when I was shown correspondence of that time between
a church of Christ in Manchester with a church of Christ in New York. Alexander
Campbell's writings also greatly influenced Scotch Baptist and other British
churches to abandon their denominations. So the drive to ensure that faith
and practice was scriptural gained momentum. Understandably perfection was
not achieved immediately and sadly there have been serious reversals. Also
it would be folly for us to assume that we have got it so right that there
is no room for improvement. We must always search the scriptures lest we
have misunderstood, overlooked, neglected or deviated from their teaching.
If any passage of scripture outlines God's organisation of the church and
how he intends it to function it is perhaps
Ephesians
4:3-16. Much has been written about verses 4 to 6. Some have
seen it as the divinely inspired creed of the church. There is no doubt it
thrills the soul to read it.
Ephesians
4:4There is one body, and one Spirit,
even as you are called in one hope of your calling; 5One Lord,
one faith, one baptism, 6One God and Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in you all.
In the next verses we have God's methodology for achieving this unity. You
will agree that alternative methods for doing it cannot be scriptural.
His system for achieving it is introduced pictorially like a victorious emperor
giving responsible roles to his citizens for the administration of his empire.
Ephesians
4:7But to every one of us is given grace according
to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8 Therefore he said, When
he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.
... 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
GIFTS OF GRACE
[GRACE means the same as FAVOUR]
These responsibilities are called gifts of "grace" because they are favours
granted by the LORD. This is understood better if we see what
Paul says of his gift of grace in
chapter
3:1-11
Ephesians 3:1For this cause I Paul, ... 2If you have
heard of the stewardship of the grace of God which is given
to me toward you: 3How that by revelation he made known to me
the secret; ... 5Which ... is now revealed to his holy apostles
and prophets by the Spirit; 6That the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the
gospel: 7Of which I was made a servant
[diokonoV], according to the gift of the grace
of God given to me by the effectual working of his power. 8To
me, who is less than the least of all saints, is this grace given,
that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Paul sees himself as being given the undeserved favour, the responsibility
of preaching the Gospel. There is no evidence of pride in his words. There
is a danger that people put in these roles will think they are superior to
the rest of the flock. Some have even caused splits in churches because a
relative has not been appointed to an "office". This tragic misunderstanding
has partly arisen because of the use of the word "office" in the
Authorised Version in
1 Timothy
3:1, 10 and 13. They are not 'offices', they are
responsible roles granted as favours from the LORD. They are
not granted on the basis of degrees or diplomas. There are no graduation
ceremonies. They are to be like their chief shepherd who gave his life for
his sheep. His diploma was being spiked naked to a tree. His graduation ceremony
was being spat and jeered at whilst in agony. Paul had his proud past crucified
with Christ. The paradox is that our pride is in Christ. He was disgustingly
crucified as though he was the scum of humanity so that we could have the
glory of eternal life.
There is no word 'office' in the Greek text in
1 Timothy
3:1, 10 and 13. It was inserted by the translators.
The translators of the Authorised Version were ecclesiastical officers in
the Anglican hierarchy. There is no scriptural authority for that kind of
hierarchy in the LORD's church. Let us not imitate such. Let
us take to heart Paul's humility.
BY THE CHURCH
The LORD Jesus set up roles of responsibility in the the church
for its development. God always intended that his multifaceted wisdom should
be made known, in the heavens and on earth, by the church.
Ephesians
3:9And to make everyone see what is
the fellowship of the mystery ... 10To the intent that now
the multifaceted wisdom of God might be made known by the church to
the principalities and powers in heavenlies, 11According
to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
The church is God's institution for this purpose. So you will agree that
alternative institutions cannot be scriptural.
THE LORD PUT IN PLACE IN THE CHURCH FOUR ROLES
Ephesians
4:11And he gave some, apostles; and
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors
and teachers;
Some apostles and some prophets
Apostles and prophets have left us with the books of the New Testament and
the information that they have laid down is the foundation of our faith.
Ephesians
2:20And are built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone ;
21In whom all the building fitly framed together grows to a holy
temple in the Lord: 22In whom you also are built together for
a habitation of God through the Spirit.
Some Evangelists
"Evangelist" means "gospel preacher." The evangelist, Timothy was appointed
by his church(1) to accompany Paul to
preach the gospel in new territory. He was chosen on the basis of his
reputation.(2)
Some pastors and teachers
"Pastors and teachers" is a couplet referring to two aspects of the same
role. Pastors means shepherds. Shepherding and teaching are two aspects of
the same role. The direct translation below makes it more obvious that there
are four roles and not five. 1) the
apostles, 2) the
prophets, 3) the gospel
preachers, 4) the shepherds
and teachers.
Ephesians 4:11And himself gives: certainly
the apostles, as well as the
prophets, and as well as the gospel preachers,
as well as the shepherds and teachers.
[ kai autoV edwken touV men apostolouV touV
de profhtaV touV de euaggelistaV touV de poimenaV kai didaskalouV
]
They were also called elders, which referred to their
maturity.(3) Elders had to be competent
teachers of the word of God(4) and they
had to look after their congregation like shepherds tending their
flock(5). That is why they are referred
to as pastors as well as teachers. Someone aptly expressed it this way "Elders
must smell of sheep". Where they had men
qualified(6) the members of each
congregation chose several men. There was no such a thing as a one man 'Pastor'
in the New Testament church.(7) These
men were appointed to be the elders in their own congregation.
Elders are also called
'overseers'.(8) They were responsible
for overseeing their congregation
only.(9) They had no jurisdiction over
any other congregation. There was no such thing as dioceses or of 'mother
churches' having subsidiary churches. Each church was autonomous, responsible
directly to the one and only head - Christ
Jesus.(10) Sometimes the word for 'elders'
is transliterated
'presbyters'(11) and the word for 'overseers'
is transliterated 'bishops'(12) 'Elder',
'bishop', 'overseer', 'pastor and teacher' all refer to the same role.
So in the New Testament 'elders' are 'bishops' and 'bishops' are 'elders.'
Congregations chose for themselves several 'elders'. In other words congregations
chose for themselves several 'bishops' – There was no such a thing
as several churches under one 'bishop' or even one 'bishop' over each church.
The apostles and prophets have provided us with the word of God. Evangelists
break new ground. Elders oversee and teach the membership in their local
congregation. These are the four roles the LORD put in place
for the spiritual development of his people.
ITS PURPOSE AND THE TARGET
Guided by the scriptures, elders in each congregation were to be responsible
for overseeing the spiritual welfare of their congregation and for developing
every member's talents to their full potential, the stature of Jesus Christ
being the ultimate ideal. This would embrace all aspects of service in the
Lord's work, developing everyone's talents, whether they were in visiting,
in teaching, in training others or in pioneer work in new places as evangelists.
Every congregation was God's institution, God's college, God's training centre.
It follows that extraneous institutions cannot be scriptural.
Ephesians
4:12 the maturing of the saints, for the work
of service,* for the building up of the body of Christ:
13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ: 14That we will not be children any more tossed
to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight
of men, and cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive;
15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all
things, who is the head, even Christ: 16From whom the whole
body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, making increase
of the body to the edifying of itself in love.
*[diakonia]
Some say that the "till we all come to the unity of the faith" refers to
the completion of the New Testament, implying that this passage is no longer
relevant. That is false. The phrase "we all" means every individual. Each
individual is to arrive at that unity, knowledge, maturity, and stature.
It is folly to write off what the LORD has set in order in
the church as not being relevant now and to resort to other methodologies,
systems and institutes.
WHAT ABOUT DEACONS AND MINISTERS ?
The word 'deacon' is transliterated from diakonoV
which means 'a servant'. All Christians are servants of the
LORD but in
1 Timothy
3:12 and 13. it is used specifically of members in
a congregation who are allocated a special role. The main distinction between
the qualifications required of Elders and those of Deacons was that Deacons
did not have to be able to
teach.(13) Since deacons did not have
to be able to teach they were evidently chosen for roles that did not entail
teaching. For example in Acts 6:1-6 we read of several men being chosen by
the congregation to see to the needy. This left the Apostles free to concentrate
on teaching the word of God. So 'deacons' would not have the responsibility
of supervising the spiritual development of church members.. That was the
role of elders. That is evidently why they were not listed along with the
four roles given in Ephesians
4:11
Also 'ministers' are not mentioned. The concept of having one man as a 'minister'
or 'pastor' relieving the elders of their responsibilities, doing all the
'platform work', baptising, marrying, and visiting, is not in the scriptures.
It is a relic carried over from the denominations out of which some churches
of Christ came. The only times 'ministers'
(diakonoi) is used to designate a
specific role in the church is in
1 Timothy
3:8 to13 and
Philippians
1:1 where the plural is transliterated 'deacons'. There is
no role in the New Testament like that of 'the minister'.
WHO DOES THE CHOOSING ?
It is significant that even though the apostles appointed the men to 'serve
tables' they did not do the
choosing.(14) There is no such a thing
as 'apostolic succession' in the Bible. The apostles stated the qualifications
that the men had to have and the congregation did the choosing. Elders should
not on their own choose elders, evangelists or deacons. The congregation
should be made aware of the the qualifications and do the choosing.
WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS OF AN EVANGELIST ?
The qualifications of elders and deacons and even their families are outlined
in 1
Timothy 3:1 to13 and
Titus
1:6-9, their is no list of qualifications for evangelists.
This kills stone dead the outrageous idea that the evangelist is over the
congregation, and I speak as an evangelist. Also the absence of any mention
of a role of 'minister' kills the idea that one man should rule the elders
or rule the church. How can someone in a role for which no qualifications
are listed have the rule over those who do have listed qualifications?
In Paul's letters to the evangelists Timothy and Titus we see desirable qualities
an evangelist should have and churches should consider these carefully in
commissioning men for that work bearing in mind that choosing and commissioning
evangelists to be let loose in virgin territory incurs responsibility for
having done that. If we choose our elders, we deserve the elders we get but
the world does not choose the evangelists we send out. From my own experience
I can also see wisdom in sending them out in twos, like the Lord sent out
his disciples in twos. It can be very lonesome and stressful work.
SUMMARY
The Lord's church must develop grow and expand. This work is committed to
earthen vessels such as you and me. We should follow the Holy Spirit's guidance
as revealed in the scriptures in doing this. The fact that other methods
and institutions outside the church have been resorted to and come to be
depended on in many quarters is a sad reflection on the state of the church.
Many churches are relying on man made institutions to training 'ministers'
to run their congregations. At worst they are unscriptural. At best they
are crutches for ailing churches. We must trust God implicitly and do it
His way, with thanksgiving, prayer and supplications. Then He will get the
glory through His church and not through institutions of man's making.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to have churches where ever member, male or female,
is developing to their full potential in the service of the
LORD. Let us strive to see that even now "the multifaceted
wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities
and powers in heavenlies, According to the eternal purpose which he
purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." [Ephesians 3:10-11]
As long as the LORD tarries it is never too late.
| REFERENCES:- |
BACK
|
1)
1 Timothy
4:15
2) Acts
16:1-3
3) 1 Timothy
3:6 "not a novice" [mh
neofuton]
4) 1 Timothy
3:2, Titus 1:9
5) Acts 20:17,
28, 1
Peter 5:1-4
6) 1 Timothy
3:2 "must be" [dei
oun 'therefore it is necessary']
7) Acts
6:3,
Acts14:23
|
8)
Acts
20:17, 28
9)
Acts
20:28,
1 Peter 5:2
10) Ephesians
1:22,
Ephesians 5:23,
Colossians
1:18
11) 1 Timothy
4:15
12) Titus 1:5-7,
1 Timothy
3:1-2,
Philippians 1:1
13) 1
Timothy 3:8-13
14) Acts 6:3, 5
|
15) "books" - There is a USA and a UK version
of the 2nd edition. These differ significantly, in parts.
See "EXTRACTS FROM
CHAPTER XXVI ("THE CHRISTIAN DISCIPLINE") OF THE ENGLISH AND USA VERSIONS
OF THE "THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM" (2nd Edition)"] |