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Understanding the church of Jesus Christ – Part 3
Organization
By William R. Cunningham
November 5, 2006
Introduction
There are many people who are hurting because of a thing called church. The problem here is that many of those people really don’t know what church is and what part it plays in our lives. The purpose of this series of teachings is simply to present the truth about church so that you would not be bound of by people who are intent on controlling you or to help someone else with that.
Thus far we have discussed many truths about the church. We have learned that there is the local church and the universal church. The universal church could be thought of as the family of all Christians for all times. It is the body of Christ. The local church is an organization of professed Christians that agree to come together for a particular religious cause and for worship. I say professed because we have learned that all those in the local church are not saved, i.e., Christians.
We next discussed the authority in the church and found that Jesus Christ is the authority of the church and over the church. However, many perceive the pastor, bishop or religious leader in general to be the authority in the church and even over their own lives in many cases. In any case absolutely Jesus Christ is the authority of the Church and over all.
Now we are going to focus our attention on the organization of the church and in this case we are talking about the organization of the body of Christ in terms of assembling themselves together for worship and instruction. There must be some type of order or organization whenever people come together for anything. The same thing applies to worship meetings and other assembling. What was the organization in the first Christian churches? What structure did they have? That is what we are going to talk about in this part of “Understanding the Church of Jesus Christ.”
Church Order
There are two offices that are spoken of in the New Testament in regards to church order; the bishop and the deacon. The bishop was a specific type of elder, which we will discuss shortly.
The Bishop
The word bishop comes from the Greek word episkopos and can be generally translated into bishop, overseer, superintendent, supervisor, the first, leader or foreman. The New Testament uses this Greek word five times.
- Acts 20:28 (NKJV) -- {28} 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.
- Philippians 1:1 (NKJV) -- {1} Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
- 1 Timothy 3:2 (NKJV) -- {2} A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;
- Titus 1:7 (NKJV) -- {7} 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,
- 1 Peter 2:25 (NKJV) -- {25} For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
It is interesting that these scriptures point to a function and not necessarily a position or title called “bishop.” The bishop was an overseer who shepherded (protected, watched over, nurtured) the congregation.
Now as the church grew the office of the bishop changed. By the second century BC the office of the bishop was very much defined. A bishop was more than the overseer of a particular local congregation, but was the overseer of an entire region with elders (presbyters) and deacons under him. The duties of these bishops included financial matters and a general oversight of the congregation.
It is important to realize that at this time a bishop was not someone that had authority over many churches as we know it today. Each congregation had their own bishop.
The following is from the New Nelson Illustrated Bible Dictionary.
The bishop was an overseer, elder, or pastor charged with the responsibility of spiritual leadership in a local church in New Testament times.
Before the church was founded, the Greek word for bishop was used in a general sense to refer to local gods as those who watched over people or countries. The word was later applied to men, including those who held positions as magistrates or other government offices. And eventually the term was extended to refer to officials in religious communities with various functions, including those who supervised the revenues of pagan temples.
1 Peter 2:25 (NKJV) -- {25} For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Jesus Christ is called the overseer (bishop) of our souls. Jesus Christ is the model of the bishop or overseer and surely He is the true shepherd. Therefore, the concept of a bishop should be modeled after Jesus Christ and not after man-made ideas.
I should point out that the office of the bishop is the same as that of the elder. They were two names for the same office or function within the local church. Also note that a bishop was the overseer of a specific congregation.
Elders
- Acts 20:17 (NKJV) -- {17} From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.
- Acts 20:28 (NKJV) -- {28} 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.
- 1 Peter 5:1-2 (NKJV) -- {1} 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: {2} Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;
What did the elders do?
- They ministered to the sick.
James 5:14-15 (NKJV) -- {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 the Lord. {15} And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
- Taught in the local congregations, explained the scriptures (1 Tim. 5:17; 1 Peter 5:5)
1 Timothy 5:17 (NKJV) -- {17} Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.
1 Peter 5:5 (NKJV) -- {5} Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Remember that a bishop and elder identified the same office or function within the local church. Over many years these titles have come to mean something totally different within the church organization structure.
Qualifications of Elders
1 Timothy 3:1-7 (NKJV) -- {1} This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. {2} A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; {3} not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; {4} one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence {5} (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); {6} not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. {7} Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Titus 1:5-9 (NKJV) -- {5} 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— {6} if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. {7} 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, {8} but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, {9} 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.
There appears to be more than one elder in a local church
- Acts 14:23 (NKJV) -- {23} So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
- Acts 15:2 (NKJV) -- {2} Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.
- Acts 15:4 (NKJV) -- {4} And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them.
- Acts 15:6 (NKJV) -- {6} Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter.
- Acts 15:22-Isaiah (NKJV) -- {22} Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren.
- Acts 21:18 (NKJV) -- {18} On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
Titus 1:5 (NKJV) -- {5} 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—
The authority of the Elders was limited to the local congregation.
Deacons/Servants
The deacons were servants within the church. This office is considered to have started with Acts 6:1-6 even though it could have also been a parallel office similar to the temple assistant in Judaism. In any case the function of the deacon was as a servant to the church and we should note that their qualifications were very similar to that of the bishop (See 1 Timothy 3:8-13).
The Congregation
The members of the congregations were commonly called saints.
1 Corinthians 1:2 (NKJV) -- {2} To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
Philippians 1:1 (NKJV) -- {1} Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Among the members may have been evangelists and teachers/pastors
Ephesians 4:11 (NKJV) -- {11} And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
The congregation consisted of people that put their faith in Christ. The congregation was the fellowship of believers coming together to worship the Lord together.
The Role of Church
Hebrews 10:25 (NKJV) -- {25} not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Christians come together for fellowship and edification. We come together to encourage each other, to learn, and to worship together. I suppose that all could again be summarized by simply saying that we come together for fellowship.
The first century church came together for fellowship and to hear the apostles’ doctrine. The helped each other in material ways in addition edifying each other. The image of church today looks nothing like the simple church of the first century. Of course we can’t expect the church of today to look exactly like it did then because things are different now. However, the simplicity of fellowship is something that we don’t see in churches today. Now we have mega churches that don’t cater to the fellowship of the saint, but rather to club-like disposition of many even those who are not Christian.
Church today (the local church) is surely not a place of fellowship for those who are Christian. The church today is a business organization that desires to grow in number. This is why churches have activities and programs for the sole purpose to attract people to want to become a member. It’s not about the gospel, but rather about numbers. Many pastors today want members and are therefore not concerned about making disciples of all nations.
Building the Church
I attended a conference recently that dealt with church planting. It was quite interesting, but I think that many people missed the point of Jesus’ direction to his apostles. He told them to make disciples of the world not to start churches. Churches are spawned as Christians desire to come together in worship, prayer, and fellowship. It is quite natural for like-minded people with something in common to want to come together and fellowship with each other. However, many people focus on the “art” of starting churches as if our objective is to start churches. Jesus didn’t tell us to start churches, but rather to lead people to follow Jesus (become disciples). Our task is to simply spread the gospel of Christ so that people would come to Jesus and put their faith in Him.
I’m sure you have heard many ideas, programs, and teachings on how to start churches and probably even more on how to grow a church and make it prosper. I recently received an advertisement that stated that the value of a church is in how hot it is. Imagine that! The term “hot” appeared to relate to how active or lively the church was as in hot sauce (this was the actual analogy of the ad).
Matthew 16:18 (NKJV) -- {18} And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
We are not responsible for building the church. There is nothing in the New Testament that implies that our goal should be to start churches.
John 8:31-32 (NKJV) -- {31} Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. {32} And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Do you know the truth or just what you were told? Are you free? We can be free simply by knowing the truth and that truth belong to the Disciples of Christ. A disciple is a follower so a disciple of Christ is one who follows Jesus Christ. A follower of Jesus Christ is one who puts their faith in Jesus Christ for eternal life and who lives his or her life after the Way of God.
Share what you have learned here with others so that they would be free. This is not a lesson that promotes the exodus from the local churches. However, we do promote the truth of the Christian faith and in order for you to know the truth and to be and do all that God wants of you then you are going to have to be careful to not allow yourselves to be enslaved by another false gospel.