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In the New Testament the church is mentioned again and again from the first book, Matthew, to the last book, Revelation. In these messages on the conclusion of the New Testament, we are collecting the various verses regarding the church and arranging them so that we may see a clear picture of the church as a great, corporate person, the new man.
We have seen that the church was a good pleasure in God’s heart and that, based upon this good pleasure, God has purposed a will to obtain the church. The church was a mystery hidden in God for centuries. In the four Gospels Christ revealed the church to the first group of His apostles. He revealed the church to them both in the universal sense and the local sense. However, at that time He did not reveal the church mainly in an intrinsic way. Later, in the Epistles the intrinsic constituent of the church was revealed. Paul saw this revelation and wrote about it in his fourteen Epistles. In these Epistles we have a full picture of the intrinsic nature, essence, and element of the church.
We have also seen that Christ, as the resurrected and ascended One, has formed the church with Himself as the embodiment of the processed Triune God becoming the life-giving Spirit breathed into His believers. This is typified in Leviticus 2 by the oil formed with fine flour to make a cake. Furthermore, Christ poured Himself as the consummated, all-inclusive, compound Spirit upon His believers. This is typified by the oil poured upon the cake. In this way the church has been formed once for all. After forming the church, the Lord Jesus sent out His believers to go into every part of the earth to plant the churches, that is, to set up, to establish, the local churches for His expression.
The church has two aspects: the universal aspect and the local aspect. The universal aspect is mainly for the expression of the wonderful, all-inclusive Christ, whereas the local aspect is for administration to carry out this marvelous mystery in the universe. Now in this message we shall go on to see something further concerning the church — the offices in the church.
In the church there are both offices and gifts. In this message we shall consider the offices in the church, and in the following message we shall cover the relationship between the four special gifts and the church.
With the offices in the church there is a position. This means that the office has the right to do certain things. We may use the office of President of the United States as an illustration. This office gives the President the position and the right to do certain things to carry out his presidency. According to the New Testament, there are offices in the church. As we shall see, there is one office in the universal church, and there are two offices in the local church.
In the universal church there is only one office — the apostleship. Paul refers to this office in Romans 1:5, where he says that he had received “grace and apostleship unto obedience of faith among all the nations on behalf of His name.”
Only the apostles have the position and right to appoint elders in the local churches. It is important for us to see this so that we may abandon hierarchy and any kind of organization. In the New Testament we see God’s way to establish the churches and to carry them on. God’s way is that in the universal church there is the one office of apostleship. This apostleship gives the apostles the position and right to appoint the elders for the administration of the local churches.
Acts 14:23 tells us that the apostles “had appointed elders for them in every church.” In Titus 1:5 Paul says, “For this cause I left you in Crete, that you might set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in each city, as I charged you.” We would emphasize the fact that “in each city” here compared with “in every church” in Acts 14:23 indicates that the jurisdiction of a local church is that of the city in which it is located and also that in one city there should be only one church. Because a church always covers the city, to appoint elders in every church is equal to appointing elders in every city. Therefore, to establish elders in every city is to establish elders in every church. If we see this, we shall be preserved, protected, restricted, and kept from making mistakes. In particular, we shall be kept from repeating the tragedy of the hierarchy. We must hate hierarchy and avoid it.
In the local church there are two kinds of offices — the elders and the deacons and deaconesses.
In the church certain brothers serve as elders. In the first local church, the church at Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), there were elders taking care of the government of the church (Acts 11:30; 15:2, 4, 6, 22; 16:4; 21:18). Eventually, elders were appointed in every church. Thus, there were elders in the church in Ephesus (Acts 20:17). The New Testament reveals that the elders were not voted in by their congregations, but were appointed by the apostles according to their maturity of life and were charged by the apostles to care for the leadership and the shepherding in the churches.
The elders are overseers in the local church. In Acts 20:28 Paul said to the elders of the church in Ephesus, “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers.” In Philippians 1:1 Paul addresses “the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the overseers and deacons.” In 1 Timothy 3:1 Paul says, “If anyone aspires to oversight, he desires a good work.” Then in the following verse he begins to describe the qualifications of an overseer. If we compare Acts 20:28 with 20:17, we shall see that the overseers in a local church are the elders. This proves that “overseers” and “elders” are synonymous terms denoting the same persons. The title “elder” denotes a person of maturity, whereas the title “overseer” denotes the function of an elder. To make an overseer a bishop of a district to rule over the elders of various localities in that district is grossly erroneous. This is what Ignatius did. His erroneous teaching gave the ground to rank and brought in the hierarchy. From this erroneous teaching came the hierarchy of bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and the pope.
For the elders to oversee means that they take the oversight, looking diligently to be aware of the situation. This is not a matter of observing who is wrong and who is right, who is doing well and who is doing poorly. Rather, to oversee is mainly a matter of overseeing the need. For example, when a shepherd is overseeing the flock, he is not concerned with who is right and who is wrong. He is concerned with the need of the flock. His oversight is related to protecting the flock, leading the flock, and feeding the flock. The shepherd exercises oversight in order to supply the flock with whatever is needed.
The New Testament uses the word “oversee” regarding the function of the elders, but it does not use the word “rule.” To oversee is to observe the situation, condition, and need for the purpose of taking care of the church with all the saints. Elders, therefore, are not appointed to be rulers exercising authority over others. Ruling over others is ugly and base. The elders should never rule anyone. In the Gospel of Matthew the Lord Jesus said that He is the only Lord and Master and we all are brothers (23:8, 10). This means that the elders, the overseers, are also no more than brothers.
To oversee is not to replace or annul the functions of the saints. Rather, through the proper oversight the elders, the overseers, promote all the functions of each member of the Body. Thus, oversight is absolutely different from hierarchy, which annuls and replaces the functions of the members.
First Peter 5:2 says that the elders should oversee not by way of compulsion, but willingly, according to God. The elders should be willing to take care of others, to look after them, to protect them. They should not be compelled to do this.
By the context of 1 Peter 5 we can see that to oversee does not mean to rule; it does not mean to be a king. In the natural life everyone likes to rule over others. There is no need to compel someone, to force him, to be a ruler. The words “not by way of compulsion” indicate that to oversee is to care for the church, not to rule over it.
As Peter says, the elders should oversee “willingly, according to God.” To oversee according to God means according to God’s nature, desire, way, and glory, not according to man’s preference, interest, and purpose. The elders should not oversee according to their opinion, concept, or likes and dislikes. Instead, they should oversee according to God’s choice, desire, intention, and preference. The elders must oversee the church altogether according to God’s thought, feeling, will, and choice. They must oversee according to God’s likes and dislikes.
The elders take the lead in the local church. In 1 Timothy 5:17a Paul says, “Let the elders who take the lead well be counted worthy of double honor.” All the elders should be able to take the lead in a local church. This means that in everything they should go ahead of the flock to take the lead. To take the lead is not to rule but to set an example in doing things first that others may follow. The elders should always do things as an example. In taking the lead they are not rulers but patterns.
The elders also teach in the local church. In 1 Timothy 3:2 Paul says that an elder should be “apt to teach.” The word “apt” implies being able and accustomed to. To teach here is similar to parents teaching their children. An elder must be apt to render this kind of home teaching to the members of a local church. In order to teach the saints in the local churches the elders need to labor in the Word. They need to get into the depths of the truths in the Bible.
If the elders would be apt to teach, they need to be knowledgeable. For example, an elder should be able to explain what the mystery of Christ is. If a brother is not knowledgeable concerning the truth, he is disqualified from the eldership. An elder should be able to teach the saints like a parent helps a child with his homework. However, this does not mean that every elder should be a teacher. It is not necessary for parents to be teachers in order to help their children with homework. Similarly, not all elders are teachers, but they all should be apt to teach.
In 1 Timothy 5:17 Paul says that the elders who take the lead well should be counted worthy of double honor, “especially those who labor in word and teaching.” Whereas all the elders should be apt to teach, not all have a special capacity in teaching. Among the elders in a local church, there may be some who have the burden to teach and to labor in the Word. These teaching ones are especially worthy of double honor because nothing is more exhausting than teaching. In verse 17 “word” denotes the general speaking of doctrines, and “teaching” denotes special instruction concerning particular things.
The elders also bear the burden of shepherding the local church. The local church is like a flock, and the elders are the shepherds to shepherd this flock, taking care of the situation of the flock and meeting the needs.
In Acts 20:28 Paul charges the elders of the church in Ephesus “to shepherd the church of God.” The main responsibility of the elders as overseers is not to rule over but to shepherd, to take all-inclusive tender care of the flock, the church of God.
Another verse that speaks of the elders’ shepherding is 1 Peter 5:2. “Shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing not by way of compulsion, but willingly, according to God; not seeking gain by base means, but eagerly.” Literally, the Greek word rendered “flock” is “little flock.” This refers to the church of God, which is small in number (Luke 12:32) compared to the world.
According to 1 Peter 5:2, the elders are not rulers but shepherds. Shepherding is a proper care exercised over the flock. The flock needs to be cared for, protected, led in the right direction, and brought to a place where they can eat and drink. This is shepherding.
In 5:2 Peter does not tell the elders to shepherd their own flock; he charges them to shepherd the flock of God. The flock is not the elders’ possession but God’s possession. Therefore, the elders should not consider the church in which they are taking the lead as belonging to them. In the New Testament we are told that the church is of Christ, of God, and of the saints. The church is called the church of Christ, the church of God, and the church of the saints (Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 1:2; 14:33). But the church is not the church of the apostles or the church of the elders. Because the church is composed of the saints, it is the church of the saints. Because the church has been redeemed by Christ, it is the church of Christ. Because the church has been regenerated by God, it is the church of God. However, Peter makes it clear that the elders should not think that, because they are taking the lead in the church, the church is theirs. The elders are to shepherd the flock of God, not their own flock.
In 1 Peter 5:3 Peter says to the elders, “Nor as lording it over the allotments, but becoming patterns of the flock.” To lord it over others is to exercise lordship over those who are ruled (Matt. 20:25). Among the believers, besides Christ there should be no lord. All should be servants, even slaves (Matt. 20:26-27; 23:10-11). The elders in the church can only take the leadership (not the lordship), which all the believers should honor and follow (1 Thes. 5:12-13; Heb. 13:7). Literally, the word “allotments” means lots, portions; hence, allotments, portions entrusted. Here this word refers to the flock. The churches are God’s possession, allotted to the elders as their allotments, their portions, entrusted to them by God for their care.
The church is God’s flock and His possession. The elders have been appointed by God to be shepherds of the flock. Hence, God has allotted the church in their locality to them for their care. The church in a particular locality is God’s possession; it is not the possession of the elders. But God has allotted that church to the elders so that they may care for it and shepherd it. Furthermore, the church is allotted to the elders for their care only temporarily. For eternity the church is God’s possession. Even the elders themselves are a part of the church as the possession of God.
Instead of lording it over the allotments, the elders should become patterns of the flock. This means that they take the lead to serve and care for the church so that the believers may follow. We may say that the elders are the head sheep, those sheep that are in the front of the flock taking the lead so that all the sheep may follow. Instead of lording it over the church, the elders, as the leading sheep, should be patterns of the flock.
According to the Lord’s word in the Gospels and Peter’s word in his Epistle, the elders are not to have any control at all. The elders should not be rulers but slaves who serve and do not control. God is the Owner of the flock and the Master, and the elders are His slaves to serve Him by taking care of the flock, setting themselves up as living examples.
According to the New Testament teaching, there is no rank for the elders. There is also no controlling power for the elders, because they do not have any rank. The elders do not have any right to control. The clear word of the New Testament does not allow any ground for the elders to take rank or controlling power.
The elders take care of the finances in a local church. Acts 11:29 and 30 say, “The disciples, according as any one of them was prospered, determined each one of them to send things for dispensing to the brothers dwelling in Judea; which also they did, sending it to the elders through the hand of Barnabas and Saul.” This indicates that the finances of a local church are under the management of the elders. For this reason, 1 Timothy 3:3 says that an elder should not be fond of money. Money is a test to all men. An elder must be pure in money matters, especially since the church fund is under the elders’ management.
The second office in a local church is that of the deacons and deaconesses. In the church some brothers serve as deacons (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:8) and some sisters serve as deaconesses (Rom. 16:1). The word “service” in Romans 12:7 denotes the service of the deacons and deaconesses in the local churches.
Deacon is an anglicized form of the Greek diakonos, which means a serving one. Deacons and deaconesses, therefore, serve the local church (1 Tim. 3:13), serving under the direction of the overseers, the elders. The overseers take care of the church, and the deacons and deaconesses serve the church by taking care of many practical matters. Those who serve as deacons and deaconesses should have a serving spirit and a serving attitude.
The deacons and deaconesses do the business affairs in the local church. We have an illustration of this in Acts 6, where seven well-attested men, full of the Spirit and wisdom, were appointed to care for the need of serving tables so that no one would be overlooked in the daily dispensing (vv. 1, 3). Those who were chosen to serve tables may be considered deacons, just as those were whom Paul and his co-workers appointed later in the churches.
Apart from the offices of elder and deacon, there is no other office in the local church.
