Church Governments

Lesson 2

Offices Of The Church

The Church of the LORD Jesus Christ is a highly organized institution. Jesus Christ left nothing to chance. His Body is designed to operate and run very smoothly. In this lesson, we will give a brief synopsis of the various offices­ —or positions of authority—in the Church. We will see who authorizes them and what those offices are authorized to do. **Remember, all authority has a purpose and the premiere purpose is to make and keep peace.**

This teaching will help to clear up some of the misunderstandings of governments in the Church today. Ultimately, the goal of any and all church governments should be to properly and honorably delegate God’s authority to those who are rightly qualified, to the end the local church runs smoothly and peacefully for the glory of God. We must readily acknowledge that different churches and denominations employ various ecclesiastical titles differently, but in the end, their intention is to lead, guide, and bring peace to the local church.

FIVEFOLD MINISTERS (Ephesians 4:11)

• Who—The Apostle, the Prophet, the Evangelist, the Pastor, and the Teacher

• Who authorizes them—The LORD Jesus Christ. They are chosen by Him. They cannot be self-appointed or self-selected.

• And he [Jesus] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  – Ephesians 4:11

• Accountable to—These men and women will answer severely to the LORD Jesus Christ (James 3:1) and to each other (Galatians 2:11; 1 Timothy 1:20). Do not covet to be a full-time minister.

• Purpose—For the perfecting of the saints, so the saints can do the work of the ministry, so the Body of Christ can be edified (Ephesians 4:12). For these timeless reasons, we believe all five of these offices must still exist today. These five classes of believers have a supernatural calling and gifting ordained by God. A Christian cannot aspire to these roles; they are assigned by Jesus Christ as He wills.

• Job Description—These officers of the church are authorized and anointed to perfect the saints through doctrine, instruction, correction, training, rebuke, and prayer. They also have their specialty roles as follows:

  • • Apostles—Sent ones. Apostles establish churches and doctrines and go places the Gospel has yet to be preached. The apostle is always on the go and always looking for a new place to start a new work.

    • Prophets—Seers. This office keeps the Body of Christ out of error and sin and is always bringing the Church back to righteousness. The prophet will always see where the Church is out of line with the Word and the Spirit of God and seek to bring it back on course.

    • Evangelists—The great soul-winners. They are anointed to preach the simple Gospel message and confirm it with signs following. The evangelist has a heart that is always yearning for the lost.

    • Pastors—Shepherds. These men are shepherds over the local flock. They live with the local church. The pastor can’t stand to see sheep scattered, hurting, or ignorant. Real shepherds smell like their sheep.

    • Teachers—This office keeps the church balanced with in-depth, line- upon-line teaching. They have an anointing to see deeper things in the Word and piece together established doctrine, explaining it in such a way that even the simplest mind can grasp it. If a teacher is convoluted and confusing, they may not be a genuine teacher.

BISHOPS (1 TIMOTHY 3:1-7)

• Who—Anyone who desires to do the work needed in the local church and then qualifies for the office of a bishop.

• Who authorizes them—The established leadership in the local church appoints bishops. To some degree, the terms bishop and elder can be used interchangeably.

• For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee . . . For a bishop must be blameless . . .  – Titus 1:5, 7a

• • • Note—This verse perfectly demonstrates the nature of authority: It began with Paul the apostle; it was then bequeathed to Pastor Titus for the needs of Crete, who then used it to appoint elders in every city. Those elders would then be able to say they had been authorized, not by themselves, but by ordained leadership.

• Accountable to—Bishops are accountable to the leadership who appointed them. In the local church it will be the pastor or apostle.

• Purpose—Bishops, by Greek definition, are overseers and help superintend what is already established in the local church. A church without elders/bishops is therefore wanting and undone in this capacity (Titus 1:5). They can be over departments or different ministries, superintending and overseeing them. Some denominations also use the term “superintendent,” in which cases there are different rankings of superintendent from district level (statewide) to local Sunday school superintendent (local church).

• Job Description—An overseer, an individual charged with the duty of seeing that things to be done by others are done rightly; any curator, guardian, or superintendent, elder, or overseer of a Christian church. I make the semantical distinction that by definition, all pastors are bishops (superintending the entire flock) but not all bishops are pastors (perhaps only superintending a Sunday school program or a department).

ELDERS (TITUS 1:5-9; 1 PETER 5:1)

• Who—There are three types of elders in the New Testament Church: 1) aged elders, 2) teaching elders, and 3) fivefold ministry elders. This fact helps us begin to make some nuanced distinction between the offices of elders and bishops.

• Who authorizes them—This depends on the type of elder. The aged elders don’t have any governing authority; therefore, they require no authorization to be old. The teaching elders are equivalent to bishops (Titus 1:5), so their authority comes from the apostles or the local pastor. The fivefold ministering elders are authorized by the LORD Jesus Christ and have been ordained by some ecclesiastical body, and are therefore elders in the Body of Christ. It is proper to revere and honor them as a visitor even though they may not hold any direct authority over that specific church (1 Peter 5:1).

• Accountable to—Accountability with an elder depends on the type of elder:

  • • Fivefold minister/elder—accountable to Jesus Christ or a superior minister.

    • Local church elder—accountable to the local pastor.

    • Aged elder—accountable to the local church leadership.

• Purpose—Local church elders are men/women who have earned a position of honor within the Body, either for their age or for their promotion into leadership. An elder is not to be rebuked but called near as a father (1 Timothy 5:1). They are needful for the Body to help aid in leadership and to give younger Christians a living epistle to look up to.

• Job Description—All full-time fivefold ministers would be considered elders of the church (regardless of age) (1 Peter 5:1). They would be an elder to any church they visited because they have been set apart as a full-time minister to perfect the saints. Any church they visit would therefore need to show them honor. In any given local church, there are also “teaching elders.” These are men or women that may or may not have a full-time ministry call on their lives, but they are actively helping the pastor of their church to care for the flock and teach the people. I view these elders like sheepdog to the shepherd; they help the pastor with the flock. These elders would not necessarily be honored in any church but their own. Finally, there are the aged elders. These are the aged saints in any local church that must be shown honor simply for their age, life experience, and devotion to Jesus Christ.

DEACONS (1 TIMOTHY 3:8-13)

• Who—Any born again believer who meets the biblical requirements and wants to serve. There are 16 requirements that must be met to be a deacon (Acts 6:1-4; 1 Timothy 3:8-13). Phebe, a woman, was a deaconess at Cenchrea (Romans 16:1).

• Who authorizes them—A deacon must have a good report among the people, but they are then appointed by the church leaders, after prayer and consecration, through the laying on of hands (Acts 6:6).

• Accountable to—Since deacons serve exclusively in the local church, they are accountable to the pastors over them.

• Purpose—Deacons are set in a local church, so the church leaders are free to seek God, pray, and study the Word and not have to wait tables.

• . . . It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.  – Acts 6:2b

• • • In short, deacons free the pastor up to focus on spiritual things and not have to worry about natural things.

• Job Description—According to the Greek definition, a deacon is one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master, a servant, an attendant, a minister; to attend to anything, that may serve another’s interests. A deacon may cut the grass for a shut-in, take food to a new mother, vacuum the floors, clean the toilets, check on a missing sheep, etc. However, it is still an office in the church and is therefore supernatural and not to be taken lightly.

HELPS (1 CORINTHIANS 12:28)

• Who—Everybody!!!

• Who authorizes them—The LORD Jesus has set this in the church, so technically He authorizes every believer to be a “help,” but the ministry of helps must operate within the organization of the local church or ministry. Therefore, the local pastor and other church leaders have a say in what a helps minister is doing to help in the local church.

• Accountable to—Pastors, bishops, and elders.

• Purpose—Helps exist so that the local church or ministry may be built up, edified, effective, and productive. Without helps, nothing gets done. The Body is designed to help itself. Helps is the ultimate fruit of the fivefold officers who perfect the saints so they can “do the work.”

• From whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.  – Ephesians 4:16 NASB

• • • When every member of the Body of Christ properly works in the Kingdom, it causes the Body to grow and be built up.

• Job Description—What needs to be done in the ministry? Cleaning, cooking, teaching, prayer services, childcare, children’s church, building maintenance, administration, vehicle maintenance, child pick-up, nursery work, youth, worship, sound, television, etc., etc. There is a job for every member to do.

May we each find our place in the local church and submit our way up to the glory of God!! Amen!