Preachers, Elders and Deacons
The New Testament is very precise in describing the relationships and responsibilities of disciples in the church. While it is true that most “Christian” religious groups today are not organized on a New Testament pattern, that does not change the fact that the pattern for church organization does exist.
The existence of the pattern follows logically from Jesus. Before his ascension, he told the disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18) It follows therefore that the authority structure in the church must reflect that fact. Any organizational structure that does not flow from the head is a repudiation of the authority of Jesus. Repudiating the authority of Jesus is no light matter. The will of Jesus must be respected absolutely by all who would call him, “Lord.” Whatever worked for the church in the first century, in the matter of organization, will work for the church in the twenty-first century. The proper organization is necessary in order to give due regard to Jesus as the head of the church. Any organizational pattern that reduces the position of Jesus to a figurehead or otherwise robs him of the glory that should be given to him is wrong.
Early in his ministry, Jesus selected twelve disciples and appointed them as apostles. (Luke 5:12-16 ) He promised them special help in their work. In John 14:26 , Jesus told them, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” Again, in John 16:13 , Jesus told them, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
It is important to notice that the promises in these two verses are not made to disciples, generally, but specifically to the twelve. The twelve were chosen to be witnesses for Jesus . (See Luke 24:48 and Acts 1:8 .) While the word “witness” is used generally today to describe the activity of believers telling unbelievers about Jesus, that is using the term in a way that is not consistent with its meaning. A witness is someone who relates what they have seen or heard personally. The twelve were personal witnesses of what Jesus had taught and done. No one living in the 21st century is such a witness. The promises of the Spirit were given to the twelve to assure the accuracy of their testimony about what they had seen and heard. Relying solely on personal memories of what Jesus had said and done would result in something less than a faithful witness to him. The Spirit reminded them of what Jesus had said and done. In addition, through the Spirit, the twelve would be told other things that had not been taught during the personal ministry of Jesus. All that they taught would be by the authority of Jesus.
It is because of this gift of the Spirit to the apostles that we have the New Testament. The gift of the Spirit is the assurance that when we read the New Testament, we are reading the word of God. Like the Old Testament, the New Testament is also the work of the Spirit. (See 2 Peter 1:20-21 )
It is interesting to note that there are no qualifications for apostles in the New Testament. There are qualifications for elders, deacons and preachers, but none for apostles. The reason is that men were not involved in the selection and appointment of apostles. They were involved in such matters with elders, deacons and preachers.
One apparent exception would appear to be the choosing of Matthias, recorded in Acts 1. It is only an apparent exception because they recognized that only the Lord could appoint apostles. They selected two, Matthias and Joseph, based on the fact that they had been with Jesus since the beginning of his ministry. They appeared to understand that only one who had been with Jesus could be qualified to be an apostle. The reason is that the apostles were the witnesses. It was a twelfth witness who was being chosen and the Lord would direct the choice through the casting of lots. (See Acts 1:15-26 .)
In addition to the apostles who were inspired through the Holy Spirit, there were also prophets. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, they delivered messages as revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. Peter speaks of this in 2 Peter 1:20-21 : “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
Summarizing these matters of Jesus as the head of the church and the word of God revealed through apostles and prophets, Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:19-22 , “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”
We turn our attention now to a passage in Ephesians 4:11-16 . There Paul states that Jesus “gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers.” The apostles and prophets, we have already been told (in chapter 2), are the foundation for the church. Later generations of Christians would continue to be built on the same foundation. There would not need to be additional apostles and prophets once the foundation was laid. With the completion of the New Testament, the foundation of the church was complete. The apostles and prophets gave us “everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” (1 Peter 1:3) What disciples were in the first century is what disciples ought to be in every century. The New Testament was sufficient then: it is sufficient now.
The continuing work of the church, “equipping of the saints for the work of service, . . . building up of the body of Christ,” is to be carried on by evangelists and pastors who are teachers. Apostles and prophets delivered the word of God. Evangelists and pastors/teachers equip the saints for service by teaching and preaching that same word. We will consider the function of evangelists and pastors and then move on to consider that of deacons.
The word, “evangelist,” comes from a Greek word that means, “one who preaches the gospel.” The expression, “gospel preacher,” thus is equivalent to evangelist. The word preacher describes an activity without specifying the message. Evangelist is a more precise description as it not only conveys the activity but defines the message as well. In the New Testament there is no difference between a preacher and an evangelist.
Timothy was told to “preach the word”
and was also told to “do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
(2 Tim 4:5
) Philip went down to
In both of Paul’s letters to Timothy and in his letter to Titus there are lists of qualities that Timothy and Titus needed to possess in order to function as preachers. In a long passage in 1 Timothy 4:6-16 , Paul discusses the work that Timothy is to do and the things that he is to be especially concerned with about his own life. Verse 13 emphasizes the importance of reading, exhortation and teaching. Some translations add words to make it “the public reading of scripture.” In the original Greek, it is just reading that Timothy is to give attention to. Preachers need to read widely. They need to read concerning current affairs and they need to read concerning current trends in religion. They need to read from those writers with whom they agree and they need to read from those writers with whom they disagree. Especially, preachers need to read the word of God. A good practice is to read the Bible through every year. In the next chapter, chapter five , Paul speaks of the relationships that a preacher should have with the older men, the younger men, the older women and the younger women.
Another important passage for preachers is found in 2 Timothy 2:22-26 . “Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” Paul warns Timothy to “refuse foolish and ignorant speculations.” He stresses the need to avoid being quarrelsome and to handle “with gentleness” those who need correcting.
Paul warns of the difficulties that a preacher will face in 2 Timothy 2:1-5 . He encourages Timothy to endure hardship. He warns about becoming entangled “in the affairs of everyday life.” In an important charge to a preacher, Paul writes 2 Timothy 4:1-5 , stressing the need to always preach the word because the time will come when those who are disciples will not want to hear God’s message. They will turn aside to myths.
In Titus, Paul urges the preacher to “show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.” (Titus 2:7-8 ) In a passage similar to what he wrote Timothy, he warns Titus to “shun foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law; for they are unprofitable and worthless.”
There are two passages that address the
issue of churches supporting preachers so that they might devote their full
attention to preaching. One is in 2
Timothy 2:6-7
: “The hard-working farmer ought
to be the first to receive his share of the crops.
Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in
everything.” The second is in 1
Corinthians 9:7-14
. In particular, he wrote in verse
14, “So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their
living from the gospel.” His
arguments are directed toward those disciples in
Preachers are not pastors. God has not placed them as overseers of local congregations. Their primary responsibility is to preach and teach the word of God. Their teaching is to be both public and private. They ought to be in a constant quest for lost souls to teach them the gospel and turn them to God.
Preachers are also responsible for the appointment of elders. Two passages in particular show us that preachers appoint elders. The first is a passage describing the work of Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey in Acts, chapters 13 and 14. The second is in Paul’s letter to Titus, chapter one.
In the first passage, Paul and Barnabas had
preached and established churches in
In a passage in 1 Timothy
Concerning elders, any Biblical study of the subject is complicated by the fact that the terms, in the Bible, that refer to elders are often used by various religious groups today to mean something quite different from what is in the Bible. Examples of this are the words bishop, pastor, elder and presbyter.
There are six words that are used of the office of elder in the New Testament. These words are: pastor, shepherd, bishop, overseer, elder and presbyter. In the Greek original of the New Testament, there are three words, each of them being translated by two different English words. Pastor and shepherd come from the same word. Bishop and overseer come from the same word. And elder and presbyter come from the same word.
That these words are all interchangeable for
the same office is evident from a passage in Acts 20
. In verse 17 we are informed that
Paul called for the elders of the church at
Keeping in mind that these words are
addressed to elders it is interesting that they are responsible for the
“flock,” that is the sheep, and they are “to shepherd.”
(The King James Version translates “to feed.”)
This word is a verb in the original Greek and the noun form of the same
word is translated “pastor” in Ephesians 4:11
. (Ephesians
There are several references in the New
Testament to the office of elder. In
each instance the word is always used in the plural (more than one).
In Acts
Qualifications for elders are found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 . There are important considerations addressed to elders in 1 Peter 5:1-4 . Among Peter’s instructions is the injunction that elders are not to be involved in “lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.” Elders do not exist to make rules for God’s people. Jesus made all the rules that are necessary. Elders are to be concerned with helping people to walk in the path that is outlined by Jesus through his apostles.
There are two passages in Hebrews concerning the leaders of the church. While not specifically mentioning elders, these passages relate to the work that elders do. The first is in Hebrews 13:7 : “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.” The second is in Hebrews 13:17 : Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
Finally we turn our attention to deacons. That there is such an office in the church is known from 1 Timothy 3:8-13 . There Paul gives to Timothy the qualifications someone must meet before serving as a deacon.
The word “deacon” means servant or someone who waits tables. In Acts 6:2 , the apostles told the congregation, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.” They then advised the congregation to select seven men who met certain qualifications in order that they might be appointed to the necessary task.
There is a sense in which every Christian ought to be a servant. In that sense, “deacons” are not unique. The purpose of the office lies in the fact that deacons are men appointed to take charge of a particular area of service. A deacon without a delegated responsibility is a contradiction in terms. It would be like a waiter without a table to serve. Would he really be a waiter? He might wear a title, but he would not be a waiter. So, too, someone might wear the title, “deacon,” but unless he is performing useful service in the congregation he is not a deacon.
While there are not as many references to deacons as there are to elders, the word, like elders, is always used in the plural. There were seven chosen in Acts, chapter 6. In Paul’s opening words of Philippians there is a reference to “deacons.” The word is also in the plural in the list of qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 . Since there is no oversight of congregational affairs involved and since there is no particular authority that goes with the office of deacon except for the authority to perform the service that is designated, it is probably not a matter of concern whether a particular congregation has one or more than one deacon. What is important is that each deacon that is appointed has a service to perform.
