THE CHURCH 3
THE CHURCH 3
In closing this part of our study it is interesting to note that nowhere in scripture are we warned to beware of false evangelists in the church as we are warned to beware of false apostles, prophets and teachers. By definition evangelists cannot be false - they only proclaim the good news of Christ and preach the message of salvation to the lost.
PASTORS: The term "pastor" is derived from the Greek word poimen, which means a "shepherd". poimen is used 18 times in the New Testament but it is only translated "pastor" once (CP Eph 4:11). The other 17 times it is translated "shepherd". It is used 11 times either directly or indirectly in reference to Jesus (CP Mt 25:32; 26:31; Mk 14:27; Jn 10:2, 11-12,14,16; He 13:20; 1Pe 2:25); Jesus uses it twice in reference to others (CP Mt 9:36; Mk 6:34), and it is used 4 times of the shepherds who visited the baby Jesus (CP Lu 2:8,15,18,20). These scriptures prove the statement made earlier in our study on apostles that nowhere in scripture is the term "pastor" ever used as it is in the contemporary church to define rank, authority or title of anyone - man or woman - in the New Testament church. Rather, scriptures clearly teach that it defines the nature or character of the work for which the elders in the New Testament church, collectively and co-equally, are responsible. It is the elders constituting the presbytery to whom God has committed the direction and government of the local New Testament church. Let us once again examine the scriptures that teach us this (CP Eph 4:7-8, 11-16; Ac 20:17-28; 1Pe 5:1-4; 1Ti 3:1-7; Tit 1:4-9). These scriptures not only confirm that it is the plurality of elders co-equally to whom God has committed the direction and government of the local New Testament church, but they also teach that the elders are men only. Contrary to what a great many Christians in the contemporary church believe there is no provision in scripture for the ordination of women to public ministry in the New Testament church.
As we learned previously in our study on apostles, both episkopos, the Greek word for bishop/overseer, and presbuteros, the Greek word for elder/presbyter only refer to a male in the New Testament, thus signifying that men only are ordained of God to pastor the New Testament church. Also, the fact that anyone aspiring to be an elder must be the husband of one wife if married is further confirmation that elders can only ever be men (CP 1Ti 3:2; Tit 1:6). There is no provision at all here for the inclusion of women as elders in the New Testament church. Likewise deacons also can only ever be men. Like bishops, they too must only be the husband of one wife, if married (CP 1Ti 3:8-13). The term deacon primarily denotes a servant - one who ministers to the needs of others - without reference to the character of the work. In the New Testament, diakonos, the Greek word for deacon is used to refer to domestic servants (CP Jn 2:5,9); civil rulers (CP Ro 13:4); Christ (CP Ro 15:8; Ga 2:17); the followers of Christ in relation to their Lord (CP Jn 12:26; Eph 6:21; Col 1:7; 4:7); the followers of Christ in relation to one another (CP Mt 20:26; 23:11; Mk 9:35; 10:43); the servants of Christ in relation to preaching and teaching (CP 1Cor 3:5; 2Cor 3:6; 6:4; 11:23; Eph 3:7; Col 1:23,25; 1Th 3:2; 1Ti 4:6); a servant of the church (CP Ro 16:1); servants in the church (CP Php 1:1; 1Ti 3:8,12), and false apostles - servants of Satan (CP 2Cor 11:15).
We can see from those scriptures that the term deacon has a much broader application than most Christians in the contemporary church realise. The general conception of deacons among Christians in the contemporary church is that they do most of the menial tasks in the church - they open the hall up for meetings, switch on the lights, arrange the seating, distribute the emblems for communion, and take up the collection, etc, but as is seen here scriptures do not teach that. The confusion surrounding deacons in the contemporary church emanates from the teaching that the role of deacons in the New Testament church is defined in Ac 6:1-6, yet scriptures do not designate the seven men in Ac 6:1-6 who were chosen to distribute the alms and minister to the material needs of the Greek widows in the church at Jerusalem as deacons (CP Ac 6:1-6 with 1Ti 3:1-13). It is obvious from 1Ti 3:1-13 that the office of deacon in the New Testament church is more than dealing with temporal things as distinct from spiritual things. Temporal things have to be dealt with, but to limit the office of a deacon to just dealing with temporal things is to limit the effectiveness of the church in God's eternal purpose. In the context of 1Ti 3:1-13 it is significant that the term deacons is used side by side with bishops, or elders. This indicates that deacons are assistant ministers or that they assist the ruling elders in the performance of their duties. They are the scriptural counterparts to the non-scriptural assistant pastors and elders in the contemporary church (CP Php 1:1). The qualifications for deacons, like bishops, and their role in the New Testament church, are defined in 1Ti 3:1-13 not in Ac 6:1-6 as so many Christians in the contemporary church have been taught. It should be noted here also that although deacons assist the elders in the performance of their duties they have no ruling authority in the New Testament church. Their ministry office as 1Ti 3:13 clearly teaches is a proving ground leading to greater responsibilities, but it is not a leadership position to start with, and for any local New Testament church to be under the authority of a "board of deacons" is totally unscriptural. We cannot supplant God's order for the church and replace it with another. He has decreed the church to be under the authority of ruling elders, not deacons.
This leads us now to the question of women being ordained to public ministry in the contemporary church when there is no provision for it in the New Testament. Scriptures clearly teach that women are precluded from any leadership position in the New Testament church. There are numerous references to women in the New Testament but nowhere do scriptures teach that they were ordained to public ministry in the church. In searching the scriptures we can only find male leadership in the New Testament church as the model for relationship between the sexes, and we should accept that as God's order for the church without any additions, subtractions or alterations whatever (CP 1Ti 2:8-14). Opinions differ among Christians as to whom this scripture refers - whether women generally or wives specifically. The Greek word gune means either, and whether a woman generally or a wife specifically is meant depends upon the context in which it is used. Here it refers to women generally because all women who profess godliness, regardless of their marital status are to dress modestly and not draw attention to themselves in the assembly by any form of immoderate conduct. Paul is dealing with the general conduct of all women in the church here. It has to do with church order and the position of men and women in church worship and work, not with the relationship between a husband and wife as in 1Cor 14 (CP 1Cor 14:34-35). In 1Ti2:8 Paul wants men, as opposed to women, to conduct public worship in the church. In V12 he prohibits women from holding any position of authority over men in the church. Women cannot be teachers to instil doctrine and instruct men, which confirms what other scriptures in this study also teach, that men only are ordained of God to pastor His church. Women are precluded from this office.
Paul is not forbidding women to educate, proclaim the truth, exhort, pray or prophesy. That is their God-given right as scriptures clearly attest (CP Ac 2:17-18; 18:24-26; 21:8-9; 1Cor 11:5; 14:13; Php 4:3; 2Ti 1:5; 3:14-15; Tit 2:3-5). Women can teach other women, girls, and children (boys and girls), and they can assist their husbands in their ministerial duties, but they are prohibited from holding public office in the church and exercising authority over men. This has nothing to do with the culture surrounding women in Paul's time either, as many in the contemporary church teach to justify the ordination of women today. There is no allowance in scripture whatever for God's word to be altered to suit the cultural changes in women that would justify their ordination to public ministry in the contemporary church (CP Psa 119:89; Lu 21:33; 1Pe 1:23-25). God's word never changes - it is exalted even above His name (CP Psa 89:34; 138:2). What Paul forbade in 1Timothy is still forbidden. In 1Ti 2:13-14 Paul explains that his opposition to women in public ministry is found in the original order of creation, and in the circumstances of the fall of man (CP V13-14): man (Adam) was formed first, then woman (Eve). Adam was not deceived but Eve was, and as a result women are prohibited from ever being teachers or exercising authority over men in the New Testament church. This confirms what other scriptures teach against women in any leadership position in the church. The Greek word gune is also used in 1Ti 3:11. Here though it is clearly used in the context of a husband and wife relationship. It is not describing women deacons but the wives of men deacons if they are married, the same as the preceding passage refers to male elders and their wives, if married (CP 1Ti 3:1-13). Scriptures do not teach that Phebe was a "deaconess" in the church at Cenchrea. They simply teach that she was a servant of the church there, and as we have already seen the Greek word diakonos can refer to anyone in a serving capacity, from domestic servants, to civil rulers, to Christ (CP Ro 16:1-2). We get a better insight into Phebe's ministry in the church at Cenchrea from a study of the word "succorer" in V2 which defines her as caring for the affairs of others -who helps and aids them from her resources. Succorer is from the Greek word prostatis, which is the feminine form of "patron" or "protector". It was used by the Greeks to describe those who care for and entertain strangers in their home. Phebe was evidently a woman of means who ministered to the needs of others in the church at Cenchrea and looked after Paul and his companions on his apostolic mission journeys there. There are many women named in scripture who served with distinction in the first century church, but none in a leadership capacity. (See also following study: "Women and God's order for the New Testament church").
There is another issue pertinent to this part of our study that needs to be raised here. It concerns titles men and women in the contemporary church use to signify their rank and authority in the church. The most common title used is "pastor" which is a complete misnomer considering the word is never used in scripture to define the rank or authority of anyone in the New Testament church. But even more important is the fact that titles are totally opposed in scripture. Jesus himself condemned them (CP Job 32:21-22; Mt 23:2-12). We cannot mistake what these scriptures mean. God is totally opposed to titles and Jesus forbids Christians seeking after, or receiving them. Titles may count for something in hierarchical or denominational religions where they are used to distinguish between the so-called clergy and the laity, but they are totally unscriptural. Mt 23:8 teaches that there is always to be a brotherly relationship between Christians regardless of their ministry gifts (CP V8 with Mk 10:35-45 and Lu 22:24-27). Jesus was the embodiment of every ministry gift in the church yet He was the servant of all. He teaches us in these scriptures that every ministry gift in the church is to be one of service - not with titular power, but servant power (CP 1Cor 4:14-15).
Here we see that Paul was a father in the Lord to the Corinthian church, but he was never called "Father" Paul. Paul only ever referred to himself by his first name and to everyone else by theirs. We only have to read the first verse of every one of his epistles, and the last chapter in Romans (Ch 16), to see that, and Peter, John and James were the same. No elder in the first century church had a title conferred upon them, and if Jesus condemns them how can contemporary church leaders justify them. If Jesus forbids Christians using titles such as "rabbi", "father", "master" and "teacher" in Mt 23:2-12, that also means "pastor", "doctor", "reverend", etc. It is argued by contemporary church leaders that they need to use their title to obtain respect and recognition in the world order. Be that as it may, there is no need for it in the church itself, yet that is where it is used the most and it should not be so. It is the titles which distinguishes ministry that created the clergy system in the church in the first place.
TEACHERS: Teachers are placed third in the divine order of ministry gifts for the church (CP 1Cor 12:28). They are the New Testament equivalent to the Old Testament scribes, viewed as in a special sense acquainted with and interpreters of God's word. The scribe's duty in the Old Testament was to give progressive instruction of God's redeeming purpose, which is also the teacher's function in the New Testament (CP Mt 13:52). This is how Kenneth Wuest's "Expanded Translation of the Greek New Testament" renders that verse, "...and He (Jesus) said to them, because of this, every man learned in the sacred scriptures who has accepted the precepts and instructions with reference to the Kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a master of a house, who is of such a character that he dispenses with hearty enjoyment out of his treasure-house, things new as to the quality and also things mellowed with age by reason of use."
Teachers in the New Testament church do not teach the mere letter of the word or doctrine as such, but being blessed with revelation in the word they teach prophetically, presenting deep truth in such a way as to build up faith in the church, helping to prepare and equip it for God's service. The teacher's function is to teach, to instruct, to educate, to train, to discipline, to nurture, to influence the understanding of those being taught. The special task of teachers is to zealously guard the gospel entrusted to them. They are to vigorously contend for the truth of scripture in the face of any teaching in the church that does not conform to scripture, and faithfully point the church to the original message of Christ and the apostles (CP 2Ti 1:8-14; 2:2; 3:16). Teachers must never forget that the letter (of the law) kills, but it is the Spirit that gives life (CP Jn 6:63; 2Cor 3:6). The supreme goal of all instruction in God's word is not Bible knowledge in itself but an inward moral transformation that expresses itself in love, purity of heart, a clear conscience and faith without hypocrisy (CP 1Ti 1:4-5). The biblical concept of teaching and learning is not primarily to impart knowledge or to prepare oneself academically. It is to produce holiness and a righteous lifestyle conforming to the ways of God (CP He 12:14). A teacher's own life must illustrate perseverance in truth, faith and holiness. Teachers should be able to speak with authority; they must be a voice and not just an echo like the Old Testament scribes and Pharisees. They must be sound theologians able to teach wholesome doctrine (CP 1Ti 6:3-4; 2Ti 1:13; 1Pe 4:10-11). A teacher's life is one of study and personal preparation but they must always remain teachable themselves (CP Ro 2:21; 1Cor 2:9-13). If teachers are not able to be taught themselves, they will not be able to teach others. They must always beware of pride of intellect, for knowledge "puffs up" (CP 1Cor 8:1-2; Jas 3:13-18).
Many Christians believe that religious education teachers and Sunday school teachers exercise the ministry gift of a teacher in the New Testament church but that is not correct. Those with the ministry gift of teacher are also qualified elders in the church, but religious education teachers and Sunday school teachers are not necessarily so. Also, there are many women who teach Sunday school and religious education, but as noted in our study on apostles and pastors they are prohibited from ever being teachers or any other public ministry in the New Testament church. There is a grim warning in scripture to Christians aspiring to be teachers in the New Testament church (CP Jas 3:1-2). Masters (KJV) means "teachers", but it also includes every leader in the church because they are all instructors in God's word - they all give instruction to a congregation - and no one has a more solemn responsibility in the church than those who teach the sacred scriptures. James warns Christians here not to aspire too hastily to be a teacher because they increase their liability for judgement if they do. The warning about unbridled tongues in Jas 3 teaches that true faith is evidenced by the words we speak. Primarily it is directed to teachers and includes all church leaders, and secondarily to all Christians. It is very easy for teachers to sin with their tongue. Teachers have a tremendous influence over the people they teach and they must give very careful consideration to not only what they say, but how they say it (CP Jas 3:3-12). The ministry gift of teaching is one of great responsibility and must therefore be entered into with extreme caution.