Studies & Actions
of the General Assembly of
The Presbyterian Church in America
[7th General Assembly (1979), 7-23, p. 77.]
REPORT OF THE AD-INTERIM COMMITTEE ON
NUMBER OF OFFICES
APPENDIX A
Two Offices (Elders/Bishops, and Deacons) and
Two Orders of Elders (Preaching/Teaching Elders,
and Ruling Elders):
A New Testament Study
by George W. Knight, III
Jesus Christ is Lord and Head of the church which is his
body. He rules over the church by his Word and Spirit. Through the work
of the Spirit he gives to his church men as officers to equip believers
for service, so that the church may more faithfully serve Christ in maturity
and love (Eph. 4:11ff.). Through his word, the Bible, he specifies the
qualifications and duties of those men so that his people may recognize,
elect, and appoint such men, and acknowledge Christ's rule in and through
them (1 Tim. 3; Titus 1). In this way, God's Word, the Scriptures, provides
the description of the offices (or officers) that Christ gives his church,
and serves as the only infallible guide for the church in recognizing
those offices and those who serve in them.
The Scripture not only lays down the qualifications of such servants,
but also gives them descriptive titles or designations and indicates the
functions that they are to fulfill in the church. In so designating these
offices by specific titles or designations, and also by differentiated
functions, the Scripture provides for the church the answer to the question:
What offices does Christ continue to give to the church and how many are
there?
The answer to this question has varied in the history of the Christian
Church and also more particularly in that manifestation of the church
called Presbyterian. Among the latter, the answers have tended to gravitate
to one of two conclusions: (1) a three-office view, i.e., clergy distinguished
from lay ruling officers (elders) and deacons (lay serving officers);
and (2) a two-office view, i.e., elders (teaching and ruling, clergy and
lay), and deacons (lay serving officers). Proponents of each view have
been vigorous in their advocacy and extreme polarizations have resulted.
On the one hand, some three-office advocates have stated that the references
to elders or bishops in the New Testament apply only to ministers and
not to "ruling elders" at all who are then found only in the reference
to "helps" and/or "administrations" (or "governments") in 1 Corinthians
12:28 and that their responsibility is limited to ruling or administration
and does not include any form of teaching. On the other hand, some two-office
advocates have stated that there is no distinction within the office of
elder at all, such as is commonly designated by teaching elder and ruling
elder, or by minister and ruling elder.
The basis for these two answers in the pages of the New Testament is not
hard to find. It is that the New Testament both uses two titles only to
describe or designate the officers (cf. Phil 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1, 2, 8 and
12) and also describes these officers by using three functions, i.e.,
teaching, ruling and serving (cf. 1 Tim. 3:2 (teaching), 5 (ruling or
caring) and 13 (serving). The result of this fact is that the elder is
spoken of not as having one function, but two, namely, teaching and ruling.
The two-office advocates have emphasized the fact that the offices may
be designated by two titles only, elders (or bishops) and deacons. The
three-office advocates have emphasized the fact that the functions are
three-fold and that the offices should correspond to this fact, namely,
teachers (ministers), rulers (ruling "elders") and those who serve (deacons).
It is the thesis of this study, attempting to compare Scripture with Scripture
and to harmonize all Scripture truths, that the solution to the seeming
dilemma or impasse is to be found in a mutual and complementary recognition
of the facts that there are indeed two titles or designations, elders
(or bishops) and deacons, but also that within the office of elders there
are two functions and that one of those functions, teaching, may be given
in a heightened way or as a special gift to some, but not all the elders.
Therefore, a distinction may be made within the office of elders designating
some as teachers (or ministers) as the New Testament does. This is specially
noteworthy in Ephesians 4:11 where within the larger circle of elders,
all of whom are undershepherds or pastors, some are further designated
as teachers. The study that follows seeks to unfold the Biblical truths
and to demonstrate that the thesis proposed is indeed the truth of Scripture.
The first portion of the study will unfold the two offices in Scripture,
that is, elders (or bishops) and deacons and emphasize that the term elders
(or bishops) is used in the plural and embraces all the governors or rulers
in the church. The second half of the study will then direct attention
to the distinction within the one office of elder and will indicate that
there are some who labor in the Word and teaching. Before focusing on
these two aspects, a preliminary paragraph will distinguish the continuing
offices from those extraordinary and non-continuing offices of apostles
and prophets.
It is important to realize that the question, which we naturally ask,
"What offices does Christ continue to give to the church and how many
are there?" recognizes that Christ does not continually give to the church
those special and extraordinary offices of apostles and prophets. The
apostles of Jesus Christ are those personally and directly chosen by him
(Mk. 3:14; Lk. 6:13; Gal. 1:1), eye-witnesses of his resurrection (Acts
1:22; 1 Cor. 15:8-10), and with the prophets are the special recipients
of revelation (Eph. 3:5) and thus form the non-repeatable foundation of
the church (Eph. 2:20). These two offices, since they have accomplished
their unique and non-repeatable functions and tasks, occur only during
the foundation days of the church, the New Testament age, and are not
now found in the growing and continuing superstructure of the church (cf.
1 Peter 2:15ff.).
I. Two Offices (Elders/Bishops, and Deacons)
When we move beyond the apostles and prophets, we find that the offices
which Christ continues to give his church are sometimes referred to without
a specific name or title, but simply by their functions and activities
(cf. Heb. 13:7 and 17; 1 Thess. 5:12,13), and sometimes by different words
(elders, pastors and teachers, bishops or overseers). But in the midst
of this variegated usage, we find two terms (elders or bishops) being
used throughout the New Testament, in Acts (11:30; 14;23; 15: 2, 4, 6,
22, 23; 16:4; 20:17, 28) and by Paul (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1 and 2; 5:17;
Titus 1:5,7), Peter (1 Peter 5:1) and James (5:14), that serve to overarch
and include the other terms and the descriptions of functions that relate
to oversight. On two occasions we find the term deacons used alongside
of this pervasive use of elders/bishops (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:12). We thus
find three terms used in a more or less technical sense to describe offices.
They are elders (presbyteroi), bishops (episkopoi), and
deacons (diakonoi). The first two refer to the same group of men
and thus are different words for the same office. We can therefore speak
of the New Testament as referring to elders or bishops on the one hand
and deacons on the other, and thereby grouping the offices into these
two categories or functions.
That the two words "elders" and "bishops" refer to the same office is
manifest from the following passages (Acts 20:17 and 28; Titus 1:5 and
7; and a comparison of 1 Tim 3:lff. and 1 Tim. 5:17). In Acts 20:17 the
elders are called from Ephesus to meet with Paul. In Acts 20:28 he designates
that same group of elders as bishops or overseers (episkopoi).
Paul directs Titus to appoint elders in every city (Titus 1:5) and then
goes on to describe those same officers by the term bishops or overseers
(Titus 1:7). In 1 Timothy 3:2 Paul uses the term "bishop" to speak of
the office of those who teach and rule the church (1 Tim. 3:2 and 5),
but then when he returns to the question of remuneration for those who
rule and also spend their full time in the occupation of teaching the
church, he calls them elders or presbyters (1 Tim. 5:17). In the light
of this evidence, we see that with these two terms, elders and bishops,
we have two words to designate one and the same group of offices in the
church. The one term, elder or presbyter, reflecting particularly the
Old Testament background and usage, designates them in reference to their
maturity and authority. The other term, bishop or overseer, more common
to the Greek-speaking world, designates them in terms of their particular
responsibility of having the oversight and care of the church.
These two terms, elders and bishops, serve as the embracing terms which
encompass the other designations found in the New Testament for the same
activities or functions. This is most evident in 1 Peter 5:1, where even
the Apostle Peter is willing to speak of himself as a fellow elder, in
view of the fact that he shares with the elders the responsibility for
the oversight of the people of God. And this truth is specifically apparent
in Acts 15 when the decision is rendered by the apostles and elders acting
together and sharing the oversight (15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4). Likewise,
the ordination or laying on of hands is said to be by the presbytery (1
Tim. 4:14), and that includes the Apostle Paul (2 Tim. 1:6), and, furthermore,
in Acts 13:1-3 the men who lay on hands are more specifically designated
as prophets and teachers.
The officers in the church at Ephesus are referred to as elders or bishops
in Acts 20:17, 28 and 1 Tim. 3:1 and 5:17, and as evangelists and pastors
and teachers in Eph. 4:11. Both because of what we have seen in the preceding
statements, i.e., apostles are fellow elders and prophets and teachers
perform the action of presbytery by laying on hands, and because Acts,
1 Timothy and Ephesians refer to the same church and the same officers,
we may properly infer as a good and necessary consequence that evangelists
and pastors and teachers are elders. Certainly the Ephesians passage regards
them as leaders who equip the church, a task recognized elsewhere as the
particular responsibility of elders (cf. among others, Acts 20:28,
1 Tim. 3:4, 5 and 5:17).
When once we have observed that for the New Testament the terms elders
and bishops serve as the embracive designation of one particular group
of men or office and that another term (diakonos) has become a
technical term for the ones who specifically have the task of service
in the church, i.e., the deacons, we are impressed by the fact that the
New Testament refers to the offices in the church under only these two
heads or two offices (Phil. 1:1, 1 Tim. 3:1, 2 and 12; compare Acts 6:1-6).
When the Apostle Paul desires to address the officers of the church of
Philippi, he does so using two terms and addresses two groups of officers
- "the bishops (overseers) and deacons" (Phil. 1:1). In his letter especially
written to order the life and government of the church, 1 Timothy (see
1 Tim. 3:13), a letter written near the end of his life when church government
is evidently settled and fixed, the apostle again speaks of only two groups
under these two words, bishops and deacons (1 Tim 3:1 and 2, and 12).
Similarly, when the divisions of labor and of functions were accomplished
in the early church at Jerusalem in Acts 6:1-6, we find the same two-fold
division. The apostles (fellow-elders) continue in the oversight functions
of ruling and teaching (Acts 6:2 and 4), while the seven are given the
function of service (diakonein) at tables (Acts 6:2 and 3). In
summary, we see the New Testament speaking of two offices, bishops (or
elders) and deacons (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1 and 2, and 12), and the church
of Jesus Christ today should follow that authoritative norm and pattern.
When we ask the distinction between these two offices, we find that the
terms used serve themselves to describe that difference. The elders/bishops
(overseers) are those who have the spiritual oversight (cf. 1 Peter 5:2, episkopountes), which is specifically said to be ruling and teaching
(1 Tim. 3:2 and 5; 5:17; Titus 1:9ff). Such ruling and teaching is not
specified for the deacons (diakonoi) in 1 Timothy 3 in a list which
in other ways is almost parallel to that for the bishops, but these two
functions are clearly omitted (see 1 Tim. 3:8ff). We deduce from Acts
6:1-6 that the deacons should continue the practice of those first deacons,
the seven, which was to care for the poor and needy and to perform other
service ministries for the church under the oversight of the elders (cf.
Acts 11:30). When a congregation is first being formed, deacons may be
omitted from the officers elected and their functions will be carried
on by the elders until that work is too heavy and men are chosen for such
diaconal services (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5ff.; cf. Acts 6:1-6).
The perspective of the New Testament that there are only two permanent
and ordinary offices that continue in the church, elders/bishops and deacons,
is borne out not only by the fact that these two terms are used to designate
all the permanent offices in the New Testament church and thereby place
them in only two offices, but also by an awareness of the fact that the
elders/bishops are always considered as a group of men who share together
those two responsibilities involved in oversight, namely, teaching and
ruling. The references to a plurality of elders in every church preclude
these references from referring only to those whom we call ministers or
preachers today and clearly include those whom we call ruling, as well
as teaching, elders. The evidence for this affirmation is set forth in
the following paragraphs.
The first churches established by Paul on his first missionary journey,
small an persecuted as they may have been, each have a plurality of elders
appointed for then (Acts 14:23, "appointed elders for them in every church").
Elders (plural) are called from Ephesus to Miletus and all of them are
called overseers (episkopoi) and are given the task of shepherding
or pastoring (poimainein, Acts 20:28) the church of God an defending
it (Acts 20:30, 31). Like the church at Ephesus, the church at Philippi
has a plurality of elders/bishops (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 5:17). As in the
case at Ephesus, so also the new congregations on the island of Crete
located in the cities are to have a plurality of elders in every city.
And, again, like the elders at Ephesus, these elders have their unified
oversight function described in the two tasks of teaching and ruling (Titus
1:911 and 13). James similarly speaks of calling a group of men designated
elders to minister to a particular need in a congregation (James 5:14).
Peter also refers to elders in the plural (1 Peter 5:1, notice also all
the plural references in verses 2-4) in each of the congregations addressed
by his letter (cf. 1 Peter 1:1), and speaks of them as shepherding (poimanate)
the particular flock among them (1 Peter 5:2). In I Thessalonians 5 and
in Hebrews 13 the elders or bishops are not referred to by such designations,
but are referred to in both cases in the plural as a group which has the
unified and shared responsibility of teaching and ruling (1 Thess. 5:12,
13; Heb. 13:7 and 17).
In all these references to the elders in the plural there is also an emphasis
on the fact that they share together as a group the unified and shared
responsibility of teaching and ruling, of shepherding and exercising the
oversight. So these two truths belong inseparably together. The oversight
or shepherding of the church belongs to a plurality of elders and to the
plurality of elders belongs the responsibility of oversight and shepherding.
That plurality of elders encompasses all the elders known to the New Testament,
which can be referred to as teaching elders and ruling elders.
Thus a uniform picture emerges from the New Testament. From the earliest
days of the New Testament church to the last letter written by Paul (from
Acts 11:30 and 14:23 to 1 Tim. 3:lff., 5:17 and Titus 1:9) and with unified
testimony from the various writers (Luke, Paul, Peter, James, the writer
of Hebrews), there is agreement that there is one group of men who have
the oversight, called elders or bishops, and that this oversight includes
both teaching and ruling. Such evidence is an overwhelming testimony to
the fact that the oversight of the church is committed into the hands
of a group of men called by the New Testament elders/bishops and that
their task or function includes both teaching and ruling as one unified
and shared responsibility.
II. Two Orders of Elders (Preaching/Teaching Elders, and
Ruling Elders)
To this clear evidence for the two offices of elders/bishops and deacons,
and the task committed to the elders/bishops should be joined the emphasis
upon one function for some, namely teaching, that 1 Timothy 5:17 introduces
among those who serve in the office which is there designated by the official
term elders (or presbyters). With this passage we have now returned to
the two functions found in the one office of elder, namely ruling and
teaching, and to the fact that sometimes as here, the one function of,
teaching receives particular emphasis.
Although all elders are to be able to teach (1 Tim. 3:2) and thus to instruct
the people of God and communicate with those who oppose Biblical teaching
(Titus 1:9ff.), the 1 Timothy 5:17 passage recognizes that among the elders,
all of whom are to be able to teach, there are those so gifted by God
with the ability to teach the Word that they are called by God to give
their life in such a calling or occupation and deserve therefore to be
remunerated for such a calling and occupation. The relation between the
elder especially gifted to teach and all the other elders who are to be
able to teach is analogous to but not identical with that of the heightened
ability of all the elders compared to that of all believers who are called
on to teach one another (Col. 3:16 and Eph. 5:19). That ability to labor
in the Word and teaching is described in 2 Tim. 4:1-7 as the ministry
which is specifically designated by the phrase "preach the Word." Those
elders especially gifted to teach labor or work hard at their ministry
(1 Tim. 5:17) and like the ordinary laborers, they deserve their wages
from such labor. Although any elder who devotes his time to the ruling
of the church so that it becomes his calling and occupation is worthy
not only of the honor of respect, but also the "double honor" of the honorarium
or wages, the one whom we designate the teaching elder or the teacher
among the elders is especially in view in this passage because such responsibility
demands full time service in this calling and occupation.
Once it is recognized that within the office of elder there is a heightened
or specialized function of teaching and preaching the Word, the insight
has been provided to integrate other passages into our study, especially
those which refer to teachers. Although all the references to teachers
in the letters of the New Testament do not necessarily refer to those
in an office in the church, those that do are most helpful. We have already
seen teachers acting as elders in Acts 13:1-3 in laying hands on Paul
and Barnabas (cf. 1 Tim. 4:14). Paul in two passages distinguishes the
functions which he fulfilled as a minister of Jesus Christ by using the
words preacher, apostle and teacher (1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11). In those
passages he is not describing separate and distinct offices, but rather
distinguishes the functions of authoritatively announcing the good news
(preacher or herald), of being the authoritative eye-witness and spokesman
(apostle) and of instructing in the truth (teacher). By separating and
distinguishing the functions which he fulfilled as a minister of Jesus
Christ, he highlighted each aspect of his unified ministry and calling.
Similarly, when the apostle is considering the manifold gifts of the Holy
Spirit in 1 Coronations 12, he distinguishes various gifts or functions
relating to offices of the church alongside of and intermingled with other
gifts which do not have an office in the church in view (1 Cor. 12:28-31,
cf. verses 4ff. especially vs. 7). Apostles and prophets are at one end
of the spectrum and refer to offices. Tongues are at the other end of
the spectrum and are regarded as a gift without reference to office.
In this list which moves from an official office at one end to an example
of an official gift at the other, we find two gifts mentioned which relate
to the office of elder, namely, "teachers," and "administrations" ("governments"
KJV) (kuberneiseis) (1 Cor. 12:28, NASB). [The reference to "helps"
(antileimpseis) probably is to be related primarily to the deacons
whom we see in the seven of Acts 6 performing helpful deeds in serving
and caring for widows (Acts 6:1-6).] Here the twofold functions of teaching
and ruling are now distinguished and emphasized. And the distinction is
given emphasis by referring to the one gift as "teachers" rather than
as teaching and by numbering it as third, which puts it only after apostles
and prophets. On the other hand, the word used is administrations or governments
rather than that of governors, which would more exactly parallel teachers.
Administrations is a broader and more general concept. The Greek lexicon
of Bauer-Amdt-Gingrich states that "the plural indicates proofs of ability
to hold a leading position in the church" (pg. 457).
These observations should not be surprising because these facts are quite
in accord with I Timothy 5:17. There we noticed that among the elders,
all of whom are to rule, are some "who work hard at preaching and teaching"
(NASB). Paul in 1 Corinthians acknowledges the need for the gift of administrations
or governments for the rule and oversight of the church. Alongside of
that gift he recognizes some with the word teachers who also labor in
the Word and teaching (again cf. 1 Tim. 5:17). The word "teachers"
must not be regarded as an exclusive reference that separates them from
those who have the gift of administrations because we have already seen
that Paul can refer to himself as being not only an apostle, but also
a preacher and teacher. Since therefore at least two of the gifts in the
list in 1 Coronations 12:28-31 can refer to one person, we must not let
the fact that the gifts of teachers and administrations are distinguished
lead us to think of them erroneously as separate offices. The evidence
of the New Testament already considered has demonstrated the unity of
the office of elder and the fact that it involves both functions, that
is, that of teaching and of ruling (cf. again the passages cited in previous
paragraphs of this study). On the other hand, we must give adequate weight
to the fact that these functions can be distinguished and emphasized in
both 1 Tim. 5:17 and now in 1 Cor. 12:28-31, particularly, the function
of teaching. To do justice to such distinction and emphasis we may say,
as Dabney has already done, that within the one office or class of elders
there are embraced two orders, that of the preaching or teaching elders
and that of the ruling elders. Ephesians 4:11 provides in principle further
insights into the proper correlation that the distinction brings.
Ephesians 4:11 says "And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets,
and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers" (NASB). The
first two groups, apostles and prophets, are the extraordinary and non-repeatable
foundation offices, as we have shown earlier. The term evangelists is
used only three times in the New Testament. In addition to its occurrence
here, Philip, who had been one of the seven of Acts 6 is designated an
evangelist (Acts 21:8), and Timothy is urged to do the work of an evangelist
(2 Tim. 4:5). The term "evangelists" itself provides the best definition
of the work or task of the one in view, namely that he is one who proclaims
the evangel, the Gospel. This is a function which may be distinguished
from that of the pastors and teachers (Eph. 4:11) and seen as a specialized
ministry (Philip, Acts 21:8), but at the same time it is also a function
which should mark the ministry and proclamation of all those who like
Timothy are called to preach the Word (cf. 1 Tim. 4:15). In view of the
fact that the gift of proclaiming the Gospel and planting churches is
necessary in the church until the end of the age, this ministry is permanent
and not confined to the apostolic period. In view of the fact that evangelists
in Eph. 4:11 are in the list of those offices which are distinguished
from the saints or believers in general (Eph. 4:12), we may properly regard
them as a specialized manifestation of that office whose task is elsewhere
described in similar terms to those used here, that of edifying and equipping
the saints, namely, the office of elder (Eph. 4:11, 12).
It remains for us to consider the statement "and some as pastors and teachers"
(tous de poimenas kai didaskalous). We are aided tremendously in
our understanding of the offices referred to in this passage by recognizing
that the pastors and teachers in the church at Ephesus are referred to
in two other places in the New Testament, namely, Acts 20:17-35 and 1
Tim. 3:1-7 and 5:17. It is this triple perspective which throws light
on the two terms pastors (poimenas) and teachers (didaskalous).
Let us consider the first word "pastors." The Greek term means literally
"shepherd" and is used in this literal sense in the New Testament of the
shepherds at Jesus' birth. Because the people of God are figuratively
regarded as sheep, the one who tends, feeds and exercises oversight over
them is called the shepherd in a figurative sense. This figurative usage
in reference to the religious leaders was already evident in the Old Testament
(cf. Jer. 2:8; 3:15; Ezek. 34:2). The figurative usage in reference to
religious leaders in the letters of the New Testament is found only here
in Eph. 4:11 (Heb. 13:20 and 1 Pet. 2:25 refer to Jesus and the Gospels
use it figuratively of Jesus). The solution to the question of what group
is in view in the term "pastors" is to be found by recognizing that the
shepherding or pastoring responsibility is given to all the elders/bishops
in Acts 20:28. "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock (poimnio),
among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd (to feed,
KJV) (poimainein) the church of God which he purchased with his
own blood" (NASB). The verb used in Acts 20:28 "to shepherd," "to pastor"
(poimainein, also translated "to feed") is the verbal form of the
concept and term we are considering in Eph. 4:11, i.e., "pastors" (poimenas).
The Acts passage indicates by this usage that all the elders/bishops have
a shepherding or pastoral responsibility and may be designated pastors.
When we ask of the Eph. 4:11 passage, who are the pastors?, we may answer
from Acts 20:28 and context, they are the elders/bishops. This answer
is borne out also by the passage in 1 Peter 5:1-4 which speaks of the
task of elders. Here again the task of elders in their collective capacity
is described in shepherding or pastoring terms: "shepherd (poimanati)
the flock (poimnion) among you" (1 Peter 5:2; cf. verse 3, "the
flock"). So we may deduce from the Apostle Peter as well as the Apostle
Paul in Luke's account in Acts that pastors equal elders/bishops. And
finally, this insight is borne out by the other reference to the elders
in Ephesus in 1 Tim. 3:1-7 and 5:17. To take care of the church (1 Tim.
3:5) and to rule the church (1 Tim. 5:17) is another way of saying shepherd
or pastor the church, and taking care of and ruling the church is presented
in 1 Tim. 3:5 and 5:17 as the task of bishops/elders as a whole. We may
conclude that the pastors in view in Eph. 4:11 are all the elders/bishops.
We must now turn our attention to the term "Teachers" and its relationship
to pastors in Eph. 4:11. In the grammatical construction of the entire
statement of Eph. 4:11 each of the positions named has the definite article
"the" before it, except for the term teachers. The list would read in
a literal translation as follows: "And he gave the apostles, and the prophets, and the evangelists, and the pastors and
teachers." The effect of omitting the definite article "the" before teachers
is that it groups pastors and teachers together in one class or category.
(In Greek grammars this is called the Granville Sharp rule.) Rather than
reading "the pastors, and the teachers," the statement reads "the pastors-and-teachers."
In effect, we may say that the apostle regards the teachers as belonging
to the class or category of pastors. But at the same time, and especially
in the light of 1 Cor. 12:28-31, the teachers are a specialized and emphasized
order within that larger class. And this is exactly how he has spoken
of elders in 1 Tim. 5:17. 1 Tim. 5:17 states that among that larger group
of elders, all of whom rule, there are those who labor in the Word and
teaching. What the apostle Paul has said in 1 Tim. 5:17 is now said in
Eph. 4:11 by the expression "the pastors and teachers." All elders are
pastors. Among the elders, all of whom have a pastoral or shepherding
responsibility, there are some who labor in the Word and teaching whom
the New Testament calls teachers as here, or as those who preach elsewhere.
That pastor/elder is a preaching or teaching pastor/elder. Here again,
to use Dabney's terms, we have two orders and one class or office. The
one class or office is that of pastor/elder/bishop. The two orders within
that one class are teaching or preaching pastors/elders on the one hand
and ruling pastors/elders on the other hand. The non-repeated definite
article "the" tightly joins the two orders together as one class or office.
The word teachers added to that of pastors indicates a specialized ministry
among that of the pastors/elders.
Why then was the term "evangelist" separated from that of pastors and
teachers? Because the activity of evangelists, as important as it is to
the work of the church and the eldership, is not so intrinsically a part
of the work of the eldership in reference to its role as pastors of the
flock that it should be given as a definite aspect of pastoring as teaching
was. To be an elder in reference to the flock is by definition to be one
of the pastors of the flock. And pastoring the flock involves of necessity
that some at least must labor in the Word and teaching and be teachers.
But pastoring the flock does not involve intrinsically evangelists. Evangelists
are gaining lost sheep, not caring for saved and gathered ones. So the
apostle has placed that aspect of eldership, evangelists, in a separate
category and recognizes that some have special gifts for that task.
The New Testament makes a distinction within the one office of elders
of some who labor in teaching the Word. The church through the ages has
been faithful to the New Testament when it has done the same. When we
inquire further about the duties and responsibilities of those among the
elders who are laboring in the Word and teaching, the teaching or preaching
elders, we must not only return to the passages about elders and bishops
in general, but also consider those passages referring to Timothy and
to Paul who were involved in this particular aspect as fellow-elders who
were laboring in the Word and teaching in the capacity of teaching or
preaching elders (cf. 1 Cor. 9; 2 Cor. 3, 4, 5; 1 Tim. 4:6-16; 2 Tim.
1:3-14; 2; 3:10-4:8).
Therefore, the church which seeks to be faithful to the New Testament
will seek to keep in perspective and balance the unity of the office of
elders/bishops, which when joined by the deacons leads the New Testament
to speak of the permanent offices of the church as just these two, and
also the distinguishing function given to some among the elders by means
of a particular gift of teaching and a corresponding activity. This will
mean that all the elders rule together and are together responsible for
the teaching of the church. It will also mean that of that plurality some
will be more gifted by God to teach than the others and therefore in distinction
from those others will make that ministry their vocation, whereas the
others possessing the same authority will remain in other vocations while
they share in the oversight. The unity and parity within the one office
of elder helps to foster the mutual submission to one another, which in
turn helps to preserve the humble servant quality of the eldership, and,
at the same time, the unique Lordship of Christ. The recognition of differing
manifestations of gifts, especially in that of teaching, within the unified
eldership exalts the sovereignty of Christ's Lordship, who gives gifts
as he will for the good of his church, and helps to ensure that that most
needed gift of teaching Christ's Word will have full emphasis and free
course in his church. By this, his Word of instruction and the enabling
of his Spirit, Christ orders and edifies his people, the church, the body
of Christ. |