Ministry: Who Owns The Other?

You will often hear pastors talking about how they own the sheep. They claim their church members belong to them. Is such a claim Biblical? Are pastors the owners of the sheep in their care? 

"The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;" (1Per 5:1,2).

“So [elders/bishops] guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders." (Acts 20:28).

"Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;" (1Pet 5:2).

It is clear in Scripture that the pastors do not own any sheep. The sheep belongs to God and God alone. In the body of Christ the leaders do not own the people. In fact, it is the other way around. It is the people who own the leaders.

"So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God."

Paul, Apollos and Peter are all spiritual leaders. Yet Scripture tells us that they do not own the people, rather the people owned them. The people own the ministers, the people are the inheritance of Christ — Christ owns them — and God owns Christ. Can you see the structure? Today in the body of Christ we have turned the structure the wrong way. We feel God own Christ, Christ own the pastors, and the pastors own the people. This is unbiblical, it is not how the early Christians practice this faith, and it is not how Jesus taught us to practice Christianity.

"Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up." (Eph 4:11-12).

The ministers are slaves given to serve the people. Jesus gave these ministers as gifts to his people. Jesus love his bride so much that he gave her slaves to serve are, dress her up and prepare her for the wedding party.

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself." (Rev 19:7).

The bride has prepared herself. Jesus is not the one that will prepare her, she will have to prepare herself for the wedding. But how would she prepare herself? This is where Jesus comes in to help by giving her slaves who will dress her up. This was how it was during the first century. Slave was is how you know how wealthy one is. A king who is very wealthy will not only have many slaves, but he would have the best slaves. He would have the best cook, the best cup bearer, the best maid, the best launder, and so on. 

If this king is about to marry and he wants to show how much he loves his bride and wants her to look absolutely glorious on the wedding day, he would give her the best of his slaves to prepare her and make her glorious for the wedding. Yes, he would give her the best hair stylist in his court, the best dress maker, the best makeup artist, and all of his bests slaves that are skilled in preparing a bride for wedding. This is exactly what Jesus did for the Church. These ministers are our hair stylist, dress maker, makeup artist, and all the slaves we need to prepare ourselves for the wedding.

They are our slaves because they belong to our bridegroom. He gave them to us in order that they might serve us. If they are not doing their work properly we can report them to our bridegroom to deal with them and send us a more qualified and diligent slave. Yes, they must be very careful otherwise we would report them to our bridegroom and they will be in big trouble. Note that anything done carnally has no power in heaven. If you are acting in the flesh and not as the bride, then the bridegroom has no business responding to you. He is committed only to his bride and not the flesh.

The flesh is condemned to the cross and the bridegroom has no business with it. The bridegroom doesn't even want to see the flesh, much less listen to anything it has to say. So as long as we are being the bride and acting as the bride, we have the right to report slaves (ministers) that are not doing their work well. They are meant to serve us, they belong to us. This is how it is in the Kingdom, and it is time we start living out this reality.

"Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock." (1Pet 5:3).

The people not the ministers are the special ones. They are God's heritage and treasure. As such, the ministers are to treat them the way they would treat a king's bride, giving them special care and serve them humbly. Ministry is meant for spiritually mature people, and if you are truly spiritual mature you will realize how special these sheep are to God. They are so precious to the Father that he would do anything for them. Ministers are to look at the people through the eyes of the Father and see them as very precious people that are to be cared for.

"If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea." (Mark 9:42).

"We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed." (1Cor 4:10).

Can't you see, the people are the special ones. They are the ones that gets the special treatment. The Lord guards them very jealously. They are the ones that are honoured, not the minister, and that was how it was in the first century. That was how Jesus taught Peter and John to practice Christianity. The little ones must be given special care, and they must be honoured. Paul came on the scene and did the same thing, for he was trained by the Spirit into a mature minister. A minister that treat the people like trash is carnal and babyish. A minister that treat the people like they are his property is not fit to be a minister for he is spiritually immature. 

One of the marks of immaturity is being too possessive. It is just immature to go about claiming these people are your sheep and that you own them like some kind of property. Grow up, and stop being such a baby. You have been given a responsibility to care for the sheep and prepare the bride. Do it with all humility and let the people feel that they are the special ones and the father loves them very much. It is immaturity to be so focused on trying to make the people feel you are special. You are still full of yourself, still a baby. We need mature ministers in the body of Christ.

Note: I am not trying to divide the body into clergy and laity. My point is that the moment you are playing the role of a minister, it means you are being a servant — a slave. The word "minister" means servant. Each time you play the role of a minister you are coming out of the body to serve as a slave to the bride. The bridesmaids do not own the bride, they can never own the bride no matter how much value they add to the bride. It is the bridegroom that owns the bride. In the medieval time the bridesmaids are slaves and servants, serving under the bride. The bride owns them, they belong to her, for they are her servants. This was what Paul was trying to say when he said to the Corinthians, "everything belongs to you whether Paul or Apollos or Peter" (1Cor 3:21-22).

Yes, even apostles do not own the people, rather the people own them. They are all slaves and servants to the bride. To understand more about authority, service and submission, check out this post: Authority, Service and Submission. 

 

Why The Pastoral System Must Be Dealt With

 

"And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth." (Rev 5:10).

He has made every one of us kings and priests here on earth. But when you take the wonderful gift of kingship that God has given his people, and then you place all that responsibility on one man in a group, then you have subjected the rest of the people to laziness. Most Christians are suffering from severe case of spiritual laziness. 

I want you to understand that I am not bringing all these up just to point to errors or to sound correct. If we want to start pointing errors we would never end. There are a lot of things we see and just ignore because fighting them would be like fighting the symptoms rather than the decease. You will just warry yourself and yet achieve nothing. But we focus on the very pillar of the problem, so that when those pillars are pulled down then the remaining ones will go away. 

The reason the body of Christ is so carnal is because we are not growing, and we are not growing because we are spiritually lazy. And one of the causes of this spiritual laziness is this structure where the believers kingly and priestly responsibilities is placed on a single man in a group. By doing this, you are telling the rest that they are free to go wine and dine with the world because someone else will fulfill all their responsibilities, and that, all they need to do is just make it to church every now and then, and put some money in the basket. 

Your responsibility is to be kings and priests here on earth. You are called to be a government. Not just a government of your ecclesia, but also a spiritual government of your life, your family, and the world around you—a spiritual government of the locality where you live, and a spiritual government of the sphere where you work. Everywhere you are, everywhere you find yourself, you are to exercise God's government. You are the manifestation of God's government. The government of God's kingdom is upon your shoulders because you are a member of Christ 

Nobody has the right to take that government off your shoulders. And you shouldn't be happy that the responsibility has been taken off your shoulders. This responsibility keeps you actively engaging Christ. When you are not occupied with Christ then you are occupied with the flesh. When your responsibilities in Christ is taken off your hands then you are subjected to engage the flesh and grow more carnal. What I am trying to say is that this responsibilities are important for our spiritual growth. Responsibilities makes us grow. 

No matter how much you love a child and wants him to enjoy life, you are damaging his life by taking every responsibility off his hands. You are teaching him how to be irresponsible and immature. But give him some responsibilities and he will grow very fast. The solution to many of the problem we have in the body of Christ is spiritual maturity. We have all these issues because we are still carnal and childish. But the moment we outgrow this childishness then all these things will go away. But how can we outgrow childishness when the very structure we abide in is designed to subject one in childishness? 

The Pastoral Office (6); Was Timothy The Bishop

One of the fundamental characteristics of an ecclesia is independence. You cannot practice democracy unless you are independent. Democracy is a concept only for independent entities. Before the colonial masters came most Igbo communities of Nigeria were practicing direct democracy. But when the colonial master came they discovered it is impossible to rule a people under democracy. Democracy is all about power being in the hands of the people. You cannot enforce your government on a people unless you take the power from their hands. So the colonial British had to disband the democratic system and installed Eze (kings) in each Igbo community. Then they ruled the communities through those Eze who were puppet kings. 

It is not possible for Timothy to be their bishop without disbanding the democratic system of the ecclesia. And the moment he does that then they are no longer an ecclesia. An ecclesia without democracy is not an ecclesia any more. So Timothy would have to destroy the ecclesia that Jesus said he would build (Matt 16:18-19) if he was to be there bishop. It is totally absurd to claim Timothy was their Bishop, there are no bases for such claim. You won't find any bases in the scripture, and you won't find any bases in the very ideology behind the ecclesia system. 

Ecclesia can only exist as independent groups, governing themselves. They cannot be under anybody. They have their own government, they rule themselves, that is the whole idea of an ecclesia. The idea of one church being under another church, and having a headquarter, that is not Christian assembly/community. Or that one man is governing several churches, like some kind of business enterprise. That is just people's ministry, it is not Christian assembly, neither is it the ecclesia that Jesus said he would build. Ecclesias are independent groups, governing themselves by themselves. It doesn't matter if you were the one that planted the ecclesia, you have no right over its government. 

British were the ones who brought the difference communities in the Niger area together and made them a nation. They gave the nation the name "Nigeria". If Nigeria was to be a Christian community, you will say the British were the founder and the G.O. But the moment Nigeria gain independence and got a democratic government, British no longer have right in the government of the people. Yes, from time to time, Nigeria can request aid from British or America or any other nation, but that does not mean Nigeria is under such nation. 

Just because American soldiers came to aid Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram, doesn't mean that America governs Nigeria. So also, just because Timothy came to handle certain things in the ecclesia of Ephesus doesn't mean that Timothy is their overseer. Aid does not equal government. And you do not automatically become someone's lord just because you help them. Christ is the only Lord and head in an ecclesia. Pastors are not the head, there is nothing like "head pastor". Rather their are several pastors in an ecclesia, forming the central executive that is answerable to the general executive which constitute the whole members of the ecclesia.

This post is part of a series. Below are links to the other posts in the series. 

The Pastoral Office (1); Organic Process

The Pastoral Office (2); Elder, Bishop, Pastor

The Pastoral Office (3); Church Vs Ecclesia

The Pastoral Office (4); Comparing The Practices In Different Centuries 

The Pastoral Office (5); The Apostolic Workers

The Pastoral Office (5); The Apostolic Worker

When I was teaching about the apostle I mentioned that an apostle is not a ecclesia planter. But he is one who comes with the blueprint, and demonstrate that blueprint while teaching other people to do the same work. These people become apostolic workers, their job is to go forth and plant ecclesia, nurture the ecclesia and make sure they are strong enough to survive this harsh world. That was what Paul was doing, he took Timothy and some other people with him as he goes about planting ecclesias. He did so in order to practically teach them how the work should be done. Practical teaching involves giving them tasks. So Paul gave them some task, he would send them to certain cities to do certain apostolic work. 

The work of an apostolic worker is to set the structure and ensure that an ecclesia grows into maturity, fully functional and healthy. It is like gardening. You will not only plant, but you will also nurture, water, trim, and care for the plant till it is mature enough and start bearing fruit. An apostolic worker is not the overseer of the ecclesia, that is the work of the elders; "From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them: “... the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [bishops]" (Acts 20:17,18,28). Timothy was not the bishop of Ephesus, you will not see that anywhere in Scripture.

Paul asked Timothy to remain in Ephesus and play the role of an apostolic worker, nurturing and caring for them till they come into maturity. An apostolic worker is not the overseer, he is just a minister. Ecclesias are independent entities, like plants. The work of a gardener is not to enter into the plant and start telling it where to grow branch and where not to grow branches. The plant is an independent entity, it has a life of it own, and it is governed by the life within it. 

The work of a gardener is not to govern the plant but to watch it grow, give it water when it need it, trim it, do whatever is required so that the plant would grow by itself (independent of the gardener) into what it was meant to be. The gardener does not dominate the plant or control it like a puppet. We human are so possessive and such a control freak. But if you have ever been a farmer you will have been impressed by that feeling of helplessness, knowing that a lot of things are not under your control. An apostolic worker does not try to control the ecclesia. He is not their lord or overseer, he only comes in with his ministry and minister to them

The brother through which ministry the ecclesia in Lagos emerge, he is not our overseer. He has no say in any of our decisions. Although we respect him and we would invite his input in certain things, but the ecclesia always have the finial say. And when things are going bad in an ecclesia, it is wise to invite an expert that knows how to make an ecclesia healthy. It's like going to a doctor, you will do everything the doctor ask you to do because you want to get better, but that doesn't mean the doctor is your king. He is just carrying out a service and you submit to his service because you trust him and you want to get better soon. 

The apostolic ministry of nurturing, caring or gardening a ecclesia is like that of a doctor service. Doctors are not our kings, we go to them when we need their service, but after that service we go our way, they have no control over our lives. We can even decide whether to follow their advice or not to follow them. Doctors are not lord over our lives. I have stayed too long on this I just hope you understand. As ecclesia continues to emerge in this generation we would need a lot of apostolic workers, who serve as ecclesia doctors—experts who know how to treat an ecclesia, make it healthy and glorious. 

A lot of people have tried to do ecclesia and it broke down. We need to have experts who can be called upon whenever an ecclesia feels they are unhealthy, or they feel they need an upgrade. Ecclesia can be started by novice, and may need an expert to properly organize them together to grow healthy or become more glorious/victorious. Frank Viola and his friends offer such services in America, they call themselves "workers". They've planted several ecclesias and help others to be healthy, yet they are not G.Os (general overseers). 

In fact, they have no jurisdiction in those ecclesia outside of the services of nurturing and organizing the structure. And this service can be rejected or embraced by the ecclesia, they cannot force themselves on anyone. Timothy ministry was to nurture the ecclesia in Ephesus. He was not the bishop, the elders were the bishop (the overseers), he was only an apostolic worker with a special ministry that can be likened to that of a gardener. Apart from Timothy Paul trained many other people who went and planted some other ecclesias. Epaphras trained under Paul in Ephesus and he went to plant the ecclesia in Colossae.  

So Paul was sending people to different places to carry out certain tasks. They were co-ministers with Paul. And some of them, like Timothy, remain doing the work that Paul assigned them to do even after Paul's death. They were all ministers; apostolic workers and teachers. Bishop is not a ministry, it is a responsibility that a elder carries out as a member of an ecclesia. 

A believer can be a teacher in Lagos, and be ministering in the several ecclesias in Lagos. Such a person would be going around Lagos, holding teaching programs in each of the ecclesia, teaching and training them. This was exactly what Apollo was doing, in fact that was how every minister do ministry. They visit each ecclesia, minister to them and go to the next. They were not governing them or overseeing them, that was the work of the elders in each ecclesia. Ministers are in transit in an ecclesia, they never settle in a particular ecclesia and take over it. It does not belong to them, it belongs to the Lord 

There was an ecclesia I visited in Lagos, a teacher came to them to minister and they hosted him. We held a 3 days programme in that ecclesia and this teacher ministered. When ministry was done we returned back to normal ecclesia, and this teacher moved on with his ministry. That was how they did it in the 1st century. Timothy probably visited each ecclesia in Ephesus, ministered to them, reminding them of Paul's teaching, exhorting them to remain true to those teachings, and do some nurturing and structuring services before moving to the next. That was his ministry, and an ecclesia can decide to embrace that ministry or reject it. He is not the owner of any ecclesia, they are independent entities. 

This post is part of a series. Below are links to the other posts in the series. 

The Pastoral Office (1); Organic Process

The Pastoral Office (2); Elder, Bishop, Pastor

The Pastoral Office (3); Church Vs Ecclesia

The Pastoral Office (4); Comparing The Practices In Different Centuries 

The Pastoral Office (6); Was Timothy The Bishop Of Ephesus

The Pastoral Office (4); Comparing The Practices in Different Centuries

Let's look deeper into the 1st and 2nd century pastoral system before we move on to the 3rd century. 

"To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." (Phil. 1:1).

“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate... Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued. (1Tim. 2:2, 8).

You can see that their ecclesia leadership structure had only the bishops (which is the same as the elder and pastor) and then the deacons. Those were the only two leadership positions that was available in the first century. And you will find the same thing in the second century. 

"Therefore, appoint for yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord." Didache (c. 80-140, E).

"Preaching throughout countries and cities, the apostles appointed the first-fruits of their labors to be bishops and deacons of those who would believe afterwards. However, they first tested them by the Spirit. This was no new thing. Indeed, many ages before, it had been written concerning bishops and deacons. For the Scriptures say in a certain place, "I will appoint their bishops in righteousness and their deacons in faim" [Isa. 60:17, Lxx]." Clement of Rome (c. 96, W).

"It is necessary to abstain from all of these things, being subject to the presbyters and deacons, as unto God and Christ." Polycarp (c. 135, E).   

You can see the dates, they are all quotes from 2nd century letters. And each of them mentioned only two leadership positions; the bishop or presbytery (which means elder) and deacons. There were no other positions except these two. It was during the 3rd century that another position emerged, separating bishop from elder and setting it on a higher hierarchy above the elders. 

I don't think I will be able to go through the whole story but the change was as a result of politics. Yes, the elders started playing politics among themselves, and one succeeded in exerting himself as leader over the rest. Aristotle said man is a political animal, and that man has this innate desire to exalt himself and rule over his brother. That is the nature of carnal man, he wants to govern his brother, he wants to sit on a throne and watch his brother bow before his feet. It is a perverse desire, the same desire that led Lucifer to attempt to dethrone God. He wants to rule. 

God knows about this carnal nature of man, he knows how power corrupts a man, and as a result he set a structure in his ecclesia to ensure check and balance. A democratic system ensures that all the power does not go into one man's hand. It prevents anybody from becoming corrupt with power. The whole of the people share the power among themselves and help to ensure check and balance in the community, preventing excesses and the abuse of power. However, the devil entered into our midst and removed the structure of God leaving us with this thing that most of us still practice today. 

The change began to take place in the late 2nd century into the 3rd.

"Innumerable commands like these are written in the Holy Scriptures, pertaining to chosen persons: some to presbyters, some to bishops, some to deacons." Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E). 

"According to my opinion, the grades here in the church, of bishops, presbyters, and deacons... following the footsteps of the apostles, have lived in perfection of righteousness according to the Gospel." Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E). 

"To all our fellows in the ministry throughout the world — bishops, presbyters, and deacons — and to the whole catholic church under heaven." Malchion (c. 270, E).

"All these bishops, presbyters, and deacons had suffered martyrdom in the prison at Alexandria." Phileas (c. 307, E).

"Paul himself has laid our foundation, that is, the foundation of the church. And he has put us in trust of the law—ordaining deacons, presbyters, and bishops." Disputation of Archelaus and Manes (c. 320, E).

"For [the bishops] are your high priests, as the presbyters are your priests. You have the deacons in place of the Levites... But He who is above all these is the High Priest [Christ]." Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390, E). 

From two offices of leadership in the 2nd century, it turn into three in the 3rd. And the 3rd century people would argue that it has always been three, when it clearly wasn't. You see the way they twisted the teaching of the apostles, and used the Old Testament to support their perverted structure. 

They started claiming that people like Timothy and Titus were appointed bishops of certain churches, and they were ordered by the apostles to appoint elders that would serve under them. They twisted the teaching and tradition of the first century Christianity and remolded it into the image of that perverse thing they were practicing. Today's theology school has adopted this twisted doctrine, they will tell you that Timothy was a bishop and the single overseer of the church in Ephesus. However, you will see no trace of such thing in the New Testament Bible. 

Search throughout the Bible, you will not see one single place where Timothy was called a bishop, or was specifically asked to "oversee" the ecclesia in Ephesus. Rather he was asked to appoint bishops, and he was given to do certain apostolic ministry among the Ephesian ecclesia. But these theology schools are looking at the Bible through the lenses of the tradition of men — a tradition that developed from the 3rd century. That is why they feel Timothy was the Bishop (overseer) of the ecclesia in Ephesus. However, the truth is that Timothy was just a minister. 

Reference: A Dictionary Of Early Christians Beliefs, A Reference Guide To More Than 700 Topics Discussed By The Early Church Fathers by David W. Bercot (Editor). 

This post is part of a series. Below are links to the other posts in the series. 

The Pastoral Office (1); Organic Process

The Pastoral Office (2); Elder, Bishop, Pastor

The Pastoral Office (3); Church Vs Ecclesia

The Pastoral Office (5); The Apostolic Workers

The Pastoral Office (6); Was Timothy The Bishop Of Ephesus

The Pastoral Office (3); Church Vs Ecclesia

Church (a hall-like building) is the place for ministry and can have whatever title they want except elder/bishop/pastor. Those designations are not designed for the church system — they are not ministry terms, they are ecclesia terms. Pastoring is based on relationship, intimacy, and the ecclesia is the structure designed for such kind of intimacy. Bishops are overseers of ecclesia, they are not heads of ministry. There business is not with ministry but ecclesia. Elders too is an ecclesia term, and has no place in ministry. 

I am not sure if you will be able to understand these things. The present structure of Christianity is casting so much darkness that it makes it difficult to understand the true pattern. In the first century Paul would teach in the synagogue, which was a hall. And in Ephesus Paul rented a hall to teach. Those were not ecclesia, it is more like what we call church today, it is a preaching/teaching station. All they do there is preach. But ecclesia is held in the homes, and it involves mutual fellowship; iron is sharpening iron, intimacy is taking place, and they are helping to shape each other into the image of Christ. 

Notice that the hall where Paul taught was not called the house of God. In Ephesus it was a secular place, an ordinary lecture hall. Yes, ministry are done in ordinary places, it is very unchristian to call a building the "house of God". This is not a joking matter, it was a taboo during the first and second century. Stephen died defending this truths. Even down to the second century, they were mocked and criticized for not having a church (a building dedicated to their God) and yet they refused to do such. Yes, church literary means "that which is dedicated to a god", and it is usually used to refer to a building, a temple. 

The first complete English translation of the Bible (Tyndale Bible) only used the word church twice in the New Testament. And in both instances it was referring to a pagan temple. The idea of having a church was vehemently fought against in early Christianity. I will show you evidence. Just as we have the letters of the New Testament, the early Christians continued the tradition of writing letters. The letters of the NT gives us a window into the first century Christianity. The second century Christians also wrote letters, and these letters gives us a window into the second century Christianity 

"The Word, prohibiting all sacrifices and the building of temples, indicates that the Almighty is not contained in anything." Clement of Alexandria (c 195, E).  

"We refuse to build lifeless temples to the

Giver of all life.... Our bodies are the temple of God... When they reproach us for not deeming it necessary to worship the divine Being by raising lifeless temples, we set before them our temples." Origen (c. 248, E).

You can see that they were even criticizing them for not building a church, yet they vehemently refused to do so. That last quote was from the mid third century, but as at this time Christians have gradually began to move from worshipping at their houses to worshipping in catacombs. They claimed that the grave of the apostles were holy grounds. Then in the fourth century they began building churches on those graves. St. Peter Basilica was built on what was assumed to be Peter's grave. In fact, they became so perverse that they moved from the apostles' to the grave of any famous Christian saint. 

If they can't build on those saints grave they would transfer the remains of the dead saints and bury them under the church altar. That church altar was actually a grave of dead saints. They developed this ideology that the grave of saints are one of the most holy places on earth. This was how we started calling the church altar a holy ground. Some churches today don't even allow the Choirs to climb the church altar because they feel it is too holy for such kind of people. All these are perverse pagan mentality 

In fact, that period of the Church history was a very terrible period. They were so obsessed with the remains of the apostles and holy saints. They would search for them like gold, then they will break the bones into small pieces and put a rope into it. That was how rosery started, it was a rope of relics (bones and remains) of the apostles and holy saints. Christianity started turning into a pagan thing, they were literally worshipping dead bodies. Anyway, our topic is on the pastoral system, I only said all that to show you the level of degradation and perversion of the Christian community as at that period. 

Before going back to the pastoral system, I will quickly state this. The idea of doing church (worshipping in a physical building designated as the house of God) is not Christian, it is pagan. It is a paganize Christianity. The only way that churches can redeem themselves back into true Christianity is if they recant such ideology and teaching. And if they begin to see themselves as just ministries, and the buildings are just halls for ministry like the hall that Paul rented in Ephesus or like the Jewish civic hall called synagogue. 

But as long as they continue to call that thing the house of God and treat it as a place of worship, then what they are doing is paganism. It is an impure thing, a perversion of God's original intention for the New Covenant people. Anyway, I will employ you to do your own research, we are in the age of information. We have Google, you can go research on everything I have written here. Research about the early Christian practice, confirm the quotes I made here if they are authentic. Don't sit in ignorance and be practicing paganism, find out the truth and make the necessary adjustments.

This post is part of a series. Below are links to the other posts in the series. 

The Pastoral Office (1); Organic Process

The Pastoral Office (2); Elder, Bishop, Pastor

The Pastoral Office (4); Comparing The Practices In Different Centuries 

The Pastoral Office (5); The Apostolic Workers

The Pastoral Office (6); Was Timothy The Bishop Of Ephesus

The Pastoral Office (2); Elder, Bishop, Pastor

An elder is one who is spiritually mature. Bishop literary means overseer, he is a leader in a local ecclesia. The word "pastor" is gotten from "pasture" which is connected to shepherding. A pastor is a shepherd, his responsibility is to feed the sheep i.e preach, teach and mentor the young ones in faith. In the first century to the second century these three words were used interchangeably to refer to the same person. Yes, the elders are the pastors and the bishops of the local ecclesia. 

"The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd [pastor] the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers [bishops], not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;" (1Per 5:1,2).

Here Peter is asking the elders to pastor the sheep (not their own sheep but God's sheep) which is in their locality, and serve as bishops willingly (nobody is forcing them to be bishops, they are just taking up responsibilities as elders). As you can see, the elders were to pastor and serve as bishops. 

"From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you... Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [bishops], to shepherd [pastor] the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:17,18,28). 

Now, notice that scripture was referring to elders (plural), these elders are the bishops (plural), and they are to pastor the church. In the first and second century there were more than one elder/bishop/pastor in an ecclesia. 

"Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust." (Acts 14:23).

This verse made it very clear that in each church there were many elders. An ecclesia is a direct democratic government. The people are the government, they rule by themselves. The ecclesia is a council, however in every council there are the central caucus. Among the twelve disciples we have the three (John, Peter and James). Back in school when I was a member of the fellowship executive, there was the central executive which was made up of a very few members of the executive. The reason there have to be a central caucus is in order to make certain decisions faster 

The democratic system allows decision making to be very slow. It is slow because everybody is involved and every opinion must be considered. Now, there are some situations that require quick decision making. This is where the central caucus is used. In an ecclesia, there are some sensitive situations that will not be suitable to bring to the whole congregation, so the council of elders takes care of it. The work of the elders is not to take government from the hands of the people. The people have a right to government and they must be allowed to exercise that right. 

Being the overseers does not mean you'll make all the decisions for them. If you do that then you are stripping them of the right that God gave them as his people. Who are you to take away the right that God, in is transcendent wisdom, gave his people? No Christian leader, no matter how anointed, has the right to take away government from the people. You cannot take their money and make all the decisions on how it should be spent, you don't have such a right. God didn't give any Christian leader that right, it is an ecclesia matter. 

Anyway, sponsoring a ministry is different from welfare issues in a local ecclesia. Like I use to say, church as practiced today is just ministry. They are ministries of individual ministers. So when you give to them you are contributing to their ministry and they can do whatever they like with the money. But in an ecclesia (a real assembly or Christian community), the people discuss everything together — it's a direct democracy. So the bishops are the central executive, they are not the whole of the executive, and whatever decision they make they will still answer to the general executive (the whole members of the ecclesia). They must be transparent to the people and the people must respect them as their elders. 

Now, church as ministry (not assembly) is not supposed to have elders, bishops or pastors. That structure is not designed for church, the structure is meant for the ecclesia. The only thing that church is supposed to have are ministers. Yes, teachers, minstrels, prophets, evangelists, apostles, exhorters etc. Notice, these people are not found in ecclesia. The ecclesia is not the place for teachers, minsters, prophets, evangelists and apostles. In an ecclesia everybody are brothers and sister. If you are a teacher, the moment you walk into an ecclesia to fellowship, you become a brother/sister. 

It doesn't matter who you are — your ministry or your title — the moment you enter an ecclesia for the sake of fellowship, you are nothing but a brother/sister. However, one can come into a ecclesia to minister (I have explained this before, like when Apollo came and minister to the ecclesia in Corinth). Such ministry is in transit because the ecclesia is not the home of ministry, it is the home of fellowship. When ministry is through, normal ecclesia commence, and everything goes back to fellowship mode where everyone is allowed to share as brothers and sisters. Then there are elder brothers and elder sisters who play special roles as bishops and pastors.

This post is part of a series. Below are links to the other posts in the series. 

The Pastoral Office (1); Organic Process

The Pastoral Office (3); Church Vs Ecclesia

The Pastoral Office (4); Comparing The Practices In Different Centuries 

The Pastoral Office (5); The Apostolic Workers

The Pastoral Office (6); Was Timothy The Bishop Of Ephesus

The Pastoral Office (1); The Organic Process

I am going to write on the pastoral office, but this might be different from anything you have ever learnt. As such it might be quite shocking. Firstly we must lay down the basic foundation about the reality of Christ. This thing we call Christianity is not about doing religion. No, it is not a religion in the way the world perceive religion. It is a reality, a realm, a domain, a land, a kingdom. We must first of all understand this before we can proceed in anything Christian. 

In Christ we have a reality that is based on life. Yes, everything in Christ is based on life. It all spring out of life, it follows the rules of life, it is organic. The way the body of Christ is designed is based on life, everything springs up organically. The moment we accept Jesus into our lives we were born into this reality as babies. Then we began to grow. The more you abide in Christ the faster you grow. Some people maybe born again for years but they don't abide in Christ, they are mostly living in the flesh, as such they remain babies. 

There are some Christians that once they become born again they diligently try to abide in Christ and then they grow speedingly in the spirit. So it is not a matter of how long you have been born again. We have people at different stages in spiritual growth the same way we have people at different stages in physical growth. There are some that have grown mature and old, they are the elderly. So also, we have people who have attain such level of spiritual maturity that they become elders. 

Elder is not a religious title that you give to honour certain people. It has nothing to even do with religion, it is a spiritual reality. You don't appoint people eldership, they grow into elders. They thrive in Christ and become mature, as such they are elders. Whether you recognize them as elders or not, it doesn't change the fact that they are elders. That is how it is in the natural world, whether you believe that someone is old or not, it doesn't change the fact that they are old. 

According to the order of life, the more you grow old the more responsibility you take up. So in every ecclesia these elders will naturally become very responsible. They will naturally take upon themselves more responsibilities in the ecclesia. Now you become a pastor when the younger ones in faith begin to look up to you. Let's put in mind that all of these happens organically. The same way in the natural world the younger ones who desire the 'wisdom of the grey hair' will gather around the elders. 

So these younger ones sees how graceful, righteous, humble, full of love, wise, etc. these elders are and they desire these things so they gather around them. They want to learn, they want to be mentored by these elders. As an elder (one who is already spiritually mature) you become a pastor when certain younger Christian begin to submit themselves to you in order to be mentored. Being a pastor is not about having a church or going to theology school. It is about having certain fruit of maturity that the younger ones desire to also grow into. 

You see how a Christian organically grows into an elder, and as an elder he begins to take up responsibilities. The younger believers begins to submit to him, he earns a reputation and others naturally ascribe honour and respect to him as a result of his spiritual maturity and virtue. Yes, the process is all organic, no human hands involved uttering thing. It has to be organic, that is the law of life. 

Let's call the Christian Ben. So when Ben grow to some level of maturity he organically becomes an elder whether he is recognized as such or not. And when Ben, because of his level of maturity, begins to take up responsibilities in the ecclesia, he becomes a bishop. When others begin to see him as a mentor and they submit to him, respect and honour him, then Ben becomes a pastor. The whole process is organic, it has to be organic, for that is the order of life. We need to remove this religious mentality and start treating the things of Christ as life, for Christ is the life, and anything pertaining to Christ is life so it follows the organic process. 

No matter how skilled a farmer is, you cannot plant a seed today and use your hands to organize it and make it bear harvest that same day. You will just have to wait for the natural process of life. You cannot deep a log of wood into the ground, nail branches on it and then ordain it as a tree. All you will have is a dead thing, that is why our Christianity today is so dead. We don't want to wait for the natural process of life, we bring our dirty hands and meddle with everything. We are just busy doing this religious thing that is so dead. 

The truth is that the ecclesias in the first century didn't have elders, bishops or pastors for years. Paul planted ecclesias and  leave them like that for years only to come back later to check if anybody have developed into an elder. If nobody has developed into an elder he will leave it like that, and maybe later send Timothy to go check and appoint elders. The whole idea of appointing elders/bishops/pastors is just in order to make it official. It happens organically, and then it is officially recognized so that everyone can be aware 

Another reason why the elders have to be officially appointed is because apart from good virtues, another thing that could make one attractive and prominent is charisma. Yes, an immature believer can come with a lot of charisma and then the younger ones are just so blown away by his charisma that they begin to gather around him, making him their mentor and learning bad things from him. In order to prevent this from happening the true elders, the true model of maturity, must be recognized so that the younger ones will not be misled. 

The charismatic movement today is mostly about an immature believer with charisma, coming to wow the people, and the people become so enchanted that they begin to follow him and imitate his immaturity. They will honour and support their pastors despite all his obvious flaws. They even begin to worship the man, and as such become blind and deaf to truth. It's just the sad reality of our Christianity today.

This post is part of a series. Below are links to the other posts in the series.

The Pastoral Office (2); Elder, Bishop, Pastor

The Pastoral Office (3); Church Vs Ecclesia

The Pastoral Office (4); Comparing The Practices In Different Centuries

The Pastoral Office (5); The Apostolic Workers

The Pastoral Office (6); Was Timothy The Bishop Of Ephesus