Wilderness To Wisdom: Biblical Leadership, Roles Not Ranks

The titles we hear in churches today - pastor, elder, deacon, bishop - arrange people into a structure where some are set above others. This episode looks at what those roles actually were in Scripture, and what they became.

We walk through what qualified someone to teach and lead, what elder, overseer, shepherd, and deacon meant in the New Testament, how the word pastor is used in the Bible, and the titles Jesus addressed in Matthew 23. We also look at how honor for those who labor became something Scripture never intended.

There's an order in Scripture, but it runs one direction. Everyone under Christ, not one person above another. Every believer has the Word and the Holy Spirit, and that changes both what the roles were actually for and where each of us stands in the body.

Transcript

Welcome back to Wilderness to Wisdom. We all know the titles we hear in churches. Pastor, Elder, Deacon, Bishop. They arrange people into a structure where some are set above others. This isn't about whether the church should have leaders or whether anyone should teach. Scripture has both. It's about what those roles actually were and what they became. Because there is an order in Scripture, But it runs in one direction, Everyone under Christ, Not one person above another. Today, We'll look at what qualified someone to teach and lead, What these roles were, And what that means for the Acts 4. 13 says believer access to God and His truth. Schooling was never what qualified anyone. And this is consistent throughout scripture. Jesus called fishermen in Matthew 4 18 through 22. 1st Corinthians 1 26 through 29 says not many wise, Powerful, Or of noble birth were called and that God chose what the world considers foolish and weak so that no one may boast beforehand. Him. In Matthew 11, 25, Jesus said to God, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, That you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. But scripture does give qualifications for those who lead. There in 1st Timothy 3 and Titus 1. He must be above reproach, Gentle rather than violent, Not quarrelsome, Not a lover of money, Self-controlled and hospitable, Someone who manages his own household well, Who isn't a recent convert, And who is well thought of by outsiders, And he holds firm to the trustworthy word as taught. There's more to the list, So I'd encourage you to read it for yourself. It's almost entirely about character. The one item about ability is that he must be able to teach, But again, That's an ability, Not a credential. There's no mention of a formal education requirement, Degree, Certificate, Or a ceremony that sets someone above the rest. In Acts chapter 14, Elders were appointed with prayer and fasting, But that wasn't a ritual to elevate them, It was entrusting them to God. That's different from a ceremony that places someone into a class above the rest. Scripture also shows us what these roles Elders were appointed in every church. Then in Acts 20, Paul calls for the elders of the church at Ephesus. In verse 28, Speaking to those same men, He says the Holy Spirit made them overseers and tells them to shepherd the church of God. As well. And there's another word for them, Pastor. The word pastor means shepherd. In Greek it's poimin, In Latin it's pastor which is where our English word comes from. So when we say pastor, We're saying shepherd. The one place it's used as a title for a person is Ephesians 4 11. No verse speaks of a pastor of the church, No letter is addressed to one, And scripture never sets pastor apart as a separate position. With its own qualifications. Under the name Scripture actually uses, Elder and Overseer, There are qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, Appointment instructions in Acts 14. 23 and Titus 1. 5, And direct instruction in Acts 20 and 1 Peter 5, And none of it shows up under Pastor alone. In Acts 20, Paul tells the elders to care for the flock, Which is to shepherd, And that's the word for pastor, So pastoring is what elders did. And now we see titles such as senior pastor. The word senior puts one pastor over the others, But pastor was never a position above the elders, So senior pastor is a rank built on top of something that was never a rank to begin with. 1 Peter 5 1-3 tells us the posture. Verses 2 and 3 say, Oversight, Not under compulsion, But willingly, As God would have you, Not for shameful gain, But eagerly, Not domineering over those in your charge, But being examples to the flock. Peter names it as the way the role is supposed to be carried out. In the King James Version of the Bible, The word pastor shows up mainly in Jeremiah and almost every time it's a rebuke. Jeremiah 2. 8 says the pastors transgressed against God. Jeremiah 10 21 says the pastors have become brutish. Jeremiah 23 says, Woe to the pastors who destroy and scatter the sheep of his pasture. Ezekiel 34 gives a fuller picture. God rebukes the shepherds of Israel for feeding themselves and not the flock, For ruling with force, For not strengthening the weak or seeking the lost. Then God says he will shepherd them himself. Jeremiah 3 15 says God will give shepherds after his own heart who will feed his people with knowledge and understanding. So faithful shepherding is real. And let's see where that leads. Jesus said in John 10 11 that he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. First Peter 5. 4 calls him the chief shepherd. 1 Peter 2. 25 calls him the shepherd and overseer of our souls. The shepherd is Christ, An elder shepherd under him, So it makes sense that Peter would tell them not to domineer. Elder, Overseer, Shepherd, Pastor, One role and Christ is over all of it. There's one other role named and that is deacons. The Greek word is diakonos which means servant. Acts chapter 6 shows the pattern early. The daily distribution to widows so the apostles could stay devoted to the Word. Then 1 Timothy 3 8-13 gives qualifications for deacons and they're again about character. What scripture shows is servants, Elders who shepherd, And deacons who serve needs like the one in Acts chapter 6, Both of them serving, Neither one a rank. All of this is a long way from what we see in the modern church today. To understand how we got here, The history is there for any anyone who wants to study. Much of what we have now was shaped by people who came to be called the Church Fathers, And they're still revered for what they put in place. For those wanting to study, A good place to start is Ignatius of Antioch. Only a few decades after the Apostles, His letters urge congregations to submit to a single bishop, Separate from the elders. That's the separation. And Acts chapter 20 has no such distinction. I won't go further into the history, But I wanted to provide something for those who will study this out. What matters is that it's documented, Easy to find, And this structure isn't found anywhere in scripture. Matthew 23, 8 through 12 says, And call no man your father on earth for you have one father who is in heaven neither be called instructors for you have one instructor the christ the greatest among you shall be your servant whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted this isn't a ban on words we obviously have earthly fathers paul calls himself a father to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 4 15 and teacher is listed as a role in Ephesians 4 11. Scripture isn't contradicting itself. What Jesus is addressing is the status. In Matthew 23 1 through 7 he describes people who love the place of honor at feasts, The best seats and being greeted with respect in the marketplaces. That's the thing he names. And then he tells them not to be called by titles that put them above their brothers. Then there are titles we've added, Reverend, Which means worthy of reverence, And first lady, Which isn't in scripture at all. Titles help us navigate everyday life. I'm not saying anyone using a title is wrong. I'm saying it's worth understanding what the title is doing and whether it's creating the separation Jesus was addressing. In the gathering episode, We looked at Ephesians 4 11-13 which says the roles were given to equip the saints, Meaning all believers, For the work of ministry so the body would be built up. The saints do the work, The roles exist to prepare them for it. Then 1 Peter 2 5 and 2 9 call all believers living stones and a royal priesthood. There's no separate class with access the rest of us don't have. Let's look at what that means practically. Titus 1. 9 says an elder must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it. And right after that, Paul points to people teaching things they shouldn't, Which is the reason sound doctrine has to be held firmly in the first place. False teaching was already happening. The Word matters. Isolating a verse from what surrounds it is how people get led somewhere they never intended to go. If the gathering functioned as scripture describes, Anyone in the room could weigh what's said against the Word and speak up, Not because everyone is an elder, But because everyone has the Word and every believer has the Holy Spirit. I'll use myself as an example. Take what I've studied and share it with others. It doesn't place me above anyone. Another believer may catch what I miss and reach out to tell me. If we all have the same Holy Spirit, We all have the same access. What differs is where each of us is in our walk. Some do labor more than others, And scripture doesn't ignore that. In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul tells the assembly to respect those who labor among them and lead them in the Lord, Those who instruct and correct them, And to hold them in high esteem because of their work. Scripture does say they lead, But leading in the Lord isn't a rank that puts someone beyond correction. It runs both ways. The moment it runs only one direction, When they can correct you, But you can't question them, It has stopped being what Paul described and become something else. Looking up to someone who pours themselves out is not wrong in itself. Scripture puts that honor there. But the same Bible that tells us to esteem them says something else too. God is no respecter of persons. The greatest among you will be your servant. Call no man father. Those verses were meant to keep the honor in its place. When we hold on to esteem them highly, And let the rest go, We start handing the person a status that scripture never gave them. The reverence that belongs to God gets aimed at a man until it starts to look like worship. And that isn't a new trick. The devil takes something true and corrupts it. What started as a grateful body of believers honoring his servants slowly becomes a person or institution we bow to. The opposite response. In Acts 10 verses 25 and 26, When Cornelius fell at Peter's feet to worship him, Peter pulled him up and said, In Revelation 19. 10, When John fell to worship the angel, The angel stopped him and said, Should we honor was never meant to be handed out as rank hebrews 6 10 says god is not unjust he will not overlook our work and the love we've shown as we serve god sees it the one who labors already has that they don't need us to raise them to a place scripture never gave them so some people do stand out what makes them stand out is service and maturity not rank. It was never about who's ahead, Behind, Above, Or beneath. On this subject, Honor shows up again in 1 Timothy 5. 17. It says the elders who lead well are worthy of double honor, Especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. Same as before, The honor is for the labor, Not for a position, And the very next verse ties that honor to wage There's more to say about this and we'll get to it in the next episode. For anyone still in a church with this kind of hierarchy, Many of us were trained to respect it and never thought to examine whether it's correct according to scripture. We were taught to believe this is what church should look like. Someone else studies, Someone else explains, We show up to receive it and we either don't question it or are not allowed to. Some people have been asked to leave for questioning practices in their church. Christianity has trained people to be passive. It runs so deep that people leave one church for another, Saying they weren't being fed. Being fed isn't the error. Everyone starts there. The error is staying there, A mouth that only waits to be fed, When the feeding was always meant to grow you into someone who feeds others. Hebrews 5 says it plainly. Say for though by this time you ought to be teachers you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of god you need milk not solid food for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child some people will always want to stay where it feels good to be fed milk and there's no shortage of churches supplying it but that was never what the roles were for. The roles were given to equip all of us for the work, The way scripture lays it out, Not to keep a room full of people comfortable, Entertained, And dependent. So if you're sitting in church with more questions than answers, Follow them and see where scripture leads. Here's what we've walked through. Peter and John were called uneducated and common by the religious leaders of their day, And what set them apart was that they had been with Jesus. We don't have those three years, But we have the Holy Spirit living in us, And that same Spirit gives every believer access to God and His truth. The qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are about character, Above reproach, Gentle, Self-controlled, Not a lover of money, Managing his own household. The one ability named is being able to teach. There's no formal education requirement, Degree, Certificate, Or ceremony that elevates anyone above others. Elder, Overseer, And Shepherd describe the same people in the same passage. Deacon means servant. Peter tells them not to domineer but to be examples. These were servant roles. The word pastor is used as a title once in Ephesians 4 11. It means shepherd and shepherding is what elders did. Scripture never sets pastor apart as a higher position with its own qualifications. No letters are addressed to them and nothing anywhere speaks of a senior pastor. What we have now was built after the apostles, And that history is recorded. Jesus warned about titles that put one brother above another, And he said the greatest among you shall be your servant. So here's what this means for the rest of us. All of us have the word and the Holy Spirit. Correction isn't handed down from a platform, It moves both ways, The body of believers measuring everything against scripture together. You're not meant to sit and receive while someone else does all the work. No one stands between you and God and no person stands above you. As always, Don't take my word for any of it. Read Acts 4, Acts 20, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, 1 Peter 5 and Matthew 23. Then let the Holy Spirit show you what's there. Thank you for joining me for this episode of Wilderness to Wisdom.