Rsv 1 Tim 3: 1: The saying is sure: If any one aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task.

Have we anyone here who would like to be a Bishop

In Andrew Millers book 
"Church History from The first to The twentieth Century"
on page 151 He writes concerning those who were known as ‘The Apostolic fathers’ 
Four men who were the immediate followers of the apostles.
Namely Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, and Barnabus. 
the year being AD 107

"Notwithstanding the high privileges which they enjoyed as scholars of the apostles, they very soon Departed from the doctrines which had been committed to them, especially as to church government."

Now the Emporer Trajan visited Antioch in the year 107 AD, and threatened the Christians with persecution, so Ignatius who was the first Bishop of Antioch asked for an interview with Trajan and offered himself to suffer in their stead.

Trajan sentenced Ignatius to be taken to Rome and be thrown to the wild beasts page 133. On page 152 Andrew Wilson tells us that.

During the Journey from Antioch to Rome Ignatius. Wrote seven letters to various Churches, with great earnestness and vehemence,

In writing to the Church at Epheses, he says, 
"Let us take heed, brethren, that we set not ourselves against the Bishop, that we may be subject to God --- It is therefore evident that we ought to look upon the Bishop even as we do the Lord himself."

In his epistle to the Magnesians he says, 
"I exhort you that ye study to do all things in a Devine concord; your Bishops presiding in the place of God; your presbyters in the place of the council of the apostles; and your deacons, most dear to me, being entrusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ."

The same strain being in his letter to the Trallians:  
"Whereas ye are subject to your bishop as to Jesus Christ."

On page 153 Andrew Miller makes this observation: 
"That ignatius was a devout Christian, and full of religious zeal, no one can doubt; but that he greatly deceived himself in this and in other matters, there can be little doubt.
The leading idea in all his letters is the perfect submission of the people to their rulers, or the laity to the Clergy

What Andrew Miller is endeavouring to point out is that this idea of an hierarchy of authority was sought after very early in the Church.

But. contrary to the opinion of a variety of individuals in certain quarters,
the office of Bishop is not an office somewhere midway in the hierarchy of authority in the church.

The Greek word episkope translated Bishop in the Rsv merely means overseer,

Niv.  Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.

This word is translated in other places throughout the Bible by the words
Minister, Elder, Pastor, or Superintendent,

So a Bishop or Elder or overseer is someone who serves a particular gathering of the body of Christ to give Guidance and Spiritual oversight to the Church and and to encourage them to operate in accordance with their true calling.

Scripture speaks basically of two areas of service and they are Elders and Deacons

Deacons are those who exercise any particular ministry in the Church

The trouble is we have been conditioned to accept that whenever anyone mentions the word leadership we automatically think of authority.

Because that’s the way the world functions.
Because in the world we elect people to have authortty over us.

And that’s the way James and John the sons of Zebedee considered the kingdom of God was going to operate

Mark 10: 35 – 37
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."

"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.

They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory."

And In Matthew’s gospel we read that their mother too, was also involved in the same request.

In verse 41 of Mark we find that the other 10 Disciples were apparently quite Indignant at James and John .
But one can’t help wondering whether their annoyance was perhaps because James & John had forestalled them in the request, perhaps they too might have had aspirations to the top positions.

As we have noted earlier the desire for position and high status is a human trait that affects the most unlikely people.

So beware, If you aspire to some kind of office in the Church.
Be sure it’s because you want to serve your brothers and sisters in the Lord, and not for the kudos of the Office itself,

Because in verse 42 - 45 of Mark
Jesus called His disciples together and said,
"You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,

In Matt. 23: 1 - 8
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you.
But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their Phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;
they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them `Rabbi.'

And then Jesus went on to say.
"But you are not to be called `Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.

It’s interesting to note the fact that Jesus acused them of making their Phylactories wide. 
That is, the little boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm

Because apparenltly there are strict guidelines for Jews as to the size and shape of those boxes. Not only is the size critical. but they must be a perfect cube.

It always intrigues me to see American Church names,
they are invariably THE FIRST

‘The First Baptist,’ or ‘The first Methodist’, and they always seem to have a ‘Senior Pastor, even if he’s the only one.

I can’t help thinking That this portrays the way of the world.
And we are warned in Gods word that although we are in the world we must not be of it.
Jesus also said the first shall be last and the last shall be first

Within the Body of Christ "The Church", there is only one head that is Jesus Christ
All others are members of one another, as we saw on Thursday at the prayer meeting when we considered

Rom.12: 4
just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so, in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Any leader within the body is one among equals.

A leader by definition should lead, he doesn’t drive,
All leaders must also be recognized and accepted as leaders by the body.
No-one can be a leader. if no-one will follow them

Whilst the scriptural principal is to appoint leaders, Those appointed must be acceptable and recognized as such by the body

The biblical pattern is, for those who are already recognized as leaders by the body.
If the need arises,    Are to discern through times of prayer a brother or sister whom they believe to have the qualities required for leadership, primarily being full of the Holy Spirit.
and then bring the name of that person to the body for their consideration.

In this way
A leader without followers is an impossibility in 
"The Church"
and I put The Church there in inverted commas.

Because there are many churches which function with appointed Leaders,
as the world appoints leaders. To wield an authority

Paul used this method when he commissioned Titus to go and appoint Elders in Crete Titus 1: 5
"The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint Elders in every town"

The Apostle Paul spoke to the Elders at Ephesus in Acts 20: 28 and tells them to

"Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers."

We see here, that it’s the Holy Spirit that creates overseers.

That’s why we are required to choose men and women full of the Holy Spirit

Peter speaks to this end in

1 Pet. 5: 1 – 3
"To the Elders among you, I appeal as a fellow Elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing,
as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock."

Anyone seeking for themselves to be recognized as a leader disqualifies themselves

Now I just know someone is probably waiting to draw our attention to
Heb. 13: 17 where it says
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.

Let’s look closely at the two important words in there, relating to our proposition

The first word is obey, the greek word is Peitho = This can also be translated.
be persuaded, and have faith in, or believe

The second word is Submit here the Greek word is hupeiko = Which also means To yield to

In every other instance that submit is used in the new testament
it translates the greek word Hupotasso which means,
to set under, or to be subordinate to

But the author of Hebrews chose to use this word hupeiko = to yield to

So we can translate that verse

Be persuaded, and have faith in your leaders and yeild to their authority.

And then to complete the verse we have
they keep watch over you as men who must give an account.
have faith in them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden,
for that would be of no advantage to you.

We must remember that in a true Situation they would be your leaders because you would have recognised that they are suitable and full of the Holy Spirit.

There are many titles used for leaders within the visible Church. there are
Deacons, Elders, Stewards, Rectors, Vicars, Ministers, Pastors,

All of these are catered for in the Basic scriptual titles of Elders and Deacons

And all of them do have a responsibily within their particular local Church.
but none, have a special authority to rule, they are all ordinary Christians like everyone else,

Their special responsibility lies in their meeting together with their fellows, to pray and seek the Lords guidance for their particular flock.

There are of course other special qualifications that scripture recommends are required by these leaders which are mentioned in both 1 Timothy and in Titus.

But today we are not looking at these qualifications
We are looking at a leaders position within the Hierarchy of the Church

And as we saw earlier we are all brothers. In Gods eyes there are no ranks in his army, no hierarchy, no clergy, whatever that’s supposed to be.
Just Christian men and women with different gifts and ministries.

Rom. 12 v 6 - 10
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is Leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Leadership is just one Gift mentioned among many

You know; the Roman Catholics might have got it right when they say that the Priests ought to be in charge. 
Under God of course

Do we have any volunteers to be a Priest here at the Barn?.

If you’ve chosen to follow the Lord Jesus Christ you have already volunteered

1Pe 2: 9 - 10
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

All who own the name of Jesus, as saviour and Lord are Priests

We are all priests, along with the leaders. And we have a mission

To declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. If you remember nothing else when you leave here today, remember that. Your Mission as a priest of God is to
declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light

But the Roman Catholics have really got it wrong in the sense that Priests are not
Special super Christians called to a special ministry

They have distorted the word Priest

They have also distorted the word Saint in a similar way, A Saint is not someone who is canonized by the Pope on his birthday, Like the Queen passes out Knighthoods on her birthday

But as Paul wrote to the Romans Ch. 1: 7
"To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be Saints: "

And again as he wrote to Ephesus ch. 1: 1
"to the Saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: "

So not only are all believers Priests they are also all Saints of God

The author of Hebrews Ch. 3: 1 makes it abundantly clear that it’s Jesus himself is now our High priest.
We have no need under the new covenant for any human High priests

Heb.3: 1
Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high Priest whom we confess.

And as a Priest we have the Privilege to approach God directly

 

 

Heb. 4: 14
"since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens Jesus the Son of God--------let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

It seems to me as I’ve looked into these aspects of leadership in the Church that really we are all in this together.

We have all volunteered to work for the Lord,
To go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded us.

And He’s promised to be with us every step of the way.

He said "Surely I am with you always", "to the very end of the age."

When we recognize these truths it makes us realize why. when Jesus Prayed for His disciples he emphasized the need for unity in the Body

If you belong to the Lord don’t ever say I don’t want to get involved.
you are already involved

You’ve accepted the kings shilling.and you are under His orders.

And the next parade is on Thursday at 7-30pm

Your saviour needs you

Amen