August 6, 2006

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

What is Evangelistic Authority?

 

Introduction

1. This past week in our Area-Wide Fellowship Gospel Meeting (AWFGM), one of our speakers pointed out a dangerous doctrine and practice among some churches of Christ.
2. It is the practice of organizing the local church without elders and deacons.  They prefer having the local minister as the point man and mature Christian men as “leading brethren.” 
3. But the problem goes further.  They not only do not have elders, but they preach against having elders in their churches.
4. Their doctrine is called “evangelistic authority.”  That is, the apostles gave authority to evangelists, like Timothy and Titus.  These men though young were the ministers who guided the new churches after Paul and other apostles established them.

 

NT References on Elders and Deacons

 

1)     It is obvious that the New Testament Church had elders, deacons, and ministers.  How is it possible for preachers today to not accept this biblical teaching and practice?

2)     “For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.”  (Titus 1:5.)  Titus was told by the apostle to ordain elders in every city.  He was not told to oversee the church himself and have only deacons serving to assist him.

3)     “Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.”  (Phil. 1:1.)

4)     Paul met with the elders from Ephesus at Miletus before leaving them.  He referred to them as “overseers” whose job it is to feed the church of God, which Jesus purchased with his own blood.  It is clear from the language that these men had the spiritual responsibility of teaching, shepherding, and watching for the souls of those in their care.  (Acts 20:17, 28-32.)

5)     The apostle Peter wrote: “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ. . . .”  (1 Pet. 5:1.)  This is a significant statement.

6)     These mature Christian men are referred to by six terms in Scripture.  They are elders or presbyters (meaning of Gr. presbuteros) which refers to age and maturity; bishops or overseers (Gr. episcopos) refers to their spiritual oversight and leadership; pastors and shepherds (Gr. poimen) which means to feed, tend, and care for.

7)     Protestant preachers particularly have stolen the term pastor from these mature Christian men and applied it to themselves alone.  In Scripture you never find a single pastor overseeing a congregation.  But this is what we have among some churches of Christ as well.  They are, in effect, practicing a pastor system borrowed from the Protestant churches.

 

 Arguments for Having No Elders

 

1)     The 21^st Church does not have apostles as the 1^st century Church did.

a.     Apostles and elders went up to Jerusalem to solve a problem at Galatia.  (Acts 15:6.)

b.     Peter served as both an elder and apostle.  (1 Pet. 5:1.)

c.      We do not have apostles today.  If we can do without them, why can we not do without elders?

d.     Peter said that he was a witness of the sufferings of Christ.  Apostles served as eye-witnesses of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  (Acts 10:40-42.)

e.     It is not possible to have eye-witnesses today, but it is possible to have elders today.  We have what the apostles recorded to establish our faith.

2)     There is no such thing as the office of an elder.

a.     The KJV does say, “the office of a bishop.”  (1 Tim. 3:1.)  It is from the Greek episcope, which refers to the work of a bishop or overseer.

b.     Overseers had to be recognized mature Christian men with mature wives. They had to be appointed to the work, as Paul told Timothy and Titus.

c.      “We beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you.” (1 Thess. 5:12.)  Here are some recognizable people who serve in a special way.  They can be distinguished from other Christians.

d.     I think one can misuse the term office.  It is not like the office of President of the US, or office of the sheriff, or the office of the local School Board.  To think of oneself as an officer of the local church in an institutional sense is to misunderstand the spiritual nature of the Body of Christ.  It is a spiritual work teaching the Word of God, shepherding the souls of Christians, and gently guiding young Christians in the right way. 

e.     Office should not be thought of as one above others in power.  Elders are warned not to lord it over God’s people.

    (1 Peter 5:3.)

 

3)     There is some work that elders cannot do today. 

a.     James 5:14-15 says that one who is sick should call for the elders of the church.  The elders should anoint the sick person with oil and pray for them.  By doing so, the prayer of faith shall save the sick and their sins will be forgiven.

b.     Some argue that elders do not have that power today; therefore, we should not appoint men to try to fill such roles.

c.      But it is still true today that “the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much.”  (James 5:16.)

d.     Elders may very well have had miraculous gifts in the first century.  Deacons may have had them as well.  Stephen is a good example.  (Acts 6:1-8.)  By this argument, we should not deacons today.  Those practicing evangelistic authority ought not to have deacons either.  But they have “leading brethren” or deacons among them.  Preachers had miraculous power in the 1^st century.  See 2 Tim. 1:6—“stir up the gift of God that is within you, which is in you by the putting on of my hands.”  Maybe we should not have evangelists today for the same reason.

e.     Elders can fulfill their role today of overseeing and guiding the flock just as they did in the first century.

 

4)     Evangelists ought not to be under the oversight of elders

a.     A typical argument by those practicing Evangelistic Oversight: “How can an evangelist take a sinner out of the world, preach to him the gospel, baptize that sinner into Christ and in a few years that sinner be ordained as an elder and be over the evangelist?  Man, that does not make horse sense?”  (Studies in Timothy and Titus, 12^th Annual East TN Lectureship, 1986, “The Question of Evangelist Oversight,” 321.)

b.     But here is another question to consider (since we are using human arguments against something God has ordained).  How can a young man, like Timothy and Titus, unmarried, fresh out of Bible School, take the oversight of a church of mature Christian men and women and lead them spiritually in Christ??

c.      Just because the young evangelist may have obeyed the Gospel before the elders did does not mean that he is more mature and has greater wisdom than they.

d.     Young people in High School or College may have more technical knowledge than their parents.  Does that mean that the children should ignore their parents and take leadership of the home over their parents?  Hardly.

e.     The same argument could be made concerning husbands and wives.  Some wives may be more educated, more mature spiritually than their husbands. Does this mean that the wife should become the head of the home in his place?

 

5)     We do not have qualified men to serve

a.     Small churches often fail to develop men with good leadership abilities and biblical knowledge.

b.     Many churches of Christ do not have elders or deacons not because they believe in evangelistic authority.

c.      Why should we assume that ministers in those churches are qualified to serve as the sole pastor?  Would not a group of older Christian men be better than the leadership provided by one young man?

d.     The goal of every church should be to grow in Christ so that soon men may be appointed as elders.  The longer a church goes living by the pastor-preacher system the more difficult it will be to change that practice.

 

Elders are not perfect Christians

 

1)     Paul indicated to the Ephesian elders that some among them would arise speaking perverse things and draw away disciples after them.  (Acts 20:30.)  Neither were the apostles perfect leaders.  Remember Paul’s rebuke of the apostle Peter?  (Gal. 2:11.)

2)     Paul wrote: “Those that sin rebuke before all that others may fear.”  (1 Tim. 5:20.)  He contrasted those who rule well and those who sin.  (verses 17 & 20.)

3)     However, this does not give us the right to disregard them, to slander their names, to rebuke them, and ignore their advice.

4)     If you are not in willing submission to the elders which are among us here, then you are not submissive to any elders.

5)     All elders are under the eldership; Jesus Christ is the Chief Shepherd.  No one elder should be recognized as a chief elder. 

6)     It is just as wrong to have one elder overseeing the church as it is to have one evangelist doing it.

 

Conclusion

 

“Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you.”  (Heb. 13:17.)

 

“And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.  And be at peace among yourselves.”  (1 Thess. 5:13.)

 

Evangelist authority is wrong, anti-scriptural.  But so also is “individual authority” where individuals refuse to submit to the eldership.