Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Acts 14:23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 14:23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they believed [and joyfully accepted as the Messiah]. |
Bible Question: Part of the governmental set up of the church is the office of the elder, bishop, pastor or overseer. These terms all interchage. My question is why do most churches not fill this office in accordance with the written word? Notice the above scripture shows this position as plural. There are also other examples in the bible that show this position to be plural. So why do most churches just have the "one" elder, pastor, overseer and then have a multiple of deacons under him? |
Bible Answer: If we go back to the original pattern in the New Testament, congregations of the church in the first century followed the instructions of the Apostles and appointed at least two or more elders. But of course, they had the Holy Spirit to assist them as they didn't have mature, seasoned men with a solid history of christianity from which to choose. But it seems clear from the few examples we're given that the elders ruled their congregations with much wisdom and humbleness. Sometime in the centuries that followed, it become fasionable to appoint "chief" elders and then the supreme elder per city were sent to a central city like Rome. Eventually this practice was enshrined and thus led to the establishment of the Pope. As always, if we stick to God's pattern, most of those headaches and heartaches can be avoided. Personally, I think this was the danger Paul was warning the elders in Ephesus, as this kind of thing was to come from one of that very group. As most people know, this controversy led to the Reformation and finally the Restoration. I think it's a good practice to see each generation of christians start and maintain their own Restoration. Each of us have to make up our own minds as to which pattern we're going to follow: God's or that man's. We all grow up with more than our fair share of traditions, some of them good and some of them not so good. It behooves us all to get into God's Perfect Maintenance Manual and retweak ourselves and do the proper amount of retweaking of our congregations. Now, sometimes that means a lot of study and a whole lot of humble submission, especially those of us with more than our share of stubborness. I speak from experience. Traditions are OK as long as they're re-evaluated and recognized for what they are. They must NEVER take the place of or take the place alongside God's Word. Otherwise, we're following the same path that led to appointment of the Pope, equal to the Bible in authority. In my opinion the Bible is very clear, congregations should have at least two or three elders, with several deacons under them, then the preacher. That's the pattern of government that I see in the Bible and it's the pattern that has worked for 2,000 years. It's also simple and easy to understand. |
Up | Down View Branch | ID# 108260 | ||
Questions and/or Subjects for Acts 14:23 | Author | ||
|
RAVEN | ||
|
srbaegon | ||
|
Morant61 | ||
|
Rowdy | ||
|
justme |