THE OFFICE OF
BISHOP
T.P. Simmons
The chief officers in New
Testament churches were called bishops, or elders, or pastors. "That the
appellations 'bishop,' 'presbyter' (or elder) and 'pastor' designate the same
office and order of persons, may be shown from Acts 20:28 . . ." (Strong).
To the same effect are the words of many others, including
those of Conybeare and Howson and passages quoted by Giessler (Church History,
Vol. 1, p. 90). See Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim 3:1, 8; Titus 5:7; 1 Pet 5:1, 2.
The first plausible objection
to the identity of elders and bishops was advanced by Calvin
on the basis of 1 Tim. 5:17. But instead of showing that the terms designate
two offices, this passage merely shows that the one office involved two kinds
of work, teaching and ruling or overseeing. Some occupants of the office were
more successful in one than in the other, with teaching being regarded as the
highest function of the office. The following passages show that teaching and
ruling belonged to the same individual: Acts 20:28-31; Eph.
4:11; Heb. 13:7; 1 Tim. 3:2. The plurality of elders or bishops in New
Testament churches was incidental, and is not incumbent on all churches; that
is, a plurality of elders is not essential to the existence of a New Testament
church. It was the size and scarcity of the churches, and the great expanses of
destitution that gave rise to a plurality of elders.*
I.
QUALIFICATIONS OF THE BISHOPS
These qualifications are given
in 1 Tim. 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. They are:
*The bishop is not an official
priest. The word in the Greek for priest is entirely different from the ones
translated bishop, elder, pastor. New Testament churches had no official
priests. All believers are priests. See. 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 5:10. Here is the pitiably weak attempt once made by a leading Catholic to
justify the priesthood: "The very word 'priest' in our language is derived
from the New Testament word 'presbuterous.' Presbuterous became presbyter;
presbyter became priester; priester became priest. This is sufficient
indication of the office and proof that the Catholic priesthood is
'scriptural'"
1.
BLAMELESS
By this it is not meant that
the bishop must be morally perfect. No man in the flesh is.
It means that he must be above serious reproach. This requirement it explained
and amplified in both of the passages given above, as follows:
"Moreover he must have
good testimony from them that are without; lest he fall into reproach and the
snare of the devil" (1 Tim. 3:7).
"For the bishop must be
blameless, as God's steward; not self-willed, not soon angry; no brawler, no
striker, not greedy of filthy lucre" (Titus 1:7).
If the public does not have a
high regard for the moral integrity of a man, he should never
be made a bishop.
2.
PROPER CONJUGAL RELATIONS
He is to be the husband of one
wife. Of course this means that he is to be husband of but
one at a time. He must not have two living wives. This neither requires that a
preacher be married - though, in most cases, it is best that he should; nor
forbids him to marry again if his wife dies.*
3.
VIGILANCE, SOBRIETY, AND GOOD BEHAVIOR
These are given together in 1
Tim. 3:2. They are given in the Revised Version as meaning that the bishop is
to be temperate, sober-minded, and orderly. And this version leaves out the
reference to wine in the next verse. Temperance means self-control in
everything. It involves total abstinence from that which is harmful or evil.
_________
*Let those who think that the
requirement that a bishop "be blameless, the husband of one wife"
demands that he be a married man, reflect upon the fact, first of all, that such a demand would require the immediate resignation of a
pastor whose wife dies. Moreover, let these note, in the second place, that
Titus 1:6 adds, "having faithful children, not accused of riot or
unruly." If the foregoing requirement means that a bishop must be married,
then this one means that it is not enough for a man to be married- he is not to
be ordained as a bishop until he has children and they are saved.
Let's try to be consistent, brethren.
_________
4.
HOSPITALITY
Hospitality
refers to entertainment of visitors in the home. In New Testament days
hospitality was "a service specially necessary . . . when the Christian
traveler was exposed to peculiar difficulties and dangers, and a duty,
therefore, which was often insisted on-" (Harvey, on Titus). Hospitality
may not be so urgently necessary today, but it is nonetheless beautiful and
beneficial.
5.
APTNESS TO TEACH
This includes both love for
teaching and ability in it. This requires knowledge and the ability to impart
it.
6.
PEACEFULNESS
The qualifications that follow
aptness to teach are given in the better translation as follows: ". . . no
brawler, no striker, but gentle, not contentious." The bishop is not to have a disposition that tends to stir up strife. He is not
to be by nature violent and combative, but a man of a gentle, forbearing
spirit, adverse to quarrelling and dispute. See 2 Tim. 2:24. Yet he must
contend for the faith, and fight evil.
7.
LACK OF COVETOUSNESS
He must not be a lover of
money, for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. He must not put
money above faithful discharge of the will of God.
8.
DISCIPLINARY ABILITY
The test of this is the way in
which he controls his own children, and the Scripture says if he cannot control
them, he cannot care for the church of God.
9. A
SEASONED CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE
The bishop must not be a
novice, that is, one newly come to the faith. He must possess a considerable
degree of Christian maturity.
10.
SOUNDNESS IN THE FAITH
For the eight foregoing
qualifications we have followed the epistle to Timothy, and have not tried to
list everything mentioned in both epistles, talking it that in Timothy we have,
in a general manner, all that is included in Titus. But the last stipulation in
Titus we wish to notice. It reads as follows:
"...holding to the
faithful word which is according to the teaching, that they may be able both to
exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convince the gainsayers" (Titus 1:9).
This means that the bishop is to be one who holds to the Word of God in spite
of all temptation to forsake it.
II. THE DUTIES OF THE BISHOP
The duties of the bishop are
as follows:
1 Tim. 5:17; Heb. 13:7,17. The
ruling here, however, is not autocratic ruling (2 Pet. 5:3), but only the rule
of oversight and leadership. In our consideration of the church we have shown
that the church is a democracy, receiving and excluding members,
and managing its own affairs. And we have pointed out that "ruling
elders," in the modern sense are not authorized by 1 Tim. 5:17.
2.
TO TEACH
1 Tim.
3:2; 2 Tim. 4:2; Titus 1:9; Heb. 13:7. This is the principal work of the
preacher. Nothing should be allowed to interfere with it. If he fails in this,
he has failed in all. Everything else is secondary to the work of teaching.
3.
TO SHEPHERD THE FLOCK
Eph. 4:11. In this passage we
have the bishop called a pastor. This means that he is a shepherd. He is to
have the same interest in and unselfish devotion to his flock as was the case
with the ancient shepherd and his sheep. He is to feed them, shield them from
danger, comfort them in distress, and strengthen them when weak.
4.
TO ADMINISTER THE ORDINANCES
It seems in keeping with the
nature of the bishop's office to consider the administration of the ordinances
as a peculiar function of bishops. And, as we have remarked
before of baptism, so we may now say of both baptism and the Lord's Supper,
that we have no certain indication that any but bishops ever administered them.