God-Given Leadership

“Everything rises and falls on leadership!”

God-given and God-endowed leadership is key to the development, care,  and growth of the body of Christ in any given locality. God has intentionally placed Pastors in the local church for the edification of the saints for the purpose of equipping the membership to carry out the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). Thus, some of those mature believers, and in particular the men of the congregation, will come to serve the church in the capacity of Deacon. What kind of men are qualified to serve in these roles as a Pastor or Deacon? God has a clearly defined order for the church so as to operate and communicate with a pure, profound and consistent voice in a society that is ever changing and seeking to infiltrate the church (1 Timothy 3:14-15; 2 Timothy 3:10-12). The church must continue to stand as a separate entity with a light shining in the community as an influence of change to our society and its norms.  The church will be ridiculed and demeaned for its stances, but must never change our doctrinal stance as it is rooted deeply in the unchanging Word of God (2 Timothy 3:14-17; 4:2-5)!

Therefore, the Bible is very clear that those of the male gender are to fulfill the role of Pastor and Deacons as found in 1 Timothy 3:1-2 & 11-12, that speak to the matter of being the “husband of one wife” as a qualification. This phrase also bears with it the fact that not just any man of the church is able to serve in these very vital areas, but only those that has never been divorced or married a divorcee. The honor and purity of the offices must be preserved so that the message is not in any way diluted. Thus, there is, rightfully, a high standard that the Lord places upon these leaders (1 Timothy 3:2-7, 8-12 & Titus 1:5-9). In addition, Acts 6:3 & 5 demands a person of highest character to serve as a Deacon, which includes a man of “honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom”, and one “full of faith”.

You may have noticed that the Pastor is referenced in the previous passages in the singular and the Deacons are plural. Although the church, at times, elects to have an assistant to the Pastor, there is yet only one “lead” or “senior” Pastor with whom the primary responsibility lies to oversee, spiritually lead with a faithful, godly example, and to feed the congregation (1 Peter 5:1-3; Acts 20:17, 28). Peter and Paul, in the prior verses, addresses those men gathered from various local churches as holding the one office that bears the aforementioned functions when he uses the terms of Bishop, Elder, or Pastor. Therefore, these terms are used interchangeably to speak of the same person in the church, to whom we have come to ascribe the title, “Pastor”. This title is given to emphasize the shepherding role of the “undershepherd” to the flock of God. It is the most important and most noticeable public ministry of this man of God.