Idolatry & Human Leadership Part 2 of 6
An excerpt from Chapter 9 in David Orton's book,
"Snakes in the Temple: Unmasking Idolatry in Today's Church"
Part 2 of 6
by David Orton
Apostles and Prophets replaced by Senior Pastors!
Tragically, as Israel did, they opted for a king, for human government. As the church transitioned into the sub-apostolic era, the ascension-gift ministries of apostles and prophets were gradually replaced by the office of the bishop.167 It was believed that this office was the only legitimate continuity of apostolic authority and teaching (apostolic succession)168; thereby addressing the two-horned dilemma of heresy – the crisis of continuity in apostolic teaching – and division – the crisis of apostolic authority.
Initially, the office of bishop was more akin to our present-day senior pastor, presiding over one local church. But as time progressed, a bishop not only assumed superintendence over one, but a number of congregations in a region, which became known as a diocese. As early as 110-117 AD, Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, strongly advocated that one bishop (senior pastor) be in charge of each congregation.169 According to Von Campenhausen, the former Chair of Ecclesiastical History at Heidelberg, “In Ignatius a system of monarchical episcopacy (one bishop) has already been implemented, so that all important functions are in principle in the hands of the one bishop. The clergy itself no longer constitutes a single group of…’leading’ men…but is sharply divided into grades. The ‘spiritual garland’ of the presbyterate (elders)…surrounds the one bishop (senior pastor) as his ‘council’; and below them both stand the … the deacons.” (parenthesis mine)170
What began as leadership through men of the Spirit (apostles, prophets, and teachers),171 serving as co-elders with the presbytery, had become by the second century a human structure governed by the office of bishop as the senior minister. He alone presided over the elders and the congregation. Referring to this hierarchy of clergy, Ignatius believed that, “Without these there is nothing which can be called a church.”172 Renwick explains, “By the time of Ignatius… one of the presbyters (elders) had been chosen to preside over the others. He had become a permanent pastor and president of the other presbyters or elders…this president is the man whom Ignatius calls bishop because he is episcopos or ‘overseer’”173. This hierarchy of bishop or senior pastor, descending in order to the elders, deacons, and congregation was universal by the third century and went on to dominate the medieval Western church determining leadership styles and structures to the present day.
Back to the Future
Von Campenhausen points out that, “…even the Reformation, which intended change and to a great extent achieved it, in this particular field of ecclesiastical office remained relatively conservative…. Nevertheless it is here…that a real crisis in the early concept of office begins, and makes it increasingly impossible either to go back to earlier patterns or to persevere in traditional ways of thought”.174 I agree in the difficulty we face in persevering with our inherited and traditional leadership patterns. However, as the Holy Spirit renews and restores the church, as difficult as it is, we do have to go “back to the future”. A crisis of spiritual authority and freedom was provoked by the Reformation, but not resolved. If God’s purpose is the complete restoration of his church, eclipsing even the glory and power of the apostolic era, it is imperative we recover the foundations of that era before we can move on. We must rediscover the foundations of true spiritual authority.
Some hard questions
If we are genuinely aspiring to spiritual breakthrough in the church, we cannot escape asking ourselves some hard questions. Is authority in the church organisational or spiritual? Are our present leadership structures really rooted in the apostolic revelation? Or, more to the point, is the concept of office, and specifically of senior pastor to be found in Scripture? And, does it reflect a human control over the church? Like Israel, have we set up our own kings? We may or may not, as a denomination, have bishops or overseers presiding over multiple congregations of a region, but almost universally, we do have a senior pastor holding a position with varying degrees of official authority. How true is this to the life of the apostolic church and, therefore, to the life of the Spirit?
The church thrived before the reign of the bishop. What we discover in the New Testament record is vastly different compared to our present experience, and to what developed by the second and third centuries. Although, as late as the Didache, a document probably dated towards the end of the first century, itinerant prophets and teachers were still functioning in perfect harmony with the local elders of the various congregations, but more of this in a moment.
THE LEADERSHIP MODEL OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH
Gift or Office?
So, what was the leadership model of the apostolic church? Was it exercised through a charismatic gift or an organisational office – through official power or spiritual authority? Recognising that all life demands some structure to exist, how was the healthy tension between form and freedom resolved? Was the church led through the office of senior pastor or through apostles. Or, was there another way altogether? Our answers will determine whether the body of Christ is presided over by the Spirit or by man.
God appoints first apostles, second, prophets, and third teachers
Paul teaches that, “God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers…” (1 Cor 12:28 NASB). Apostles, prophets, and teachers were the lead-ministries of the apostolic church. Significantly they were not a hierarchy of official positions, but rather, a sequence of charismatic graces – ministry anointings which, in their order, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, spearheaded the advance of the kingdom. In Ephesians, Paul clearly shows that apostles, prophets, and teachers are people, gifted by the Spirit, who in turn are given as a gift to the body: “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says, ‘When he ascended on high ,he…gave gifts to men .’…It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers…” (Eph 4:7-11 NIV).
People not Positions
Apostles and prophets are people, not positions. There are two steps in their calling and placement. First, the person receives a ministry-gift as an individual (“to each one of us grace has been given”); and, secondly, that same person is then given to the body of Christ as a gift-ministry (“when he ascended on high, he…gave gifts to men …he…gave some to be apostles” etc). God sovereignly calls and anoints people, not positions.
New Testament Apostleship – not an Office, but a Gift!
Apostles, prophets, and teachers are therefore men (or women)175 of the Spirit. Their anointing is not the product of, or subject to any human organisation. Flowing from the ascension of Christ their gifts and callings are mediated directly by the Spirit: “when he ascended on high, he…gave gifts to men…” Their ministry anointing begins and ends with them in the sovereign calling of God. New Testament apostleship is, therefore, not an office to be succeeded to by future aspirants or to be granted by any church body. Rather, it is a sovereignly dispensed spiritual gift to an individual, who is in turn given as a gift to the body.
Confusion between Spiritual Authority & Official Power
Consequently, to promote the office of bishop, or in current terminology senior pastor, as the continuance of apostolic, or true spiritual authority is wrong. And yet this is what occurred in the second and third centuries and has been inherited by the present day church as normative. The systemic disorder of Christ’s body, to a large degree, has been caused by this continuing confusion between authentic spiritual authority and official power. This is reflected in the historic confusion between the office of senior pastor and the gift of apostle.
…to be continued … an excerpt from David Orton’s book, "Snakes in the Temple: Unmasking Idolatry in Today’s Church"
167 David Wright, The History of Christianity, p 118-120; Henry Chadwick, The Early Church, p 41-53
168 Apostolic succession was not fully developed until the third century owing to the advocacy of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (248-258). However, it was present in the climate of the second century with the emphasis on apostolic tradition and teaching. But by the third it had grown to the succession of apostolic office, tracing from the first apostles a line of succession through the bishops. (see RE Higginson, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, p 73)
169 Michael A. Smith, The History of Christianity, p 83
170 Von Campenhausen, Ecclesiastical Authority and Spiritual Power in the Church of the First Three Centuries, p 97
171 1 Cor 12:28
172 Quoted by Von Campenhausen, ibid, p 99
173 A.M. Renwick, The Story of the Church, p 27
174 Von Campenhausen, p 294
175 Refer to David Cannistraci, The Gift of Apostle, p 86-90 for a discussion on women apostles.
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