Biblical Leadership in Christ's Church

by Henry Lepke

We encounter a variety of leadership structures in today's churches: hierarchies, solitary pastors, male and female pastors, diaconates that function more like elderships, and a variety of other leadership types. The important question is not which one is the most functional, but which one is biblical.

This article explores four aspects of biblical leadership and recovers the biblical pattern for leadership in Christ’s church:

1. Overview of Biblical Roles in the Church
2. Leadership in the Early Church
3. Appointment of Spiritual Leaders
4. Congregational Attitudes Toward Spiritual Leaders

1.  Overview of Biblical Roles in the Church

Jesus Christ the Head
Jesus Christ is the foremost leader of his church.

• The LEADER of His people (Acts 5:31, Hebrews 2:10; 12:2, check the Greek)
• The HEAD over His church (Ephesians 1:22, 4:15; 5:23; Colossians 1:18; 2:19)
• The CHIEF PRIEST (Hebrews 3:1; 4:14,15; 5:10; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1; 9:11; 10:21)
• The CHIEF SHEPHERD (1 Peter 5:4)

Apostles 
Apostles are emissaries who are sent by a person or a church for a specific task. Some of them ended up being 'pillars' of the church of Jerusalem.

• The Lord Jesus Christ was sent by God (Hebrews 3:1).
• The Twelve were sent by Christ (Matthew 10:1-4)
• The Seventy were sent by Christ (Luke 10:1)
• Paul was sent by the risen Christ to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13)
• Barnabas and Paul were sent by the church on a missionary journey (Acts 14:14)
• Paul, Silas and Timothy are described as apostles of Christ (1 Thessalonians 2:6)
• James, Peter and John are described as pillars of the Jerusalem church (Gal. 2:9)

Elders
Elders are interchangeably called overseers, shepherds, pastors and leaders in the Bible. All of these titles are being used for the office of spiritual leadership and merely describe different attributes of the same role.
Note: specific scripture references will be given under the next heading (2. Leadership in the Early Church).

• An Elder is older, especially in the Lord, i.e. someone who is spiritually mature.
• An Overseer has the spiritual oversight over the congregation.
• A Shepherd feeds and cares for God's sheep, i.e. God's congregation.
• A Leader leads by example but also has the authority to lead and direct.
• 1 Timothy 3:1-7 gives the necessary qualifications for this office.

Deacons
Deacons are men appointed by the church to take care of practical ministries such as overseeing the physical welfare of groups in the church, finance, building and grounds maintenance, etc. While the qualifications for this role stipulates them be spiritual men, they are NOT spiritual leaders among God's people.

• We see the appointment of Deacons in Acts 6, when the apostles appointed ‘the
  Seven’, as they are called in Acts 21:8. Although ‘the Seven’ are never called
  Deacons, it is obvious that they were basically doing Deacon work, for the Greek
  word for deacon is used three times in Acts 6:1-6. They were looking after the
  financial arrangements for the widows. Thus Deacons have a delegated
  responsibility to relieve the spiritual leaders of a church of some of the more
  practical sides of Church government, so that the spiritual leaders of the church are
  free to devote themselves to the spiritual needs of the flock (Acts 6:1-4). The
  Deacons are obviously UNDER the authority of the Elders. That is why the elders
  are also called OVERSEERS - they oversee and have ultimate responsibility for all
  the affairs of the church.
• 1 Timothy 3:8-13 specified the necessary qualifications for the office of deacon.

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