Elders And Evangelists: Who Are The Leaders?

Elders And Evangelists: Who Are The Leaders?

(Eph.4:11-16)

       The last few weeks, we’ve been looking at the roles of both the Elder and Evangelist in the Theocratic Christian Church, and I’d like to take just a couple of minutes to review some of the things that we’ve discussed, so far.

          The very first thing that we talked about was the type of governing that was to be in the Church. The three types we looked at were: An Autocratic government where one man is in charge. The second was a Democratic government where the congregation was in charge. Then, the Theocratic government where God was in charge. We came to the conclusion that the only way for this to be God’s Church is to allow Him to have the supreme authority, and the rest of us work as His servants in whatever capacity He sees fit to put us in.

          After that, we began looking at the Eldership and concluded that the title of the elder means nothing if the work of the elder goes undone. We determined that for a man to truly be an elder, he must desire a good work. He must shepherd his flock by leading by example. And again, leading. Not pushing.

          We also looked at the qualifications that the Bible gives us for our elders. We found that some are pretty plain and simple, while others require a little more study to gain a better understanding of the context and intent.

          Then, we moved on to the Evangelist. We saw, by looking at the Scripture, that this man is as much a part of God’s pattern for the Church as the elder. But, we also discussed some of the problems within the Church today, concerning the evangelist and his inability to fulfill his God-given role because of the secularization that has taken place within it. We talked about how the preacher is all too often looked upon as a hired hand and, along with that, given over to do the work of the elders and the congregation on top of his own responsibilities, which did not come from either of these groups, but from God. And we saw, last week, a pretty extensive list of those responsibilities. We talked about how this expectation of being THE worker for the church could lead the evangelist to think of himself as the “Pastor”. But, he’s not a pastor. He’s an evangelist. God’s word makes a clear distinction: Eph 4:11 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers.”

          So again, Christ has given these gifts to the Church “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service”( Eph 4:12) But, as both are servants of the Lord, which one has more authority within the local congregation of the Lord’s Church? I mean, the pastors are to oversee the flock. So does that give them the supreme position in the human leadership of the Church? And the evangelist: he’s charged with setting the Church in order. So is he the so called “leader” of the congregation? If we go by Scripture, which we always must, which of these two offices has the most authority?

          Let’s look again at Eph 4:11. In this Scripture, does the inspired Apostle Paul show any type of hierarchy in these gifts from Christ? Does the Scripture say, “some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers to rule over them”? Does it say, “some as evangelists to oversee the pastors and teachers”? No. The Bible says nothing of the kind. Paul, here, puts the evangelists and the elders on a level playing field.

          “But”, someone might say, “the elders are the overseers of the church and the evangelist is somebody we pay to work for the church”. And, since he gets paid, he’s not actually a part of the congregation. He’s an employee. But, is that what the Word of God says.

          I’d like us all to turn to 1Tim 5:17-18. This reads, “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING,’ and ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages.’” Now notice, Paul isn’t speaking of the evangelist. He’s saying that the ELDERS who rule well are worthy of their wages. So I have a question. If we consider the evangelist an employee because he receives a wage, should we not also consider elders employees, as well?

          Well certainly, no one is going to say that the elders are employees of the church. That’s ridiculous! The elders are members of the congregation! The majority of the time, the evangelist, even though the elders are to be paid too, is rarely considered a member of the congregation, but an employee.

          Is this God’s plan or man’s pattern? Is this how God operates or is this how the world around us operates? This isn’t a rhetorical question. You tell me now, what’s the answer! In God’s eyes, am I a part of this congregation or not? In God’s eyes, how different am I, in that respect, than an elder?

          Someone might say, “But I’ve always been taught that the elders are the head of the church”. Didn’t we cover that a few weeks ago? Didn’t we learn that no man is the head of the church, but Christ and Christ alone? Didn’t we learn that both the elders and evangelists are servant leaders of the congregation; that the elders and evangelists are to lead by example and serve the saints and, by doing so, they serve the Lord? Didn’t we discuss the difference between your employer and your church leaders? Haven’t we learned that Christ’s gifts are to lead the flock, not push, as the world does?

          I know that these questions might sound a little harsh. But, we have to understand that we, as Christians are not to be influenced by the world, but are to be an influence upon the world. We, as Christians have made a commitment to God to follow His teachings and His commands! And we also have to remember that we get our instructions from God, through His word, not the congregation down the road.

          So, let’s look at the question, again, of which man has the most authority in the congregation. We know that it could be no one else but the elders or evangelist. We might wonder about the deacons, but their role is totally different, and we’ll be looking at that next week. For now, suffice it to say that the deacons have no spiritual authority within the church.

          But, concerning the relationship between the elders and evangelist, let’s look at their shared functions. When we look at this diagram of the structure of the Church, we see that Christ is at the top as the Head, the Scriptures as the Guide, and the Body which is served. Then, under them, are the elders and evangelist. But wait! That has to be wrong! The elders are the leaders!...No, the elders and evangelist are servants. They lead by showing and assisting the Body in performing its function.

          Then, we see coming from the elders and evangelist these things: Equipping, Leading, Evangelizing, Shepherding, and Edifying. Of course, there are other responsibilities that are assigned specifically to both offices, as we’ve discussed, but let’s not be mistaken: there are some that are equally shared between the two offices.

          They both have the same major functions: Equipping the Saints; The Work of Ministry; and Edifying the Body of Christ.

          Both offices have similar job descriptions: Guarding their own life; Watching over the flock; Feeding the flock; Overseeing the flock; and Being an example to the flock.

          Both are accountable to each other: In reference to the elders, Paul wrote in 1Ti 5:22 “Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.” He also wrote concerning the evangelist in 1Ti 4:14 “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.” Again, as we said last week, presbytery also means the group of elders.

          And then again, both offices originated in the same order. Paul didn’t write in Ephesians four that Christ gave the evangelist and then the pastor/teacher. Neither did he write that Christ gave the pastor/teacher and then the evangelist. He wrote the Christ gave both evangelist and elder; together; to bring about the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God until we attain the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). How can that happen unless the elders and evangelist, instead of being at odds with each other, work together for the sake of the church?

          We see this same situation in another important part of our lives…politics. To the average person, most of us, I think, would like to see the people in our government do what’s good for us, the people, instead of what seems best for their own party. How many of us get fed up with this? I know I am! I mean, we’ve elected those people to look after OUR best interests. But, it seems to me that they’re better at looking after their own best interest and special interests. They just can’t seem to get that we put them where they are to be “Public Servants”. Whatever happened to that idea? Does it seem to you that, if more politicians would remember that’s what they are: our country, which is the citizens, would be better off?

          Well, if we feel that way about our government, why wouldn’t we have that feeling even stronger about a more important institution: the Church? Why do we complain about the politicians being a servant of their party rather than a servant of the people? Why do we hear the words partisanship or bipartisanship so much when it comes to our government? Why does partisanship in our government upset us while, at the same time, we allow it in the Church, and see it as the way it’s meant to be? We see the elders as one party and the evangelist as another; both constantly being in conflict with each other? Is conflict what the Lord desires in His Church? Is God the author of confusion? Did not Jesus pray for unity, not division, in His Church? And if we are to strive for unity, why do we set ourselves up for division by creating factions where oneness is to be?...

          From the beginning, there was never meant to be a rift in the Church. Each individual person, each Christian, has always been, and is still, meant to perform a function within the Lord’s Church. He’s given each and every one of us gifts to use specifically for the building up and the unity of His people. That means we are to work together, using our God-given gifts, to help one another come to maturity in Christ. We can take such simple ideas and let them get away from us by bringing the world’s ways into our life of worship.

          Who is the true leader of the Church? Jesus Christ. He gave us elders and evangelists to work together, in harmony, as fellow bond-servants, for the building up of His Kingdom.

          Let’s not put division where Christ desires unity. Let’s not put strife where Christ desires togetherness. Let’s each strive to follow the Lord, and allow His gifts to lead us in that following, as we work out our salvation, together.