We all appreciate the men who preach the gospel to us and help us get closer to God and his truth.
What is key to our relationship with gifted men of God is to understand they function like fathers.
They equip us and then release us into Christ and the Spirit to become mature Christian just like them.
God Appointed very gifted equippers:
11. And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,12. for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,13. till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;14. that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,15. but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—16. from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Ephesians 4:11-16
This is not a control or ruling office neither is it typically a paid a job. It is not a career in a secular sense but a sacred stewardship. Also such individuals do not not have more authority in church matters than any other mature Christians, especially the elders.
Successful family men
1. This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.2. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;3. not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;4. one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence5. (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);6. not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.7. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
8. Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money,9. holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.10. But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.11. Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.12. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.13. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 3:1-13
1. The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:2. Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;3. nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;4. and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
5. Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
1 Peter 5:1-5
17. Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.18. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
1 Timothy 5:17-18
There was never one individual in any church in the Bible who ruled or judged alone . All the letters of correction to churches were not written to the elders of the pastor (there was never a single “senior” pastor)
29. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.
1 Corinthians 14:29
16. “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’17. “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
Matthew 18:16-17