Church officers and leaders : Who is a Bishop?

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Church officers and leaders : Who is a Bishop?

Posted on February 1, 2018 Updated on February 1, 2018

Bible study: Offices in the Church: Who is a Bishop?

Read 1 Timothy 3 vs. 1-7; Titus 1 vs 6-9; Ephesians 4:11; Acts 20:28

By Babatope Babalobi

Ephesians 4:11

¹¹And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

¹²For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Acts 20:28 – Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

1 Timothy 3 vs. 1-7

This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

²A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

³Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

⁴One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;

⁵(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

⁶Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

⁷Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Titus 1 vs 6-9;

⁶If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

⁷For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

⁸But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

⁹Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

There are five offices in the New Testament church as outlined by Apostle Paul. The offices according to hierarchy are:

Apostles
Prophets
Evangelists
Pastors
Teachers

One of the offices is Bishop also referred to as Overseers in the Bible
Bishop is not recognised as a special office in the Bible. In several places where the term is used in the Bible, it refers to someone or anybody who preaches.
In several places in the Bible the word Bishop is used interchangeably with Pastors, Servants, Overseers and Elders.
Unfortunately, some Churches or ministers of God, these days have unduly magnified the office of the Bishop because they want to be specially recognized.
Bishops are preachers and Deacons are servants in the church
A Bishop teaches.
A Deacon executes the instructions of Bishops
Bishops are preachers and teachers of the word
Deacons are administrators and assistants of Bishops.
Any person that describes himself as a Bishop, know that he is simply a Pastor or Teacher of the word
There are several titles in the present day local church that are not mentioned in the Bible. This includes Pope, Archbishop, General Overseer, Right Reverent, Reverend Father, Reverend, Cardinal, Father, Very Right Reverend, Reverend, Patriarch etc
All these positions are human creations, no more no less.
There are also many other honorific titles like Daddy G.O. and Mummy G.O. While our Church leaders deserve utmost respect, and there may be nothing wrong in using these titles according to local traditions to accord respect to elders, but the truth still remains that thy are all human creations