Three Offices

As you may have already heard, my friend Rev. Shane Lems was able to install an elder and deacon in Sunnyside, WA this past Sunday and thus his church plant became an organized church in the United Reformed Churches federation. Shane was a year ahead of me at Westminster Seminary and the amount of study and effort he put into seminary was nothing short of prolific.  Dubbed "Shane the Machine" by his fellow class mates, he regularly finished all of his papers before the semester even began (I was lucky to even get started the week they were due)! By the time everyone was cramming for finals, he was cruising around with the lasted Bavinck volume, reading just "for fun." But as we celebrate with our brother at the fruit of his labors, it may be helpful to pause and consider Biblically, the significance of this event.  

While Reformed theology has not made a proper church government part of the "essence" (esse) of the church, it certainly has affirmed that it is part of its "well being" (bene esse). In opposition to the hierarchy of Rome, as well as the radical anti-clerical stance of the Anabaptists, the Reformers sought to Biblically define a church government that was neither purely hierarchical nor egalitarian. The Belgic Confession of Faith, for example, states that according to the "spiritual polity which our Lord has taught us," there are three offices in the church: minister, elder and deacon (art. 30).  While there are differences of opinion over the exact number of offices in Reformed churches (for example, the PCA has the so called "two and a half" view), when compared to what is seen either in Rome or in broader Evangelicalism (their structures are strikingly similar) the differences are minute. 

In Romans 10, Paul is speaking about the message concerning "the righteousness based on faith" which declares that "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will  be saved" (v. 13) His logic is simple, yet its impact is often overlooked; he reasons in verse 14: "How are they going to call on him whom they haven't believed? How are they going to believe whom they haven't heard? How are they going to hear unless one preaches? How are they going to preach unless their sent?" Paul speaks here about an official commissioning of certain individuals who are to go out to proclaim the message of the gospel, without which action, Paul does not foresee anyone getting saved.  Further significance of this crucial act of ordaining preachers may be lost if one relies only on their English translation of Romans 10.  The ESV, for example renders v.14b: "And how are they going to believe of whom they have never heard?" In the Greek, however, the "of" does not need to be their (see my paraphrase above). If this is the case, then what Paul is arguing is that when people listen to a preacher, they are not just hearing of Christ, but they are hearing the very words of Christ himself (see Second Helvetic Confession, ch. 1).  

Thus we see the significance in Eph 4 of Paul listing "pastors and teachers" as one of the "gifts" (arguably, the only continuing office listed) given by the risen Lord for the edification of his Church. This is not to knock "everyday evangelism" done by the typical Christians, but rather,  to establish it. 

Coming soon: more on elders and deacons...