By Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson III, BA, MA, DD
(unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are
from the New International Version)[1]
GREETING
Psalm 134:1-2.1 Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye
servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord.2 Lift
up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.
Life Center Service Tonight. 7 pm.
2.
Please register for the
International AIM Convention under “COGIC Department of Evangelism.”
3.
The Presiding Bishop Charles E.
Blake, Sr., is speaking tonight in Memphis for the PCCNA Conference.
4.
St Louis this Friday I will be
preaching at the Robert C. Williams Memorial District Meeting this Friday.
LESSON NOTES
I.
WHAT
IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS LESSON? The perception is that there is an over
abundance of consecrations of new bishops happening in the black community (of
all denominations and non denominations). Churches that historically do not
have bishops in their polity are not consecrating bishops. Churches that state
that they are “independent“ are consecrating their Senior Pastors as bishops
and apostles (a term that by nature denotes overseer). Why is this? Why does it
appear that we do not see it in other communities? Is it an issue at all? Are we
just overreacting. We will discuss these and many other questions in this
study.
II.
DO OTHER ETHNICITIES HAVE
AS MANY BISHOPS? Black
people are a very religious people. As you drive through black communities in
the United States and abroad, you will observe a large array of religious
expression. While we do not have any stats on the number of bishops in the
black community vs other communities, it does appear to be many. However, we
must also look at the big picture. There are just a lot of bishops in the world
period. For example:
A.
The Roman Catholic Church (the largest Christian
denomination with 1.2 billion members) alone has over 5,000 bishops worldwide.[2]
III.
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY
BISHOPS IN BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS?
The Black Church in America
was not a subservient organization or mentality to racism. It was in protest to
it. The theology of the Bible was mixed with the practices of the continent of
Africa, and submersed in the determination of a proud people (drums, dancing,
call and response, story-telling, family structure are all of African descent
and were not passed down from slavery). The Black Church was the center of the
community and one of the few places that Black people could be treated with
dignity and honor. Protocol was established and members were referred to by
their titles. Perhaps the reason for so many Black people desiring titles is a
lack of sense of self-worth. Thus, perhaps the solution to the issue is for us
to see the worth and value of each person.
Philippians 2:3 3Do nothing out of selfish
ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
IV.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A
BISHOP IN A COMMUNITY? To answer this question, one must go back in time and
look at the history of church government. From the following points we will see
that a bishop was to serve as the spiritual leader of God’s people.
A.
CHURCH GOVERNMENT
EVOLVED OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. Jesus established the Church; but the multifaceted
organizing we see now, took hundreds of years (after His ascension) to develop.
1.
Apostles Jesus had the twelve apostles
and also he had seventy (some texts say seventy two) other leaders. This was
the “management team” that Jesus established.
Luke 6:12-16 12One of those days Jesus went
out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13When
morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he
also designated apostles: 14Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother
Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15Matthew, Thomas, James
son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16Judas son of
James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Luke 10:1 1After this the LORD appointed
seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and
place where he was about to go.
2.
Deacons. Eventually the twelve appointed
seven to help handle the business affairs of the church. We now refer to these
as deacons.
Acts 6:2-7 2So the Twelve gathered all the
disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the
ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Brothers
and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the
Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4and
will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." 5This
proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and
of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and
Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6They presented these
men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7So
the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly,
and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
3.
Elders or bishops
or the presbytery. As churches sprang
up - a group of mature believers would oversee each church (elders or bishops).
a.
In early church
government, an elder, bishop, pastor, overseer, superintendent or presbyter was
really all the same thing. Being an “elder” spoke to the maturity level of the individual. A “bishop”
spoke to the function of the individual as an “overseer.” “Pastor” spoke to the
spiritual need to tend to God’s “flock.” The “presbytery” was the elders (pastors
or bishops) as a group and not as an individual.
i.
“ONE MAN RULE” HAD
NOT YET EVOLVED IN THE LOCAL CHURCH. Early church government had not yet evolved to the
model of having one pastor over a church. It took much time for that concept of
church leadership to develop. It basically developed after the death of the
apostles and their initial leadership teams also passed away.
·
ELDER. This is from the Greek word presbyteros. Which means “older, seniority
of age or responsibility, an official leader of the Jewish community, and older
man, an older woman, on who may or may not be official leaders of the church –
depending on the context.”
·
BISHOP. Two Greek words are used in the
New Testament for this term.
ü
Episcope. An office of responsibility and
place of leadership referring to an office of apostle in Acts, and the office
of overseer or bishop in the local church. Literally overseership or
visitation.
ü
Episkopos. Overseer or bishop, a leader in
a local church, and extension of one who guards, supervises, watches or helps.
·
PRESBYTER. From the Greek word presbyterion, which means, “a body or
council of elders.” An “assembly of aged men.” The “elders or bishops in a
local church.”
·
PASTOR. From the Greek word poimen. Meaning a “shepherd, one who
tends, herds or flock, not merely one who feeds them.” Pastors guide as well as
feed the flock. This function was committed to the elders (overseers or
bishops). This job involved tender care and vigilant superintendence.
ü
ONE TRANSLATION
DOES USE THE WORD “SUPERINTENDENT.”
1 Timothy
3:1 Amplified
Bible (AMP)[7]
1 This
is a faithful and trustworthy saying: if any man [eagerly] seeks the
office of overseer (bishop, superintendent), he desires an excellent task.
iii.
SCRIPTURES TO SHOW AN
INTERCHANGE OF TERMS: Pastor (or shepherd), elder, bishop, presbytery, overseer.
Philippians 1:1 1Paul and Timotheus, the servants
of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with
the bishops and deacons:
1
Peter 5:1-2 (KJV)
1 The elders which are among
you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,
and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the
oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but
of a ready mind;
Acts
20:28 (KJV)
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 4:14 (KJV). Neglect not the
gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of
the hands of the presbytery.
1 Timothy 4:14. Do not neglect your gift, which was given
you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them
in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the LORD, in
whom they had put their trust.
Titus 1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you
might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elder in every town, as I directed you.
4.
Apostolic networks. This is not a term that is
used in Scripture. But, it appears to be befitting to describe someone like an
apostle (like Paul) would oversee a cluster of churches.
2 Corinthians 11:28 Besides
everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Acts 15:36 Some time later Paul said to
Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where
we preached the word of the LORD and see how they are doing."
5.
Assistants. Eventually the apostles
appointed assistants (like Timothy or Titus)
Titus 1:5 The
reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left
unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
2 Timothy 2:1-2 1You
then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2And
the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to
reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
6.
Diocese.
a.
How the bishop became
the bishop. Again, “one man
rule,” evolved into the life of the Church. As Christianity became legalized
and eventually the official religion of the Roman Empire; it acquired much of
the governmental terminology and structure (and in my personal opinion also the
“spirit” of imperialism). Slowly the older concept of a group of mature
believers overseeing a local congregation, under the auspices of an apostle,
gave way to one cleric (the pastor) leading a congregation and a higher ranking
cleric (the bishop) managing numerous congregations.
b.
The word “diocese”
is not a biblical term. Especially in places like Rome, where you had as many as fifty churches
or more and the assistant to an apostle would oversee all these churches. As
time progressed that assistant (basically considered an heir of the apostle)
solely became the "bishop." He had a cathedra (throne) that was
located in a cathedral (place where the bishop's throne was). And, once
Christianity became legal and the official religion of Rome - the bishops
"see" (or jurisdiction) was referred to as a "diocese."
i.
More pertinent definitions.
·
Diocese.”[8]
Originally
the term diocese (Gr. dioikesis) signified management of a
household, thence administration or government in general. This term was soon
used in Roman law to designate the territory dependent for its administration
upon a city (civitas). What in Latin was called ager, or territorium,
namely a district subject to a city, was habitually known in the Roman East as
a diœcesis. But as the Christian bishop generally resided in a civitas,
the territory administered by him, being usually conterminous with the
juridical territory of the city, came to be known ecclesiastically by its usual
civil term, diocese. Finally, Diocletian designated by this name the
twelve great divisions which he established in the empire, and over each of
which he placed a vicarius. The original term for local groups of the
faithful subject to a bishop was ekklesia (church), and at a later
date, paroikia, i.e. the neighbourhood (Lat. porœcia, parochia). The
Apostolic Canons (xiv, xv), and the Council of Nicæa in 325 (can. xvi) applied
this latter term to the territory subject to a bishop.
·
Cathedra.[9] The chair or
throne (thronos) of a bishop in his cathedral church, on which he
presides at solemn functions. Originally the bishop's cathedra stood in the
center, flanked on either side, though on a lower plane, by the benches of the
assisting priests.
·
Cathedral.[10]
The
chief church of a diocese, in which the bishop has his throne (cathedra)
and close to which is his residence; it is, properly speaking, the bishop's
church, wherein he presides, teaches, and conducts worship for the whole
Christian community. The word is derived from the Greek kathedra
through the Latin cathedra, throne, or elevated seat. In early
ecclesiastical literature it always conveyed the idea of authority. Christ
Himself spoke of the scribes and Pharisees as seated on the chair of Moses
(Matthew 23:2).
V.
CAN YOU BE A BISHOP IF YOU
DON'T HAVE CHURCHES UNDER YOU? According to the Bible, a bishop was one that
oversaw the spiritual affairs of God’s flock. In that sense, yes, a person
should have oversight of a church. However, in the modern sense of what a
bishop is; there are types of bishops that do not oversee churches or a
diocese.
A.
There are many different
kinds of bishops.[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
As
we go through these definitions, please remember (in light of the lesson thus
far) that these concepts are not found in Scripture. This is how church
government evolved over the course of time after the time of Christ and the
apostles. We are not making a judgment on whether this is good or bad. This is
just what has evolved.
1.
Archbishop. An
archbishop or metropolitan, in the present sense of the term, is a bishop who
governs a diocese strictly his own, while he presides at the same time over the
bishops of a well-defined district composed of simple dioceses but not of
provinces. Hence none of these subordinate bishops rule over others. These
bishops are called the suffragans or comprovincials. The archbishop's own
diocese is the archdiocese. The several dioceses of the district form the
archiepiscopal, or metropolitan, province.
2.
Diocesan Bishop. The primary bishop of a diocese; sometimes referred to
as “The Diocesan.”
3.
Auxiliary Bishop. Not all
bishops occupy pastoral positions as the heads of dioceses and several dioceses
are so large as to require more than one bishop rather than divide the diocese
into smaller dioceses. Thus many Bishops are Papal Diplomats, and many Dioceses
have one or more "Auxiliary Bishops" assisting the Bishop.
4.
Titular Bishop. Those
bishops who are not in charge of a "real" diocese of their own are
given "Titular Episcopal Sees", that is, dioceses of which they are
the titular head. These Dioceses are dioceses which once existed in the
countries surrounding the Mediterranean but are now defunct.
5.
Coadjutor Bishop. Apart from Auxiliary
Bishops assisting a Bishop or Archbishop in the care of a diocese, there can
also be "Coadjutor Bishops". They are appointed by the Pope to assist
a Bishop or Archbishop in the care of a diocese, however, there are important
differences:
·
Coadjutor
Bishops are not given a Titular Diocese, because they are (with the existing
bishop) "co-bishop" of the real diocese in question; and
·
Coadjutor
Bishops automatically take over as the sole Bishop of the diocese on the death
or resignation of the existing bishop. Auxiliary Bishops may be prime
candidates for appointment by Rome to the post after the Bishop dies or
resigns, but they do not have the automatic right to governance of the diocese
and Rome could very well appoint a priest of the diocese to be the new bishop
instead, or a bishop from another diocese altogether could be transferred to
the role.
6.
Suffragan Bishop. A bishop that assists the Diocesan Bishop and to serve
under the Diocesan’s direction. A working co-bishop in a diocese but without
inherent right of succession when the diocesan bishop retires or resigns.
Suffragan bishops are sometimes called by another diocese to become their
Diocesan bishop.
7.
Assistant Bishop
(Episcopal Church). A bishop appointed by the
Diocesan Bishop with the consent of the Standing Committee to assist the
Diocesan and to serve under the Diocesan’s direction, creation of the post
having been approved by the Diocesan Convention. A specially ordained or
otherwise specially designated person who has the spiritual and liturgical rank
of a bishop and who usually assists the Bishop of a diocese; some retired
diocesan bishops become assistants to other bishops; some assistant bishops are
specially ordained for their work. Assistant Bishops can perform most functions
performed by other bishops.
8.
Assisting Bishop
(Episcopal Church). A bishop appointed by the Diocesan Bishop to
provide short-term assistance with episcopal duties in the Diocese.
9. Metropolitan. Metropolitan, in ecclesiastical language, refers to whatever relates
to the metropolis, the principal city, or see, of an ecclesiastical province;
thus we speak of a metropolitan church, a metropolitan chapter, a metropolitan
official, etc. The word metropolitan, used without any qualificative,
means the bishop of the metropolitan see, now usually styled archbishop.
10.
Patriarch. The
title of patriarch comes from the Greek "patriarches,” that means chief or
head of a family. It is a title given to some metropolitan archbishops.
Metropolitan comes from another Greek word meaning "mother", so it is
used to refer to dioceses that have a certain importance, either because of
their size or for some historical reason. Patriarch is a title used
predominantly in the Eastern churches. A patriarch is the title of a bishop
with the highest possible rank and means he is superior to all the other
bishops within the area that is responsible for and is only answerable to the
pope.
VI.
ARE BISHOPS THE SUCCESSORS
TO THE APOSTLES? While this lesson has shown that apostles had
assistants that were to pass down the true faith to succeeding generations,
there is no definite mention in Scripture regarding “apostolic succession,” or
Jesus ordaining the apostles, the apostle ordaining others and passing down an
unbroken line of authority through the ages (and if you do not have that line
of authority passed to you, then your ministry is not valid). As a matter of
fact, Paul the apostle seems to buck this idea:
Galatians
2:1-6 1Then
after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I
took Titus along also. 2I went in response to a revelation and,
meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the
gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running
and had not been running my race in vain. 3Yet not even Titus, who
was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4This
matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on
the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5We did
not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be
preserved for you. 6As for those who were held in high
esteem-whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show
favoritism-they added nothing to my message.
VII.
WHAT ARE THE
REQUIREMENTS TO BE A BISHOP OR OVERSEER?
1 Timothy 3:1-7New King James Version (NKJV)[16] 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 reverence 5 (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.
VIII. CONCLUSION.
A.
Perhaps the Black community would have fewer bishops if we esteemed each
other better and if we had more knowledge of our own self-worth.
B.
The early church had a lot of bishops because each church was overseen by
a group of mature believers that functioned as bishops.
C.
The modern church has a lot of bishops.
D.
Perhaps if people understood the qualifications of the office of bishop
and what it requires there would not be so many.
1.
The bishops garments are not only your official vestments they are also
your burial shroud. Thus you should be dead to sin and alive to Christ.
2.
Purple vestments are not just a sign of authority they are a sign of
suffering and willingness to die for Christ (Mark 15:17).
[1] Holy Bible, New
International Version. 1973, by Biblica, Inc.
[2] https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/04/06/170406e.html. (Accessed, March 19, 2019).
[3] http://anglican.org/domain/admin/bydiocese.html. (Accessed, March 19, 2019).
[4] http://infomory.com/numbers/number-of-anglicans-in-the-world/. (Accessed, March 19, 2019).
[5] Strong, James. The Strongest Strong’s. Zondervan:
Grand Rapids, 2001.
[6] Vine, W. E. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of
Old and New Testament Words. Nelson: Nashville, 1996.
[7] Holy Bible. Amplified Version. Zondervan: Grand
Rapids, 1987.
[8] Van Hove, A. The Catholic Encyclopedia. New
York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909.
[9] Hassett, M. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New
York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908.
[10] Boudinhon, A. Cathedral. In The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908.
[11] http://www.catholic-pages.com/hierarchy/bishops.asp. (Accessed, March 19, 2019).
[12] https://www.epicenter.org/how-many-different-types-of-bishops-are-there/. (Accessed, March 19, 2019).
[13] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01691a.htm. (Accessed, March 19, 2019).
[14] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10244c.htm. (Accessed, March 19, 2019).
[15] http://www.xt3.com/library/view.php?id=16973. (Accessed, March 19, 2019).
[16] Holy Bible. The
Open Bible New King James Version. Nelson: Nashville, 2008.
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