ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY: “BEST-KEPT SECRET” [Part III]

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY: “BEST-KEPT SECRET” [Part III]

3. GOVERNMENT: No one seriously questions whether the Holy Apostles of Christ led the Church at her beginning. They had been given the commission to preach the Gospel (Matthew 28:19-20] and the authority to forgive or retain sins (John 20:23). Theirs was by no means a preaching-only mission! They built the Church under Christ’s headship. To govern it, three definite and permanent offices, as taught in the New Testament, were in evidence.

a. The Office of Bishop. The Holy Apostles themselves were the first bishops in the Church. Even before Pentecost, after Judas had turned traitor, Saint Peter declared in applying Psalm 109:8, “Let another take his office” (Acts 1:20). This refers, of course, to the Office of Bishop. Some have mistakenly argued the Office of Bishop was a later invention. Quite to the contrary, the Holy Apostles were themselves Bishops, and they appointed Bishops to SUCCEED THEM TO OVERSEE (EPISCOPOI) THE CHURCH IN EACH LOCALITY.

Occasionally, the objection is still heard that the Office of Bishop and Presbyter were originally identical. The terms are used interchangeably in the New Testament while the Holy Apostles were present, with a Bishop being the PRESIDING ELDER in a local church. After the Holy Apostles’ deaths, however, the Offices of Bishop and Presbyter became distinct throughout the Church. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, CONSECRATED BISHOP by A.D. 70 in the Church from which Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas has been sent out, writes just after the turn of the century that Bishops appointed by the Holy Apostles, surrounded by their Presbyters, were everywhere in the Church.

b. The Office of Presbyter. Elders or Presbyters are mentioned very early in the life of the Church in Acts and the Epistles. Evidently in each place a Christian Community developed, elders were appointed by the Holy Apostles to pastor the people. As time passed, Presbyters were referred to in the short form of the word as “Prests,” then as “Priests,” in full view of the fact that the Old Covenant (Testament) Priesthood had been fulfilled in Christ and that the Church is corporately a PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS. The Priest was not understood as an intermediary between God and the people nor as a dispenser of grace. The role of the Priest was to be the presence of Christ in the Christian Community, and in the very capacity of being the presence of the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the Priest was to safeguard the flock of God.

c. The Office of Deacon. The third order or Office in the government of the New Testament Church was the Deacon. At first the Holy Apostles fulfilled this Office themselves, but with the rapid growth of the Church, SEVEN INITIAL DEACONS WERE SELECTED (Acts 6:1-7) to help carry the responsibility of service to those in need. One of the Deacons, Stefanos (Stephen), became THE FIRST MARTYR OF THE CHURCH. Through the centuries, the Deacons have not only served the material needs of the Church but have held a key role in the liturgical life of the Church as well. Often called “the eyes and ears of the bishop,” many Deacons have become Priests and ultimately entered the Episcopal Office.

The authority of the bishop, presbyter, and deacon was not anciently understood as being apart from the people but always from among the people. In turn the people of God were called to submit to those who ruled over them (Hebrews 13:17), and they were also called to give their agreement to the direction of the leaders of the Church. On a number of occasions in history, that “Amen” was not forthcoming, and the bishops of the Church took note and changed course. Later in history, many Church leaders departed from the ancient model and usurped authority for themselves. In the minds of some, this brought the ancient model into question, but the problem was not in the model. It was in the deviation.

Also it was the ministry of the Holy Apostles that brought the people of God together as the laity. Far from being just observers, the laity are vital in the gifts and grace of the Spirit. Each member of the laity HAS A ROLE IN THE LIFE AND FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH. Each is to supply something to the whole (1 Corinthians 12:7). The responsibility of the bishops, the priests, and the deacons is to be sure that this is a reality for the laity.

The worship of the Church at the close of its first one thousand years had substantially the same shape from place to place. The doctrine was the same. The whole Church confessed ONE CREED, the same in every place, and had weathered many attacks. The government of the Church was recognizably one everywhere, and this One Church was the Orthodox Church.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR BISHOPS [1 Timothy 3:1-7]

“This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

QUALIFICATIONS FOR DEACONS [1 Timothy 3:8-13

(see Ordination of Sound Elders (Titus 1:5-9)

(To be continued)

_________
“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in Christ’s Divine, Glorious and Redeeming Resurrection,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George