Part I. Servant-Leadership

Church POLITY refers to the structure of the local church. While this may seem like a secondary issue, it is very important to the health of any assembly. One of the most critical areas of church structure is leadership. Dr. Lee Roberson has been quoted to say that “the church rises or falls on leadership.”

It is evident from the Scripture that Christ is the Head of the Church (Acts 4:11, 1Co 11:3, Eph 1:22, Eph 4:15, Eph 5:23, Col 1:18, Col 2:10, Col 2:19).

In fact, Christ is the only head. A body with more than one head is an aberration…a mutant. Therefore, there are not many heads or even little heads. Under Christ, all are servants of God and of one another

Church “leadership” in the local assembly is no exception – the so-called leaders in the body are servants;  their calling is not to a position but to a purpose.  A pastor is not “the boss,” nor is he the “authority.”  Christ is “the boss;” the Word of God is the authority; and, a pastor is a servant for the flock of God, the Church.

The student of the Word will discover that God has entrusted the care of the flock to two groups of servants, generally referred to as bishops and deacons.

the bishops are the servants whose primary duty it is to feed the flock with the Word of God,

andthe deacons are the servants that care for the physical necessities/endeavors of the assembly so that the feeding of the Word is not neglected.

The bishops and deacons are a “servant-team,” whose shared responsibility it is to ensure that the flock is fed and cared for and thereby matures correctly.

Let’s look at what the Scripture has to say about these servant-leaders.

Biblical Terms for servant-leaders

There are four primary words used in the Bible in reference God’s servant-leaders - these words are translated variously as follows:

Presbuteros (Elder ) indicates the character of the servant-leaders.

The word is a comparative (like: big-bigger, bright-brighter…) of Presbus which means old.

Therefore presbuteros literally means older or elder.  It is used as a noun and signifies - One who is comparatively more mature than another.   

Servant-leaders are to possess a greater degree of spiritual maturity and skill in the Word of God than a novice believer.

Episkopos – Overseer, Bishop indicates the responsibility of the servant-leaders.

The word comes from the Greek word  Skopos – to peer, to spy, to watch.  It means - One who visits/checks in on or one who keeps watch - a sentry, a watchmen, a supervisor/superintendent.

The servant-leaders are charged with keeping watch over the flock, for the cause of safety, protection and order.

Poimen – Pastors indicates the activity of the servant-leaders.

The word poimen literally means Shepherd, one who tends a flock.  It is only once translated as “pastors” and that is in Ephesians 4:11 and is poimen-didaskalos (pastor-teachers)  Elsewhere it is translated shepherd [Jn 10:14, Heb 13:20].