8A. Bishops, Overseers and Elders

The Extended Christian Household was the only model of "church" known in the Early Centuries. There were no church buildings as we know them today until the beginning of the fourth century, specifically 313 A.D. Saint Paul writes, "Gaius welcomes me and the whole church into his home." ³ He says concerning Priscilla and Aquila, "Greet the church that meets in their home." ⁴ The fact that Saint Paul also lists the names of twenty five individuals and their families, whom he seems to know personally, indicates the warmth and closeness of the Extended Christian Households there.⁵

Extended Households

Roman and Greek societies were founded upon the extended household in the early centuries A.D. This consisted of a family or several families with grandparents, parents, children, teenagers and widowed relatives, as well as servants, slaves, many babies and infants living together. The Extended Christian Household also appears to have embraced other childless couples, small family units and visiting Christians. In the New Testament record, they conducted their own worship services at home. They gave baptismal instruction, performed baptisms, and celebrated the Lord's Supper in the Household. In each town, there may have been one or two or more Extended Christian Households. In a large city, there could have been many more. Leaders of each Extended Christian Household were drawn from those of good repute in the community. The high moral standards of its leaders was very important.

Overseers

Those who are successful in the management of their own household were considered suitable to be an "bishop"(also translated as "elder" or "overseer") in the Extended Christian Households of the Early Church. Paul says that "bishops" have the care of all the churches. He writes to Timothy, "Now the overseer (bishop) must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self controlled.... He must manage his own family (household) well, and see that his children obey him with proper respect. If anyone does not know how to manage his own family (household), how can he take care of God's church?" ⁶ In some Bible translations, "household" is substituted for "family."

Male or Female

It is not gender but the person's spiritual and moral qualities that were essential for leadership in Christian ministry. Overseers or Elders were both male and female. The qualification for a bishop as, "the husband of one wife," loosely translated as "married only once", seems to be more a warning against immorality and bigamy than against a woman becoming an overseer or elder. In fact a number of prominent women leaders are mentioned in the New Testament including Lydia⁷, a dealer in fine cloth. Paul lists the moral and leadership characteristics required of a Leader. He writes similarly of deacons, "A deacon must be the husband of but one wife, and must manage his children and his households well." ⁸ A third passage describes the qualities of their "wives" who "are to be women worthy of respect."⁹ "Wives" here is the same word used of "deaconesses." Women and men had an equally important role in the New Testament church.

Suffering Servants

Those who were chosen for office in the Early Church as bishops (or elders), priests (or pastors) and deacons (or servants) in the Extended Christian Household often suffered for the sake of their flocks. Their ministry was analogous to the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands in the human body. These were areas of the skin which make first contact with a needy world. They received the splinters and cuts, the blisters and the soreness. It was Jesus' hands, feet and side that were pierced. It was therefore appropriate that Jesus' chief ministers should follow his example of suffering.

Center of Religious Life

In both the Christian and the Jewish traditions, the Extended Household rather than the Church or synagogue was the center of religious life. Joshua was remembered for his dedication to his household, "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." ¹⁰ The New Testament Church and Early Church both identified the extended Christian family as the basic worshipping unit. Billy Graham writes for our generation, "the foundations of civilization are no stronger and no more enduring than the corporate integrity of the homes on which they rest. If the home deteriorates, civilization will crumble and fall." The Christian Church has always had the Christian Home as its basic and foundational unit, we have just forgotten that it was there.

Questions for Discussion

1. How the leaders of your own church suffer for the sake of your own spiritual flock?

2. How has the role of the family changed since Jesus' day? Is it for the better or for the worse?

"You are fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household." Ephesians 2.19

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