The Roles Within Jesus' Church
It is important to note that each Christian has a different part or role
within the local congregation of Christians.
The New Testament defines the roles that we have
within the church. Some of these are described
below.
Note: The information below is not intended
to be an all-inclusive list; but rather to help
illustrate some of the roles that the scriptures
give. It is important for each Christian to
search the scriptures to find out more and more
about Jesus' will for his or her life.
All Christians Do
Not
Have the Same Function:
If you look at the human body...not all parts of
the body are hands or feet or eyes or ears.
If the human body consisted of 1000 eyes and no
hands or feet or other parts, the body would not be
able to function properly. The same is true in the
Lord's church. Consider the following
scripture:
For even as the body is one and yet has many
members, and all the members of the body, though
they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into
one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or
free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but
many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because
I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is
not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
16 And if the ear should say, "Because I
am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is
not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where
would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing,
where would the sense of smell be? 18 But
now God has placed the members, each one of them, in
the body, just as He desired. 19 And if
they were all one member, where would the body be?
20 But now there are many members, but
one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to
the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head
to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22
On the contrary, it is much truer that the members
of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
23 and those members of the body, which
we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more
abundant honor, and our unseemly members come to
have more abundant seemliness, 24 whereas
our seemly members have no need of it. But God has
so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to
that member which lacked, 25 that there
should be no division in the body, but that the
members should have the same care for one another.
26 And if one member suffers, all the
members suffer with it; if one member is honored,
all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are
Christ's body, and individually members of it. 1
Corinthians 12:12-27 (NAS)
Role of Christians in General:
As we have studied so far in
this lesson and in Lesson 1, the role of a Christian
is to serve God, to be a light to the world, to love
others and have compassion for them, to obey the
commandments, to worship in spirit and in truth,
etc. Each Christian should be searching the
Bible daily to see what God's will and purpose is
for them. It is not the intent of this lesson
to fully define each Christian's role in specifics.
Each Christian should commit themselves to being an
active participant in the activities and worship of
the local congregation of Jesus' church so as to
encourage others and to grow closer to the Lord.
Consider the words of Hebrews 10:23-25:
"Let
us hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24
and let us consider how to stimulate one another to
love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our
own assembling together, as is the habit of some,
but encouraging one another and all the more, as you
see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:23-25(NAS)
Role of Christian Children:
Children who are old enough to
believe and have faith...and have obeyed the gospel
have a defined role in scripture. They would
have the same role as Christians in general, but the
scripture also adds some instructions to them,
including the following:
Children,
obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 Honor your father and mother (which is
the first commandment with a promise), 3
that it may be well with you, and that you may live
long on the earth. Ephesians 6:1-3 (NAS)
Children, be obedient to
your parents in all things, for this is
well-pleasing to the Lord. Colossians 3:20 (NAS)
As a child reaches the adult
age, they have additional responsibilities for
providing for their parents or grandparents in need
(e.g., widowed), if and when necessary:
"...but
if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them
first learn to practice piety in regard to their own
family, and to make some return to their parents;
for this is acceptable in the sight of God." 1
Timothy 5:4 4 (NAS)
Role of Single Christian Adults:
Single Christians would have
the same role as Christians in general. Although there is a lot of
discussion in the scripture about families and
marriage, there is no requirement that a Christian
marry. In the 1st Century AD
when the church was facing severe persecution, the
apostle Paul recommended that people not marry (as
Paul was not married), unless they could not control
their sexual desires:
Yet
I wish that all men were even as I myself am.
However, each man has his own gift from God, one in
this manner, and another in that. 8 But I
say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good
for them if they remain even as I. 9 But
if they do not have self-control, let them marry;
for it is better to marry than to burn. 1
Corinthians 7:7-9 7 (NAS)
But I want you to be free from concern. One who is
unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord,
how he may please the Lord; 33 but one
who is married is concerned about the things of the
world, how he may please his wife, 34 and
{his interests} are divided. And the woman who is
unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the
things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in
body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned
about the things of the world, how she may please
her husband. 35 And this I say for your
own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to
promote what is seemly, and to secure undistracted
devotion to the Lord. 36 But if any man
thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his
virgin daughter, if she should be of full age, and
if it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does
not sin; let her marry. 37 But he who
stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint,
but has authority over his own will, and has decided
this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin
daughter, he will do well. 38 So then
both he who gives his own virgin daughter in
marriage does well, and he who does not give her in
marriage will do better. 1 Corinthians 7:32-38(NAS)
Role of Married Christians:
Married Christians would have the same role as
general Christians. In addition, as Paul
mentioned in 1 Corinthians 7:32-33 above, a
Christian who is married must be concerned about
pleasing the Lord, but also at the same time how to
please his wife. There are many scriptures
that discuss the marriage relationship, including:
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the
Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of
the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church,
He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24
But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the
wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as
Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for
her; 26 that He might sanctify her,
having cleansed her by the washing of water with the
word, 27 that He might present to Himself
the church in all her glory, having no spot or
wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be
holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought
also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He
who loves his own wife loves himself; 29
for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes
and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the
church, 30 because we are members of His
body. 31 For this cause a man shall leave
his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife;
and the two shall become one flesh. Ephesians
5:22-31 (NAS)
Marriage is a lifelong commitment. Divorce
and remarriage is not an option, except in the one
situation permitted by Christ:
"And
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for
immorality, and marries another woman commits
adultery." Matthew 19:9 9 (NAS)
And He said to them, "Whoever
divorces his wife and marries another woman commits
adultery against her; 12 and if she
herself divorces her husband and marries another
man, she is committing adultery." Mark 10:11-12 11
(NAS) The apostle Paul gave the
following instructions for a Christian who is
married to a non-Christian (or is considering
marriage to a non-Christian):
But
to the married I give instructions, not I, but the
Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband
11 (but if she does leave, let her remain
unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband),
and that the husband should not send his wife away.
12 But to the rest I say, not the Lord,
that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever,
and she consents to live with him, let him not send
her away. 13 And a woman who has an
unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with
her, let her not send her husband away. 14
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through
his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified
through her believing husband; for otherwise your
children are unclean, but now they are holy. 15
Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave;
the brother or the sister is not under bondage in
such cases, but God has called us to peace. 16
For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save
your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether
you will save your wife? 1 Corinthians 7:10-16 (NAS)
Role of Christian Parents:
In addition to the role of
general Christians...and the role of married
Christians, Christians who have children also have
additional responsibilities including:
Here
for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I
will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what
is yours, but you; for children are not responsible
to save up for their parents, but parents for their
children. 2 Corinthians 12:14 (NAS)
And, fathers, do not provoke
your children to anger; but bring them up in the
discipline and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians
6:4 (NAS) Fathers, do not
exasperate your children, that they may not lose
heart. Colossians 3:21 21 (NAS)
Role of Teachers, Elders (also called overseers,
pastors, bishops), Deacons, Preachers, etc:
Each Christian should strive
to grow in their knowledge of God's word and in
their faith:
For though by this time you ought to be teachers,
you have need again for someone to teach you the
elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you
have come to need milk and not solid food. 13
For everyone who partakes only of milk is not
accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a
babe. 14 But solid food is for the
mature, who because of practice have their senses
trained to discern good and evil. Hebrews 5:12-14
(NAS)
With respect to teaching, as
an example, older women
should teach the younger women:
Older
women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior,
not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine,
teaching what is good, 4 that they may
encourage the young women to love their husbands, to
love their children, 5 to be sensible,
pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their
own husbands, that the word of God may not be
dishonored. Titus 2:3-5 (NAS)
...and parents should teach their
children: "And these words,
which I am commanding you today, shall be on your
heart; 7 and you shall teach them
diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when
you sit in your house and when you walk by the way
and when you lie down and when you rise up.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NAS)
However, the scriptures put
restrictions on those who should teach...or those
who have authority over other men:
Let
not many of you become teachers, my brethren,
knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter
judgment. James 3:1 (NAS)
But I do not allow a woman to
teach or exercise authority over a man, but to
remain quiet. 1 Timothy 2:12 (NAS)
As we read earlier in this
lesson, elders are given a big task to
shepherd or pastor the local congregation.
Deacons are charged with serving in special areas as
the congregation may have need. However, the
scriptures restrict the role of elders and deacons
to married men with children who meet certain other
requirements:
For
this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set
in order what remains, and appoint elders in every
city as I directed you, namely, if any man be above
reproach, the husband of one wife, having children
who believe, not accused of dissipation or
rebellion.... Titus 1:5-6 (NAS) NOTE: read
through the end of the chapter and also 1 Timothy
3:1-7
Let deacons be husbands of only
one wife, and good managers of their children and
their own households. 1 Timothy 3:12 12 (NAS) NOTE:
Read 1 Timothy 3:8-15 (Note: the word "deacon" comes
from the Greek word "diakonos" meaning a "special
servant.") Why the Limitations on Certain Roles?
The Lord has set forth certain
requirements for the different roles for the
Christians who make up His body, so that the body
will work effectively. Men should not be upset
that they cannot bear children. Single men
should not be upset that they cannot become deacons.
A deacon is to be "married to one wife and
good managers of their children." Each
Christian has a very vital and important role in
Jesus' church...the household of God.
We should also not look down
on those having different roles in the church.
Let's look again at 1 Corinthians 12:
But
now there are many members, but one body. 21
And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need
of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no
need of you." 22 On the contrary, it is
much truer that the members of the body which seem
to be weaker are necessary; 23 and those
members of the body, which we deem less honorable,
on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our
unseemly members come to have more abundant
seemliness, 24 whereas our seemly members
have no need of it. But God has so composed the
body, giving more abundant honor to that member
which lacked, 25 that there should be no
division in the body, but that the members should
have the same care for one another. 1
Corinthians 12:20-25 Click on "Conclusion" below
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