What is a bishop, biblically speaking?

We read of these offices particularly in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1:4-9. An office differs from a gift in one marked respect. The gift is for the whole church of God—an office was local and connected with a particular assembly. An apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher were such wherever they went, and equally so in every place. A bishop or deacon was such in the assembly to which he was appointed and nowhere else.

THE OFFICE OF A BISHOP

The meaning of the word bishop is—one who looks on; one who oversees, one who exercises a practical care for the spiritual welfare of the saints. The Greek word for bishop is episkopos (epi on; skopos, look on or consider). It occurs five times in the Scriptures, once referring to our Lord (1 Peter 2:25), three times translated bishop (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:7), and once translated overseer (Acts 20:28).

Now Christendom has fastened on the word, bishop, and reared up a sacerdotal system called episcopacy, the word coined from the Greek word, episkopos. This is as far removed as possible from the simple unritualistic idea of Scripture.

In Titus 1: and in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 the qualifications necessary for a bishop are given. Special gifts are not mentioned, but moral qualities are essential. A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, having his children in subjection, etc.; but he must be able to 'take care' of the church of God, and be 'apt to teach.' The bishops of Ephesus were exhorted to take heed to all the flock, and to feed the church of God. Though an apostle or his delegate was the instrument used in the appointment of the bishops, and thus the unity of the church was preserved, Paul could say "the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers." Acts 20:28.

Another matter may claim brief notice here, though it may seem somewhat of an anticipation. The elders of the church are designated 'overseers' or 'bishops' by the apostle (ver. 28): 'Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Ghost made [set] you bishops, to feed [tend] the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.' This identification falls in with every scriptural notice we possess. Such is the genuine inference from 1 Tim. 3:1-7 as well as from 1 Tim. 5:17-19 and still more plainly from Titus 1:5-6, compared with verses 7, 9, as well as from Acts 11, 14, 15, 16, and 21, and from 1 Peter 5 and James 5, no less than Phil. 1:1. The great distinction which soon reigned in Christendom between bishops and presbyters is wholly unknown to the word of God.

Not one, but more were appointed in each assembly or city, where charges were conferred at all. There was regularly a plurality of elders and bishops. They might be men of gift, teachers, or evangelists; but the indispensable work was to 'rule' or 'preside'. This was the object of their appointment, for appointed they certainly were by apostolic authority direct, or indirect when an apostle could not be there (as for instance by Titus commissioned for the purpose by the apostle Paul (Titus 1:5). The gifts, on the other hand, were given by Christ without any such intervention. A pastor, teacher, or evangelist, as such, was never nominated by an apostle or an apostolic delegate.

First of all let us look at the chapter I have read in 1st Timothy, because it gives us a detailed account of the moral qualifications necessary for these two local offices, bishops and deacons. The office of a bishop, or overseer, as given in Scripture, is a distinctly local office, relating to an assembly in a given place, and not an ecclesiastical prelate, placed over scores of other servants of God, scattered over a large tract of country. Again, the office of a deacon is purely and distinctly a local office. The bishopric which Paul speaks of, is not the position of a solitary head over a diocese, but was always a conjoint office with others, equally styled bishops, overseers, or elders, and only conferred by apostolic choice and appointment, or by the appointment of an apostolic delegate. The apostle, in detailing what the moral qualifications of the bishop ought to be, begins, "If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desires a good work." What is a bishop? He is an overseer. In the twentieth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, when Paul was come to Miletus, "he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the Church." There were a multiplicity of elders in Ephesus, it is to be observed. "And when they were come to him, he said to them, Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood." You have two words in this chapter. He sent for "the elders," and called them "overseers." The latter word, in the original, is the same as is rendered "bishop" in the third of 1st Timothy. Similarly we read of the Lord as being "the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls" (1 Peter 2:25). You thus see plainly enough that elders, or bishops, or overseers, not an elder, or a bishop, was the state of matters at Ephesus, in apostolic days, and such as was there the case, was also the case in more assemblies than one. In writing to the Philippians, the apostle addresses the epistle to the bishops and deacons, among others. "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons" (Philip. 1:1). Everything was then in beautiful order, and it is to be observed, that when Paul wrote his first epistle to Timothy, the Church was in order. The assemblies were then walking in Divine order; and what we have in Timothy's first epistle are the instructions given to that servant of Christ how to behave himself, and to walk when the Church is in order. In his second epistle he gets instructions how to walk, in the day when the Church is all in disorder, which is the day you and I are in.

The moral characteristics which are to mark the bishop are many, or such he may not be. "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife." This does not necessarily mean that he must be married, but, being married, he must only have one wife. Polygamy was the commonest thing possible among the heathen, and thus one delivered from paganism might find himself with several dependent on him, while one only of them would now, of course, be recognised as his wife. For a bishop or a deacon to be in this position would be a scandal to the Church of God, and would outrage the spiritual as well as the moral sense of that Church.

Further, the bishop must be "vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach." He is to be a man able to communicate the thoughts of God. He must have moral qualifications, not necessarily a spiritual gift. If he had it, all the better, as you will find later, in the fifth chapter. I need not dwell on what he was not to be, though I daresay, many will think it rather a strange injunction, to tell such, that he was not to be a drunkard — "not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre." We are apt to forget that the assembly was only just formed, and that these saints had only just been delivered from the degrading and demoralising conditions that were round about them in heathendom. Bearing this in mind, you can easily understand such plain language.

Bishops (overseers) are identical with elders (presbyters). For conclusive proof see Acts 20:17 and 28; Titus 1:5 and 7. In both passages the same persons are called both bishops and elders. It is nowhere taught in the Word of God that a bishop has a place of superior authority in the body of Christ, as head of a diocese, etc. These things as practised in the Romish, Episcopal and other ritualistic churches are according to human ordinances.

The work of the overseer is learned from Paul's statement in Acts 20:28: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God , which He hath purchased with His own blood." The Holy Spirit called them into this work, for He is the great administrator in the church. Each local church had not one overseer or bishop, but a number of them, showing that the authority was not vested in one person only (Phil. 1:1). If anyone desired the office of an overseer, he desired a good work. It is a good work to exercise loving and patient care over souls which are beloved of God, and so dear to Him, who purchased them by His own blood. Such a desire would be the result of the Spirit of God, who laid the work of an overseer upon the heart. Paul then gives Timothy the qualities which a bishop or overseer must have. He must be blameless, that is as to his moral character irreproachable, with nothing whatever against him. "He must be the husband of one wife." This has been explained as excluding all who had been married twice. This is incorrect. It may refer to those who were as pagans married to more than one woman, for polygamy was practiced among the heathen in that day, as it is still. Converted to Christianity these pagans were in an unhappy condition, and on account of it could not exercise oversight in a local church.

The elders, or bishops, then, had this position of overseers, as caring for the saints, watching over them, seeking to help them, and looking after them in all spiritual matters. The object was that the members of Christ should answer to His love, and be maintained in happy order, and in the precious unity which was then realised. Wolves were abroad, and the bishops were to protect the flock from their ravages — a valuable office indeed. This position, however, was given to them by the apostles, and by them only, or by theirdelegates, as instructed by the apostles. It is instructive to note that the wife of the bishop, or elder, is only mentioned. She is not recognised, as having any position. She has no spiritual function. Woman's injunction is to be quiet. That is her place in the assembly. The deacon's wife, on the other hand (ver. 11), might have a most important place, and fill a most useful niche in the assembly — as helping her husband — and therefore what she was to be, morally, is indicated.

The apostle next points out to Timothy the qualities necessary for a bishop or a deacon, as well as for the wife of the latter. He supposes here that there were some who desired to undertake this work. It was a good work. To care for souls and have a vigilant eye upon the walk of believers; to watch over them in order that the members of Christ should answer to His love and lose no christian privilege; to do this by maintaining that happy order and that precious unity which were realised at that time, and to protect the flock of the Lord against the ravaging wolves that were seeking to invade it: this indeed was valuable work, and he on whose heart the Lord had thus laid the souls of His people might well desire to undertake it. The apostle felt this: it was a true and faithful saying; but certain qualities were needed to make any one fit for such a charge. Gifts are not included among them, unless the being "apt to teach" might be so considered; but even this is presented as a quality — the man must have aptness for it — not as a gift. Power to use such truth with others was very useful in fulfilling his charge, without saying at all that he taught publicly in the assembly. The essential thing was that which gave moral weight.

Timothy was not left at Ephesus to appoint elders; but these were the qualities necessary to a bishop, and Paul exhorts him to be watchful on this point. It is not needful to enter into the details of these qualities; they are plain enough, as well as those required for a deacon. We see what was the subject of "the condemnation of the devil": he exalted himself at the thought of his own importance (compare Ezek. 28). "The snare of the devil" is another thing. If a man is not of good report, he will yield somewhere to the enemy, because he will not dare to withstand him boldly.

In the days of the Apostles, a bishop was simply an "overseer", and a deacon was simply one who serves. The office of overseer seems to have dealt more with the internal, the spiritual, side of the affairs of the assembly; though he is to be given to hospitality, which includes the temporal side. As we search the Scriptures we may find a good deal of light on what the office of a bishop entailed. In 1 Peter 5:1-2, we see that an "elder" was to "Feed the flock of God." The word translated "feed" is really much wider than simply to feed. It means, "To act as a shepherd." It carries with it all the loving, faithful care that a good Shepherd gives to his flock. This one word alone will, perhaps, include all those which follow.

The character and functions of these officers may be gathered from their names. The name "elder" implies age and gravity, and that of "bishop" or overseer indicates that they were to "take care of the Church of God," exercising godly authority and supervision over the younger and less established members. It is easy to see how all the qualifications enumerated are such as would adapt a person for these functions. They are qualifications for rule. Bishops or elders must be irreproachable in character, watchful over those under their charge, of a gravity which ensures respect, peaceable and patient, above suspicion of sordid motives, of proved capacity for the exercise of authority, of an age and experience which would prevent them being puffed up with the distinction, and of good report for conduct among those outside. They were, moreover, to be "apt to teach," not necessarily as public expounders of the truth, but "holding fast the faithful word," that they might "be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers" (Titus 1:9).

Now a 'bishop'2 is an overseer, and a 'deacon'3 is a minister who serves. No question can be justly raised as to either of these meanings, both of which are exemplified originally and supremely in the living Truth Himself. For the Lord is the Bishop also, or Overseer, of the flock which, as the true Shepherd, He has purchased for Himself, and which He both guards and guides through the effectual ministry of the Spirit in the constancy and patient grace of His unalterable love. In a secondary sense, all elders in God's Church or assembly in any locality are also ipso facto overseers or bishops;4 the first description indicating their needful maturity of age, the latter declaring their official charge. But we may not infer from this that all aged disciples are 'elders' also. For the latter name is a title as well as a description, and is attached by the Spirit to those Christian men of age only in whom a fitness for oversight is also found.

As respects the official initiation of God's bishops or elders, they may have sought with a godly zeal for Christ and His Church this place of solemn and arduous, yet for His sake welcome, trust; or, themselves reluctant, may have had the charge imposed upon them absolutely by the Holy Ghost.5 Of the nature and specific duties of this calling a sufficiently clear conception may be formed by an attentive student of Scripture, but they can only receive a general notice here. With or without an accompanying gift to teach truth publicly,6 their calling was to 'feed the flock of God,' or care for it as a shepherd tends his sheep. Episcopacy was, and is, if truly owned of God, a ministry of love,7 but its burden might be borne by men unfaithful to their trust. Account therefore must be given of this charge, and it will fare ill with the negligent or self-seeking elder in that day, while a crown of imperishable glory is ready in the hands of the Chief Shepherd for the heads of such as have in their day of opportunity shown forth His mind and met the wishes of His heart by their patient imitation of His ways.8

It remains only to remark that God's bishops never stood alone. The charge is one, but exercised in all known scriptural instances by a plurality of persons. There were bishops watching over the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi; and elders, who, as we have seen, are the same persons under another name, were appointed by apostolic direction 'in every city' in which a Church or assembly of God was found.9