Leadership In The Early Church Series

By necessity, any group of people who hope to attain certain

goals has to have leaders. Organization is an essential component in

the body of Christ, just as it is in the existence of any living

organism. If there is one thing that the universe compels us to

believe about its Creator, it is that He is a superb organizer. The

harmony of our universe is no accident, for it was planned by God.

When God entered history in the person of His Son to build His new

creation, He again revealed His desire for harmony by training 12

men to lead and guide His church. Jesus put His whole active

ministry into the training of leadership, for it was of prime

importance to Him.

As we follow the progress of the church we see that it grew in

its organization to meet the needs as they arose. In Acts 6 we read

that a need arose for someone to assure that Greek widows received

their fair share of charity. So the first official officers of the church

were appointed, and they were the deacons. Later deaconesses

needed to be added because in oriental lands men did not have

access to minister to women in many situations.

Whenever Paul established a new church he appointed elders,

as we read in Acts 14:23. Paul later in his letters explains the duties

of the elders, and also the presbyters and bishops. We learn that

basically they were rulers and teachers, for they guided the church

in its business and they taught the people the Word of God. The

strength or weakness of the church depended upon the leadership

and upon the cooperation of the people with the leadership.

The Jews in their synagogues, and the Greeks in their religious

clubs had a democratic form of government, and so it was natural

that this form of government would be adopted by the church. We

might see in this the providential guidance of God, and also see that

this form of government is God’s preference. Paul, however, makes

it clear that no form of organization, or method of leadership will be

successful unless there is cooperation between the leaders and the

led. That is what brings us to our text. Paul is pointing out the

duties of each to the other, and only as each fulfills it's obligation can

the whole church be what God intends it to be. Paul had just

comforted them with the doctrine of the second coming. Now he

challenges them with the duties that face them until He comes. We

will look first at the duties of the leaders, and then the duties of the

led.

I. THE DUTIES OF THE LEADERS. v. 12

The duties of the leaders is actually secondary here, for the

thrust of Paul’s exhortation is to the followers, and he beseeches

them to know their leaders and to esteem them. By his description

of the leaders, however, he tells us of their duties. He is not writing

of ordained clergy here, for the labors he writes about are obviously

those of layman. They have only recently been converted from

paganism, and even if there had been Christian schools to go to for

training, there was not enough time to have them trained and

serving this church. Paul had likely appointed elders to organize

the church. All of the early churches had to be led by layman. The

early church depended completely upon dedicated layman for its

leadership.

These leaders, Paul says, are those who labor among you.

Their primary duty is building up the faith of those in the church,

for the church must become strong and mature before it can reach

the world. These leaders were to labor, and the word for labor is

kopiao, which means to toil, to be wearied, and to be worn out. It is

the same word Jesus used in Matt. 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that

labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Paul used this

word of himself several times as he wrote in I Cor. 15:10, “I labored

more abundantly than they all.” In Col. 1:29 he writes, “Whereunto

I also labor, striving according to His working which worketh in me

mightily.” In his conclusion to Romans in 16:12 he wrote, “Salute

Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute the beloved

Persis, which labored much in the Lord.”

These and other verses indicate that good hard work is the duty

of a leader. Paul indicates that every leader is to take his task

seriously, and to work at it until it becomes toil, and until he is tired.

It is assumed that any leader will do his best out of gratitude for the

grace of God that made him able to be a servant in the first place.