The Connection
“Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” Philippians 1.1
“Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” Philippians 1.1
In his greeting to the church of Philippi, the Apostle Paul makes some powerful insinuations. After offering himself to the church as a servant of Jesus Christ, he then offers himself to the saints in Christ Jesus – the saved church members. While we recognize that there are believers – followers of Christ – who are not a member of our particular assembly, we also recognize the emphasis the Apostle placed on the need for being an active member of a local assembly.
Paul, who is considered by many to be the greatest missionary evangelist of all time, always connected himself with a local assembly and worked in accord with those leaders whom God placed in positions of leadership. Notice in Philippians 1.1 that Paul uses the word “with” when he speaks of the bishops and deacons (those whom God had ordained to be the leaders of the assembly). The Greek word which translates “with” is “sun” (pronounced “soon”). It indicates a close togetherness between this Apostle and the local assembly at Philippi.
Several years ago a gentleman walked onto our church campus and asked my secretary if he could speak with the pastor. He explained to me that he was an “independent” missionary raising support to go to a foreign field. I suppose we shouldn’t judge someone by appearance, but he was dressed nicely, but better suited for wrangling a doggy (roping a calf) than evangelizing some Asian people. I asked him if he had studied the language and he said, “No.” I asked him how he planned to communicate and he said that he would learn the language in the field. I asked him which was his sending church and he said that he was independent and wasn’t sent by a church. That ended the conversation.
Sometime along the same timeline I had booked an evangelist for a week of meetings at our church. Our church had recently been ripped apart by a particular social issue that was aflame in the day. It was a matter of preference rather than conviction, yet many churches suffered from that particular issue. In our church there were many who had been severely hurt and their feelings were still tender. I knew this evangelist had a special sermon he enjoyed preaching on that particular topic in which he could inflame even the staunchest of believers. I seldom tell an evangelist what to preach (If I have enough confidence in them to invite them I should have enough confidence to allow them to preach what the Spirit of God leads them to preach.) and have done so only twice in my forty years as a pastor. But, after explaining the situation to this older evangelist, I asked him to let me, as the pastor, handle the situation in my church. I believe my request emboldened him to preach even harder and longer on the issue that usual. The result was that our church was split and I never had him back to preach.
Every believer, whether a local follower of Christ or a missionary or an evangelist, must, in order to be rightly related to God, be under the authority of a local church. Even the Apostle Paul served “with” the local bishops and deacons of the local assembly at Philippi. He understood the necessity of having a church family and the biblical mandate for being accountable to the leadership God has ordained for your local church.
On a side note, should you not be able to place yourself under the leadership of your local assembly, maybe it’s time to find a Bible preaching/teaching church where you can. The leadership must be willing to make themselves accountable to those God has given as their helpers.
Paul, who is considered by many to be the greatest missionary evangelist of all time, always connected himself with a local assembly and worked in accord with those leaders whom God placed in positions of leadership. Notice in Philippians 1.1 that Paul uses the word “with” when he speaks of the bishops and deacons (those whom God had ordained to be the leaders of the assembly). The Greek word which translates “with” is “sun” (pronounced “soon”). It indicates a close togetherness between this Apostle and the local assembly at Philippi.
Several years ago a gentleman walked onto our church campus and asked my secretary if he could speak with the pastor. He explained to me that he was an “independent” missionary raising support to go to a foreign field. I suppose we shouldn’t judge someone by appearance, but he was dressed nicely, but better suited for wrangling a doggy (roping a calf) than evangelizing some Asian people. I asked him if he had studied the language and he said, “No.” I asked him how he planned to communicate and he said that he would learn the language in the field. I asked him which was his sending church and he said that he was independent and wasn’t sent by a church. That ended the conversation.
Sometime along the same timeline I had booked an evangelist for a week of meetings at our church. Our church had recently been ripped apart by a particular social issue that was aflame in the day. It was a matter of preference rather than conviction, yet many churches suffered from that particular issue. In our church there were many who had been severely hurt and their feelings were still tender. I knew this evangelist had a special sermon he enjoyed preaching on that particular topic in which he could inflame even the staunchest of believers. I seldom tell an evangelist what to preach (If I have enough confidence in them to invite them I should have enough confidence to allow them to preach what the Spirit of God leads them to preach.) and have done so only twice in my forty years as a pastor. But, after explaining the situation to this older evangelist, I asked him to let me, as the pastor, handle the situation in my church. I believe my request emboldened him to preach even harder and longer on the issue that usual. The result was that our church was split and I never had him back to preach.
Every believer, whether a local follower of Christ or a missionary or an evangelist, must, in order to be rightly related to God, be under the authority of a local church. Even the Apostle Paul served “with” the local bishops and deacons of the local assembly at Philippi. He understood the necessity of having a church family and the biblical mandate for being accountable to the leadership God has ordained for your local church.
On a side note, should you not be able to place yourself under the leadership of your local assembly, maybe it’s time to find a Bible preaching/teaching church where you can. The leadership must be willing to make themselves accountable to those God has given as their helpers.
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