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The word "rule" here must be carefully interpreted if we are not to fall into the very
error to which the Apostle refers in Acts 20::
"Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples
after them" (Acts 20: 30).
There is nothing so likely to produce an overbearing prelacy as a misconception of the
kind of "rule" a "bishop" was called upon to exercise. Peter refers to the evil
consequences of attempting to be "lords over God's heritage", and John puts his finger
on the same temptation when he speaks of Diotrephes, "who loveth to have the
pre-eminence" (III John 9).
We are reminded by such passages as these of the following words, which will no
doubt be familiar to some of our readers:
"But man, proud man,
Dress'd in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he's most assured,
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Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As make the angels weep."
The figures of a shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep, and of a father in his
own household, should have been sufficient to prevent any misunderstanding of the word
"rule". The word itself (in I Tim. 3: 4 and 5) is proistemi, which means "to preside",
and then "to stand before" so as to defend and maintain (compare Titus 3: 8, 14). The
figure of a father presiding over and maintaining his own house, is then transferred to the
bishop "taking care" of God's house, the church. The only other occurrences of
epimeleomai, "to take care" are found in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 34,
35).
In Eph. 4: the Apostle speaks of the order of ministry given by the ascended Christ
as follows:
"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers" (Eph. 4: 11).
We have already seen that a bishop must be "apt to teach" (I Tim. 3: 2), and that the
office of a bishop is interchangeable with that of an "elder" and a "shepherd". The word
"pastor" in Eph. 4: 11 is poimen, which is translated "shepherd" in John 10: 14, and is
linked with episkopos in I Pet. 2: 25. The office of "elder" or "bishop" is therefore
included in the gifts of Eph. 4: 11 under the double title of "pastors and teachers".
The introduction of bishops and deacons in Phil. 1: 1 is in line with the teaching of
this particular epistle which stresses service rather than salvation. Their presence in this
epistle also provides an interesting parallel with the epistles to Timothy and Titus as
shown in the skeleton structure below: