The First Century Shepherd's Role

In this episode, we emphasize Acts 20, 1 Peter 5 and the importance of all the gifted men of Ephesians 4:11 to leave a personal example or pattern of discipleship.

We, also, note the pattern of selection and explore the inconsistencies in the application of Ephesians 4:11 and place a challenge of proof to those claiming congregational oversight. If there is congregational oversight of officers in an organization, to apply it to shepherds implies the same oversight applied to the rest of the gifted men in Ephesians 4.

In addition to the emphais placed in Scripture on their oversight of individual souls, it correlates to the meaning and application of the Greek word, ekklesia, to refer to the class of people. Taken together, the object of their oversight was the individual souls of the called-out class of people, not congregations. The use of the word is consistently given in the singular when associated with a city (never in the plural). When the plural is used, it refers to a plurality of cities in a given region or district. A household may be identified by the head of the household that hosted brethren. Still, even in the event of there being more than one household in a city, the use of the word neither describes an institution nor employs the plural form in a single city. This is consistent with the thought that the word describes a class of people not a local church organization(s).