A few times I have been mistakenly called "the head of the church." I am not. Christ is. And I am not the administrator of the church, either. The Holy Spirit is. The Spirit of Christ administers his program through calling and gifting people to serve him through serving the church. The Bible teaches about spiritual gifts, but in our text today we see gifted people who are gifts to the church itself. The pastor-teacher is God's gift to the church - called by God and sent as a servant-leader to churches to "put ... into order" (Titus 1:5), and to mend hearts, equip servants, and give general leadership. Three titles stand out in the New Testament for the same position: pastor, overseer, and elder (Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:1-4). ln the New Testament the apostles appointed pastors, but today in our church the members elect pastors as they are led by the Spirit. Why the difference? Two reasons. First, we see the church involved in choosing its leaders in the Bible (Acts 6:1-7). Second, as the apostles all died off centuries ago, the Spirit makes us to be a "spiritual house and a holy priesthood" with Christ being our High Priest (1 Peter 2:4-10, Hebrews 4:14). The church as a body of believers is capable of knowing and doing the will of God as the Spirit leads us. – Pastor David Packer
