Do Nothing Without the Bishop

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief. HEBREWS 13:17

No theme in Ignatius’s letters is pressed harder than obedience to the bishop, and none has been argued over more. He returns to it in six of the seven letters. “Do nothing without the bishop,” he tells the Philadelphians, and says the words came to him from the Spirit. “Let no man do aught of things pertaining to the Church apart from the bishop,” he tells the Smyrnaeans. To the Ephesians he goes further still: “we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself.” For many modern readers, especially those outside episcopal churches, this is the hardest part of him to take. It needs to be understood before it is either embraced or set aside.

What he describes

Ignatius describes a church with three kinds of ministers. In each city there is one bishop, who presides; a group of presbyters, or elders, who form his council; and deacons, who serve. He likes to set them in a picture. The bishop presides “after the likeness of God”, the presbyters “after the likeness of the council of the Apostles”, and the deacons are entrusted with the service of Jesus Christ. To the Trallians he says that without these three “there is not even the name of a church.”

This is the earliest clear description we have of a church led by a single bishop with elders and deacons under him. In the New Testament the words bishop and elder seem to be used of the same people, and churches appear to have been led by a group of elders together.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee. TITUS 1:5

Somewhere between the apostles and Ignatius, in at least some churches, one of the elders had come to preside over the rest and to bear the title of bishop. Ignatius takes this arrangement for granted in the churches of Asia Minor he writes to. It is worth noticing that in his letter to Rome he does not mention a bishop at all, which has led many historians to think the Roman church had not yet come to the same pattern.

Why he pressed it so hard

To understand why Ignatius cared so much about this, we must remember what he was afraid of. The churches he wrote to were being visited by teachers who denied Christ’s flesh and by others who wanted to bring back Jewish practices. These teachers held their own meetings and their own services. They drew people away from the gathered church into rival groups. Ignatius saw that the unity of the church, and with it the truth of the gospel, was at risk.

His answer was simple and practical: stay with your bishop. The bishop, with his elders and deacons, was the visible sign of the one church in that city, gathered around the one table. The teachers who went around him were dividing the body. So he tells the Smyrnaeans that a valid eucharist is the one held under the bishop or someone he has appointed, and that it is not lawful to baptise or hold a love-feast apart from him. And he tells the Philadelphians that “as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ, they are with the bishop.”

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. ROMANS 16:17

The bishop he had in mind

It is important to picture the kind of bishop Ignatius meant. He was the pastor of one congregation in one city, or perhaps of a few house-churches in the same town. He knew his people. He presided at their worship. He could be young, as Damas of Magnesia was, and Ignatius had to tell the Magnesians not to take advantage of their bishop’s youth. He could be quiet, and Ignatius had to tell the Ephesians that a silent bishop should be honoured all the more. He was not a prince or an administrator over hundreds of parishes. He was much nearer to what most Protestants would call the senior pastor of a local church.

The bishops he praises are praised for their character, not their rank. Onesimus of Ephesus has a love that “passeth utterance”. Polybius of Tralles shows a demeanour that is “a great lesson, while his gentleness is power”. The bishop of Philadelphia is commended because he holds his ministry “not of himself or through men, nor yet for vain glory, but in the love of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”, and because his silence is more powerful than other men’s speech. This is the portrait of a shepherd.

Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 1 PETER 5:2–3

Reading him across the traditions

How should Christians of different traditions read him? Episcopal churches, Orthodox, Catholic and Anglican, rightly see in Ignatius an early and strong witness to their order. The threefold ministry of bishop, presbyter and deacon was there, at least in Asia Minor, within living memory of the apostles. That is a real fact of history, and it deserves respect.

Christians of other traditions will notice other things. Ignatius never says that the bishop has succeeded the apostles, or that his authority rests on a line of ordinations going back to them. He likens the presbyters, not the bishop, to the apostles. He never speaks of a bishop ruling other bishops, and he does not appeal to the bishop of Rome. His language about regarding the bishop as the Lord is the language of honour and loyalty in a time of crisis, not a theory of church government; the same letters tell the Magnesians to be subject “to the bishop and to one another”. And he never places the bishop above the gospel. When the Philadelphians’ opponents demanded proof from the old writings, he answered that his charter was Jesus Christ.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 CORINTHIANS 3:11

There is also a caution for all readers. Ignatius’s words about obedience were written to churches whose bishops he knew to be faithful. They were not written to protect a bishop who taught falsely or abused his flock. The same Scriptures that call us to honour our leaders call leaders to serve, and call all of us to test what we are taught.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 JOHN 4:1

What we can all learn

Whatever our church order, Ignatius has something to say to us. He tells us that the church is not a loose crowd of individuals, each following their own spiritual path. It is a body with a shape, and that shape includes those who are called to lead. He tells us that despising our leaders, or going around them to gather our own followers, is not a small thing. And he tells us, by his portraits of Onesimus and Polybius and the quiet bishop of Philadelphia, what kind of leaders deserve to be followed.

And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves. 1 THESSALONIANS 5:12–13

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Think honestly about your attitude to those who lead your church. Is it marked by love and respect, or by criticism and suspicion? Name one thing to change.

2. Write a note of thanks to a pastor, elder or deacon this week, naming something specific in their service.

3. If you are a leader, read Ignatius’s portraits of the bishops of Ephesus, Tralles and Philadelphia, and ask which of their qualities you most lack.

4. If you belong to a tradition that does not have bishops, try to state fairly why Christians who do have them value them.

5. Pray for the leaders of churches in your town other than your own, by name if you can.

A PRAYER

Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the sheep, You have given Your church pastors and elders and servants to care for Your flock.

Thank You for those who have watched over my soul. Forgive me where I have despised them, and help me to honour them in love.

Give them gentleness, humility and faithfulness to Your Word, and keep them from pride and from lording it over Your people.

Hold Your church together in one faith and one love, that the world may see that You are one with the Father. Amen.