Does the Church of Christ have any order in its structure?
In the community of true confessors of Christ, there is a special order established by the Savior Himself. Just as in a school, some teach and others learn, so in the community of Christ, some hold sacred authority and others are subordinate.
Can it be considered that in the Church of Christ all are equal, and that all, without distinction, are called to teach and lead?
No, it cannot. In Holy Scripture, the Church of Christ is often compared to a flock (e.g., Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:1-5). And just as in a flock there are shepherds, so in the Church of Christ there are shepherds and flock, and the flock must obey the persons holding sacred authority.
What is the distribution of believers in the Church of Christ?
The Apostle Paul compared the Church of Christ to the human body. "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function," he says, "so we, being many, are one body in Christ" (Rom. 12:4-5). "But now God," the Apostle says elsewhere, "has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased" (1 Cor. 12:18). And each member must recognize the position of the other. "And the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you'; nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'... Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers... Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?" (1 Cor. 12:21, 27-30).
Thus, some members are appointed by the Lord for leadership and teaching, and others must listen to the leaders, shepherds, and teachers.
Was there ever a time in the true faith when people lived without leaders?
From the earliest times of human life on earth, the Lord always placed lawful leaders among the people who had true worship of God. At first, patriarchs led the people: Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, etc. Then, when the Sinaitic law was given, the Lord established a lawful priesthood. God set apart a whole tribe, the tribe of Levi, for this purpose. Aaron was appointed high priest, Aaron's sons were priests, and the rest of his tribe were Levites, that is, servants at the tabernacle. Besides the priesthood, the Lord from time to time raised up special prophets.
This order continued until the very coming of Christ the Savior.
Did the prophets, by the Spirit of God, predict the sacred hierarchy of the New Testament?
The Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, spoke thus of the future establishment of the New Testament priesthood: "For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them... And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites," says the Lord (Is. 66:18-19, 21).
How did the Lord establish the New Testament sacred hierarchy?
Christ the Savior, for three and a half years, prepared the sacred hierarchy for His Church, and for this sacred hierarchy He destined not all who believed in Him, but only a few; He did not entrust Himself to all. "But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men," says the Evangelist, "and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man" (John 2:23-25).
Whom, then, did the Savior prepare for the sacred hierarchy?
The Evangelist Mark writes that "He called to Himself those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons" (Mark 3:13-15; cf. Luke 6:13).
In what way was the Lord's special care for these chosen ones expressed?
They were always with the Savior during His three-year preaching, and the Lord primarily taught them. Of the people, the Evangelist reports that "with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples" (Mark 4:33-34). Transmitting the mysteries of the kingdom of God to His chosen disciples (Mark 4:11), the Lord, as if to prepare them for future worldwide preaching, sent them to preach in the cities and villages of "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 10:5-7, 11). Finally, even after His glorious resurrection, the Savior still cared for the teaching of His Apostles, "being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).
From where is it evident that the Lord prepared the Apostles for the sacred hierarchy in His Church?
This is evident from His final commission to them to establish His Church on earth. It was not to all believers, but only to the Apostles that the Savior said before His ascension: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19-20).
What does the Lord command the Apostles to do with this commission?
With the first words: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations"—the Apostles are entrusted with the preaching of Christianity. Secondly, with the words: "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"—the Apostles are entrusted with sacred authority in the Church. Thirdly, with the words: "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you"—the Apostles are entrusted with the governance of the Church.
Could this work, entrusted to the Apostles, cease after their death?
No, it could not and cannot, because it was entrusted not only to the Apostles, but also to their successors. The Lord, although He knew that the Apostles would not always live on earth, nevertheless said: "lo, I am with you (i.e., with those teaching and baptizing) always, even to the end of the age." It is clear that the Lord here also indicates the successors of the Apostles, who must be in the Church until the end of the age; the words of Christ to the scribes and Pharisees also testify to this: "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city" (Matt. 23:34).
Did not the Savior entrust the establishment of His Church to all believers in Him, as sectarians think?
No, the Lord entrusted the establishment of His Church only to the Eleven, as can be seen from Matt. 28:16-20, where the Lord addresses the command to the eleven Apostles, and from Mark 16:14-15, where it is related that after the Resurrection, before His ascension, the Savior "appeared to the eleven themselves... and said to them: 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'"
Did the Apostles understand that the Lord gave the commission to establish the Church specifically to them, and not to all believers?
The holy Apostles understood it precisely in this way, and therefore, when Judas Iscariot, who hanged himself, fell away from them, they chose Matthias in his place, according to the indication of the Knower of hearts, the Lord, and "he was numbered with the eleven apostles" (Acts 1:24-26). If the Apostles had thought like the sectarians, that is, that in the Church of Christ all are equal, and there is no sacred hierarchy in it, then they would not have elected a twelfth Apostle.
Did the holy Apostles limit themselves to appointing only Matthias?
No, they did not. When, with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them, the Church of Christ came into existence on earth, and when, after the Apostolic preaching, the community of believers began to multiply and spread throughout the earth, then the Apostles appointed their substitutes, who then became their successors.
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