If we fail to see or refuse to accept the role the Bible gives to the congregation, there will be no way to have a healthy, unified church. Preaching Big Idea: As the body of Christ, the role of the congregation is to hold forth the glorious gospel of Jesus in both word and practice.

Biblical clarity about pastors increases trust and teamwork within a local church by removing confusion, setting proper expectations, and increasing unity as we serve the Lord together.

In our culture, the common and "acceptable" type of pastor bears little to no resemblance to the biblical model. God requires pastors to be men of integrity so that their lives and ministries will point attention only to Jesus Christ, not themselves.

The apostles created a group of "helpers", in part, to protect their ministry of prayer and the Word, which laid the foundation for the NT's teaching on the role of local church pastors. A biblically faithful pastor must lead the church to follow Jesus and obey His mission by laboring in the ministry of prayer and the Word.

When we choose to live in our own strength and by our own rules, we are not following our Head. When a church is disconnected from the Head, it will wither and die. As our Head, Jesus wants a vibrant and healthy body. He wants us to be a healthy church, and he is working constantly to make that happen.

The qualifications of a deacon calls for him to be a man with proven integrity who leads his family well. Our church should follow the early church's process of selecting scripturally qualified men to be deacons.

There are many churches who approach the office of deacon like this—with no guidance, training or job description. The apostles worked with the congregation to appoint seven "helpers" to meet the member care need that threatened to both upset the unity of the church and distract the apostles from their ministry.

Naturally we have one of two wrong responses to escalating pressure. Either we shy away from conflict and shut down when opposition intensifies, which mutes our witness. Or we explode on the opposition and become argumentative, harsh and unkind, which throws away our testimony. When opposition intensifies, God's Spirit grants us courage to overcomefear and accomplish our mission.

James gives us a description of what godly wisdom looks like and how we can avoid worldly wisdom.