Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

In today’s Epistle lesson from 1 Timothy, St Paul discusses the qualifications of bishops and deacons, and in this context, he makes a significant claim about the nature of the Church. St Paul shares these instructions so that Timothy, and others, will know how to conduct themselves “in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” (verse 15)

Here, St Paul lays out a classical theme for our Christian faith, namely the authoritative place of the Church. Bishops are an essential part of this reality because they are individuals who embody and demonstrate Christ’s teachings, who have received their authority from Christ, and who authoritatively lead the flock in the same way. This natural hierarchical arrangement is inevitable because Christianity is itself an embodied faith. We do not become Christlike by merely accepting certain ideas, but by learning to follow Christ, by becoming united to God—a process accomplished through God’s grace and because of Christ’s perfect union as God and man. Christ, and eventually, his bishops, show us what this fulness of this life is through word and deed.

This might sound rather hierarchical to our democratic sensibilities, but it is a traditional part of the faith. Everyone who would progress in the way to Christ does so by an act of humility, by denying the self, taking up one’s cross, and following Christ, the One who is the Truth. This is true whether we worship in a throng of believers in a cathedral or if one seeks for salvation alone in a remote cave.

The Church is true because it is Christ’s Church, and it continues through Apostolic succession and the gathering of the laity, through sacraments and prayer, and so on. This is the Church about which Christ said, “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)

Yours in Christ,

—Justin