Where do most local churches get their ideas about church government?
Most local churches derive their ideas about church government from Paul, who describes the office of deacon, the requirements for a pastor, and what it takes to be an elder and deacon. The early chapters of Acts contain no church language, bishops, deacons, or pastors.
Les explains that throughout the early chapters of Acts, there is no church language—no mention of bishops, deacons, pastors, or how to behave in the house of God. He notes that regardless of denomination, most local churches get their ideas of church government from Paul, who describes the office of the deacon, the requirements to be a pastor, and what it takes to be an elder and deacon. In contrast, the early chapters of Acts are simply an extension of Judaism: temple worship, prayer at the ninth hour, and healing the lame man, not on the power of resurrection but on the power of the Messiah, the Christ, the Lord Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God.