So bishop positions are bought, and the price is rather steep to keep the less serious out of the ranks. Perhaps that’s where there was so much emphasis laid on “success” in the early parts of the interview. A pastor of 15 people can’t be a bishop because the worldly resources of “success” won’t allow him to afford the fees, “expectations,” and “obligations” of being a Full Gospel bishop. Nevermind faithfulness and godliness. He can’t afford it.

You see them and hear about them everywhere. On billboards. Television. From your coworkers and family. The ubiquitous “bishops” of the contemporary church world. I’m not sure when the fashion got its start, who originated it, but the proliferation of titles in some church circles has reached epidemic levels. We have “overseers,” “bishops,” “apostles” and so on. One pastor friend says, “The only title folks have not grabbed is ‘Lord,’ and that might not be too far off.” Indeed.

One concerned layperson and television talk show host, Lexi Allen, has attempted to bring attention to the increase of “illegitimate bishops.” She discovered that for $75 and a few minutes online you can purchase a doctorate and for another $50 buy the title “bishop.” Lexi rightly expresses alarm with the situation and tries as a steward to highlight the problem. I’m grateful for her efforts because the practices and perspectives that under-gird this trend actually harm unsuspecting sheep.

However, Lexi’s program, for all the good it does in exposing a significant problem in the church world, actually compounds the confusion about biblical church leadership. To help her make her case, she invites “some of the country’s foremost and respected ordained bishops” to discuss “illegitimate bishops”: Paul S. Morton of Changing a Generation (two locations in Atlanta and one in New Orleans), Lester Love of City of Love (New Orleans), and Jerry F. Hutchins of Kingdom Now Ministries (Norcross, GA). These men, drafted to help solve the problem, themselves illustrate the problem of illegitimate bishops. (Editor’s Note:  Use ‘Read More’ link to access the entire interview.)

Some good things are said during this interview. It’s important to clearly state, as the guests do, that there’s a problem, that rogue “bishops” are commonplace and unaccountable. It was helpful that the guests stressed the importance of doing the work of the ministry and of living a life worthy of the ministry. I even appreciated the tone of the conversation, punctuated with laughter and warmth even while denouncing a harmful practice.

But the errors and confusions were legion and far outweighed any good done by the program. Let me four of the many.

Definitions

First, no basic biblical definition of “bishop” was given. The guests failed to open their Bibles and show that “bishop” is simply another term for “pastor” or “overseer.” The terms are synonyms and no where does the Bible suggest a hierarchy of clerical offices from pastor to overseer to bishop.

I suspect this didn’t happen because the guests’ own practices are faulty on this score. The most needful remedy was to fix our basic understanding of biblical offices, but that wasn’t likely given their investment in the faulty system to begin with.

Tradition

Second, it was very troubling to listen to the mongrel mix of traditions and church practices that inform their practice. Bishop Morton notes the novelty of “Baptist bishops” when he first got started and then goes on to stress the “validation” of his “bishopric” in COGIC roots! He says, “Bishop Charles Blake preached my consecration service. In order to be validated properly I had to go back to my roots” [his Pentecostal COGIC roots].

There’s a reason Baptists don’t have “bishops” and why no Baptist bishops were around when Morton got his start. Baptists understand–or at least we used to–that no hierarchy exists in congregational polity that would allow for ruling or presiding bishops to oversee other local bodies. It’s… well… it’s… it’s a major part of what it means to be Baptist!

Then the interview went from denominationally confused to downright bizarre when Mr. Hutchins invokes apostolic succession to justify their practice of ordaining bishops! Just before the 15 minute mark Hutchins provides a definition of apostolic succession.

Hutchins: “That means you are able to trace your apostolic succession back to the original apostles. Our reformation traces our succession back to the apostle Peter….”

Lexi: “All the way back?”

Hutchins: “All the way back…. We trace our consecration back through the apostle Peter. It’s called apostolic succession.”

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