Lin

John, Also, if I may, I am a bit perplexed that I feel the need to defend the wrong notion that I want ‘superiority’ over another. That whole concept is not Christian at all. Eph 5:21 should be our touchstone here no matter if we are elders, pastors or the church janitor. WE are to mutually submit to one another as believers.

What we are discussing here is more about the freedom to exercise our spiritual gifts which are given by the Holy Spirit to edify the Body.

I am at a loss when someone mentions ‘roles’. I do not see that concept in scripture anywhere. That is a Frenchword denoting a ‘scroll’ which was used to learn lines to play a pretend character. A role is something we ‘pretend’ or do. As Christians we are to ‘be’ in Christ.