The Apostle Paul sends his greeting and love to all saints, but recognizes among them those who stood in a special position of responsibility—the overseers and deacons. In other words, the Church of God is not a democracy where one man's word is as good as another's. It is not a free-for-all. God owns authority in that way in the local assembly. As to its being official, that it cannot be, owing to the broken state of the Church; but that there are those who are in a recognized position of responsibility in the local assembly, no one can deny. At least, if he knows anything about Scripture.
"Esteem them very highly in love for their works' sake." The tendency of the day is to throw off restraint—every man have his way, and each one have as much right to a say as the other. That spirit gets in among the saints of God. In the book of Revelation, when the Lord stands in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, He addresses the angels of the churches; that is, He recognizes those who are in a position of responsibility, and whom He will hold responsible for what He finds in those different churches. That is an important principle. The reducing of everything to a dead level in the Church, generally or locally, leads to chaos.
God is not the author of confusion. God is a God of order, and He would have us recognize that there are those that He has placed over us, whom He recognizes as being in a position of responsibility and authority among us; and if we are wise, we will recognize it, and give them their due place. It is not official, we must confess, but that it does exist, we must also recognize and confess.