A Display of God's Glory/Elders

From Gospel Translations

As important as the deacons are, even more fundamental to our lives together as Christians is the ministry of another group to which we now turn—the elders.

I. Plurality of elders

The first thing we should note about the elders of a local church is that they are elders plural. Though a specific number of elders for a particular congregation is never mentioned, the New Testament regularly refers to “elders” in the plural (e.g., Acts 16:4; 20:17; 21:18; Titus 1:5; James 5:14). The elders of Israel that we see referred to throughout the Gospels and Acts are plural. The elders in Heaven are plural (Rev.5:14;11:16;19:4). In Acts 11:30, elders are plural. In Acts 14:21-23 we read, “They preached the good news in that city (Derbe) and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith…. Paul and Barnabas appointed [or had elected] elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord in whom they had put their trust.” If you look through Acts 15, you find in verses 2, 4, 6, 22 and 23 that there are plural elders. In Acts 16:4, the word for elder occurs in the plural. In Acts 20:17, we read that Paul called to himself the elders of the church in Ephesus. So too, in Acts 21:28, and in I Timothy 4:14 and 5:17. In Titus 1:5, Paul says, “The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town…. ” James in James 5:14 envisions the elders (plural) of the church local (singular) coming to pray with one who is sick. In I Peter 5:1, Peter appeals to the elders among these Christians. In fact, the only exceptions are in II and III John, where the writer simply refers to himself as “the elder,” and in I Timothy 5, where there is a bit of church case law about what we should do if there is an accusation against an elder. But basically, the picture in the New Testament is that there is normally within the local church a body of elders, not simply one elder.

II. Qualifications for Elders

Women are not to be Elders

Who should be an elder? What should their qualifications be? The qualifications for an elder are laid out clearly in the Bible in I Timothy 3 and in Titus 1.

Before we turn to I Timothy 3, though, we need to take note of an important issue raised in I Timothy 2—that it is not God’s will for women to serve as elders. While many questions have been raised about an obscure phrase in I Timothy 2, it is always safer to begin with the clear parts of Scripture and pray that God will shed light on the more obscure parts, rather than doubting the clear parts because of the presence of obscure parts. What is clear in I Timothy 2 is that a woman should not teach or have authority over a man. Whatever the exact authority Paul intended to speak of here as inappropriate, it clearly involves the woman teaching. The practice of the early church was to have the creation order of the authority of the husband over the wife reflected in the practice of the church. Galatians 3:28 is clear that in Christ there is neither male nor female, but this is meant not to eliminate all distinctions between the genders, but rather is simply an affirmation of the wonderfully impartial grace of God in salvation.

I Timothy 3

Given that, let’s look at the list in I Timothy 3. Take a few minutes to read I Timothy 3:1-7. D.A. Carson (professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) noted once that this list of characteristics is most notable for being not very notable at all. What he meant is that all of these characteristics are elsewhere in the Bible enjoined on all Christians—all of them, that is, except for the ability to teach (I Tim. 3:2). While the Scriptures are sufficient to teach us here about the character of an elder, I do not think that Paul would claim that this particular list is exhaustive. Rather, his purpose was to list characteristics which would generally have been recognized as virtuous even by the surrounding culture of the time.

The Point of Leadership in the Church

The point of leadership in the church is to bring glory to God by commending the truth to outsiders. This is why Paul was so incensed at the Corinthians for going to secular court against each other and for allowing those living flagrantly ungodly lives to be associated with the church. Both of these things would undermine the witness of the gospel. So in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, the evident ungodliness of some of the false teachers in the Ephesian church was jeopardizing the whole way that God would be glorified through the church—the proclamation of the gospel of forgiveness and hope, and the conversion of sinners!The list of virtues which Paul gave in I Timothy 3 (or Titus 1, for that matter) are not all of the virtues which a Christian should exhibit. They are virtues which would have commended the gospel to those who were watching the church’s leaders. Regular Bible reading is good, and prayer is necessary, but Paul mentions neither here. Nevertheless, I want both of these virtues in my elders! I am taught elsewhere in the Bible that they are to characterize all Christians, but I think for Paul’s purposes here, he wanted to emphasize things like paying bills on time, being cheerful, humble and helpful—things that even most pagans recognize as good.

Finding Godly Leaders in Our Churches

How do we find such leaders in our churches? We pray for God’s wisdom. We study His Word, particularly those passages in I Timothy and Titus that teach clearly about the qualifications for such responsibility. We should not follow the world’s standards in picking our leaders. We should not imitate those churches that simply find the community leaders in the church, and then make them the leaders in the congregation. Os Guiness in his book Dining with the Devil recounts the comment of a Japanese businessman to a visiting Australian: “Whenever I meet a Buddhist leader, I meet a holy man. Whenever I meet a Christian leader, I meet a manager,” (p.49). Instead of this, we are to search for those men of the character, reputation, ability to handle the Word, and fruitfulness which marks a good leader in the church. The character of these church leaders is to be built not for themselves, but for others. Thus, they are not to be lovers of money, but lovers of strangers—that’s what “hospitable” literally means. True church leaders will be other-centered.

III.Historical Overview

Original Words for “Elder”

All churches have had individuals who performed the functions of elders, even if they called them by other names. The two most common New Testament names for this office were episcopos (overseer) and presbuteros (elder).

Presbyterians and Elders

When evangelicals today hear the word “elder,” many immediately think “Presbyterian.” However, the first Congregationalists back in the sixteenth century taught that eldership was an office in a New Testament church. While it is historically accurate to associate elders with Presbyterians, it is not accurate to associate them exclusively with Presbyterians; nor is it true to think that the term is foreign to Baptists.

Baptists and Elders

Elders could be found in Baptist churches in America throughout the 18th century and into the 19th century, (e.g.,Robertson’s Life of Broadus,p. 34;O. L.Hailey, J. R.Graves, p. 40). W. B. Johnson, the first president of the Southern Baptist Convention, wrote a book on church life in which he strongly advocated the idea of a plurality of elders in one local church. Whether through inattention to Scripture, or the pressure of life on the frontier (where churches were springing up at an amazing rate!), the practice of cultivating such textured leadership declined. But Baptist papers’ discussion of reviving this biblical office continued. As late as the early twentieth century, Baptist publications were referring to leaders by the title of “elder.” Though this practice is unusual among Baptist churches