Biblical Mandate of Elders {part 1}

Introduction:

Church leadership is crucial for the running and growth of the church. It is both for the inward look of the church and its outward look. As the saying goes ‘organizations rise and fall on leadership’. It is important for the church to have the right kind of leadership that is biblical. The church’s foundation has already been built on the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20). And the work still is carried on through those that have been chosen as leaders. “And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers equipping the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:11-12). These leaders have a role of, not doing everything at the exclusion of church members, but equipping the saints for the work of ministry to the end that that whole church (body of Christ) is built up.

At GracePoint Church, we are committed to getting and growing the right biblical leadership.

An Aside Note on Deacons

Generally speaking, as we read the bible, we find two broad categories of leaders: deacons and elders. Deacons are charged with the responsibility of taking up administrative and practical details of the running of the church so that the elders are freed up to concentrate on teaching and prayer. 

A clear example is Acts 6; After complaints emerged concerning the daily distribution of food to widows, the apostles spoke to the disciples “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Seven men were chosen to deal with this aspect of leadership so that the apostles concentrate on the ministry of the word and prayer. Based on the work that these seven were doing, it is generally agreed that this is where we see the first instance of deacons being chosen to serve.

From the seven that were chosen, we know at least two men who were able to teach: Stephen – stoned for his faithful witness to the gospel (from the OT) of our risen Savior (Acts 7), and later on, Philip – opens up and expounds scriptures (Isaiah) to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8). But being able to teach (as we shall see) is one key distinguishing factor for elders as compared to deacons. Other qualifications (1 Tim. 3, Titus 1) largely remainsremain the same for both deacons and elders.

Elders 

The term elder is rather a confusing term today. We confuse our cultural use of it (mzee) with the biblical sense of the word. It is the same as “overseer” or “pastor” as we commonly use it. 

In Acts we see the term ‘oversee’ used. And the role of the overseer is to shepherd the flock (20:28). In 1 Peter, he uses the term ‘elder’ (5:1) with the role of shepherding as in the same case as in Acts 20.

Before we get into seeing what the qualifications and roles of the elders are, it is worth noting that, in the bible, we see that there was a plurality of elders in the churches. Here are a few verses:

1. Acts 6 – we have already seen that the apostles and disciples came together to solve the crisis that had arisen. It wasn’t a one-man show.
2. Acts 14:23 – Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for the churches
3. Acts 20:17 – Paul sent and called the elders of the church in Ephesus
4. James 5:14 – We read “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders…” not just elder
5. 1 Peter. 5:1-5 – Peter exhorts “elders among you” to shepherd God’s flock and young men to “be subject to the elders”. 
6. Acts 15 – The ‘Jerusalem council’ as is famously called is made up of ‘many’ not a single leader 

At GracePoint Church, we are committed to having a plurality of elders. As we plant churches, there might be cases where this is not possible from the onset but our prayer and commitment still remains. 

Qualifications

Having elders who are rightly qualified is essential to the fulfilment of their role and for the health of the church. We will therefore explore what the biblical qualifications of elders are so that we shall be looking for this as we think about elders for different congregations. There are two main passages that we will turn to as we think about qualifications:

• 1 Tim. 3:1-7 – “This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.” ² An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, ³ not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy. ⁴ He must manage his own household competently and have his children under control with all dignity. ⁵ (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?) ⁶ He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and incur the same condemnation as the devil. ⁷ Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the devil’s trap.”

• Titus 1:6-9 – “An elder must be blameless: the husband of one wife, with faithful children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion. ⁷ As an overseer of God’s household, he must be blameless: not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, ⁸ but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, ⁹ holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.”

From this, we can highlight the following 8 things:

1. Desire – it is a good thing for one to desire to be an elder. There is no need to call to office someone who doesn’t desire to be an elder.
2. Not a recent convert – it is important that the person called to the office of elder is not a recent convert but mature in the faith. Eldership comes with responsibility, pressure, and it is spiritual warfare. An elder must be one who knows the truth and can defend it. A recent convert cannot do that.
3. Able to teach – elders teach and as such, the person called to office should be able to teach. Of course, nowadays different churches have different categories of elders and some of them don’t teach at all. But biblically, elders should be able to teach. Teaching doesn’t necessary mean preaching but the ability to offer biblical counsel to individuals or groups as needed.

This point, combined with the previous point, means that the elder must be biblically sound (hold on to sound doctrine) and be able to teach others and ‘refute those who contradict it’.

4. Character –An elder must be a man of character. He must be above reproach (blameless) and also have a good reputation among outsiders. There are 13 other character issues that we get from the verses above. This can never be over-emphasized.
5. One-woman man – He must be faithful to his wife if married. If not married, he must exercise purity in his relations treating older women as mothers, young women as sisters, older men as fathers and young men as brothers.
6. Managing family – If he has a family, he must exercise leadership at home and lead his family well, for how can one manage God’s household when he cannot manage his own household well?
7. Male – Biblically, we see that those who serve as elders are men. This is in line with the creation order where God created man as the head and woman as helper. This picture is true in the household (home) and is true in God’s household (the Church).
8. Hospitable – This is still an area that can be put under character but it is one area that is usually ignored in many churches. Men called to the office of elder are to be hospitable men. It’s easy for us to leave this to our wives yet an elder’s wife’s hospitality is but an added advantage.

We trust that as a church, as we think through elders, we shall be praying that these are the kind of people that God will choose.