Elders:
Background, Qualifications, Terminology & The Work of the Eldership
Lesson #1
Background:
The concept of elders in relationship to God and the New Testament church, inherits its origin from the pattern of an Old Testament principle. God never wanted the responsibility of flock leadership to rest in the hands of one individual.
In "Exodus 18:14-26 we find that Moses was instructed by God through his father-in-law Jethro. He was commanded to select judges to judge the small matters of the Nation of Israel because he was being worn down, carrying the burden of the people alone.
Exodus 18:17-26 states the following "And Moses'
father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. 18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and
this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou
art not able to perform it thyself alone. 19
Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall
be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the
causes unto God: 20 And thou shalt
teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must
walk, and the work that they must do. 21
Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as
fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to
be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers
of tens: 22 And let them judge the
people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall
bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier
for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. 23
If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt
be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
We are able to walk away with two points from this pattern:
1) It was more efficient for Moses to have specialized help in leading the people because the thing was too heavy for one person to handle and Moses would have truly worn himself out prematurely.
2) The men chosen to judge had to meet certain spiritual qualifications (Exodus 18:21). In other words, not just any man of Israel could be a judge.
I am unable to state if these judges were also of the select group of elders in Israel, but we do have scripture that indicates to us that in addition to these judges there was also a select group of 70 elders who were chosen. The Bible says in Numbers 11:16 "ķAnd the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee."
The Old Testament term "elders" is derived from the Hebrew word "Zaqen" and means "old age." The context in which it is used determines if it is referring to old men in general or the specialized group of the seventy "Zaqen" (elders). Our above passage illustrates that these men were the special group of seventy elders. These were a select group of men, of all the older men of the Nation of Israel, and they carried a certain type of influence with the people. These, again, were men who were to bear the burden of flock leadership with Moses as stated in Numbers 11:17, "And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone."
The following scriptures are provided to illustrate the special or set apart work of these "Zaqen" (elders).
The
seventy elders included with the leadership of Israel:
Exodus 24:1 ķAnd he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
Seventy elders given special influence:
Numbers 11:24
ķAnd Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and
gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about
the tabernacle. 25 And the LORD came
down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him,
and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit
rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
Elders
anoint David as King:
2 Samuel 5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel.
Elders
assist in moving the ark of God:
2 Chronicles 5:2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. 3 Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month. 4 And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.
These same elders of the Old Testament are also mentioned in the gospels. Although Christ was on earth, Old Testament customs were still in place and the elders of the Jews were still looked upon as noble and influential, but they are not to be confused with the elders who have been ordained as elders in the New Testament church.
I cannot say if the institution of the seventy elders in the Old Testament was temporary or not, but we do find the same pattern of the Old Testament in the gospels as it relates to the Sanhedrim/Sanhedrin Council. The council actually consisted of 71 men, the chief priest and the seventy elders (Matt. 26:3, 47, 57, 59; 27:1, 3, 12, 20, etc.).
Unfortunately this same group (council) that Jesus came to save tried him and Matthew 26:67-68 states, "Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee"?
After all this they delivered Christ to the Roman official to be tried again and again and later put to death. The Bible states in Matthew 27:1, "When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: 2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor."
Although our topic deals with the concept of elders in the church of Christ, the purpose of illustrating a brief background of the Jewish eldership was to illustrate that the concept of elders in the church today follows a divine concept, pattern and mold, leading to the fact that God's plan is to have a plurality of qualified men leading His children/flock.
Qualifications:
We will discuss the Greek terminology of the position, disposition and work of elders in the next section but for now we will investigate the commanded qualifications that all elders must meet. Let it also be known that often in the body of Christ it is difficult to select elders because members look for reasons to disqualify a man before looking to the held qualifications or Godly characteristics. With this mindset, no man will meet the approval of another human because all Christian men have flaws. The apostle Peter was a preacher and elder but he still had issues he had to work on (Galatians 2:11-21). An elder is not a perfect man he is a righteous, fair, upright, proven and noble man.
The qualifications for being an overseer, elder or bishop (they all speak of the same office) are found in 1Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-14.
1Timothy
3:1-7
1 Timothy 3:1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
The first thing we must understand is God is seeking men who have the desire to become bishops. Desire is the initial step to becoming a bishop. How can a man strive for something he does not desire? The man who desires to be a bishop some day desires a good work.
1) A bishop then must be blameless: The term blameless comes from the Greek word Anepileptos that means "nothing which an adversary could seize on which to base a charge."
2) The husband of one wife: This command clearly illustrates that a bishop must be married and that he cannot have put a wife away in the past or be married to more than one woman at that time.
3) Vigilant: This term comes from the Greek word Nephaleos and means discrete, aware and one who watches.
4) Sober: Sober comes from the Greek word Sophron and equates to a person who has all of their cognitive faculties and limits his own freedom and ability with proper thinking (2Timothy 1:7). One who demonstrates self-control over all passions.
5) Of good behavior: This concept comes from the Greek word Kosmios and means decent and orderly. Not only in dress and demeanor but also His inner life. Must be clean with God in His private life.
6) Given to hospitality: Simply a approachable, cordial, inviting and hospitable man.
7) Apt to teach: This phrase comes from the Greek word Didakitikos and means able to teach. Bishops must be able to render the Word of God most effectively.
8) Not given to wine: Elders cannot be drinkers of wine. The consumption of wine is not a sin but it is not always expedient and might give an occasion for someone to ruin the blameless persona of an elder.
9) No striker: A bishop cannot be one who lashes out violently at others and in no case does he physically abuse his wife. This speaks in the allegorical sense as well. This is a person who is not quick to fight physically, verbally or mentally.
10) Not greedy of filthy lucre: This phrase comes from the Greek word Aischrokerdes and denotes a person who is not covetous or a lover of money.
11) Patient: Comes from the Greek word Epieikes and means mild, gentle and moderation.
12) Not a brawler: Not a person quick to fight.
13) Not covetous: Not a person quick to become jealous of others in regard to ability, wealth, etc.
14) One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God: Many mistakes are made with passage because people place the emphasis on the word children and assume it means a man must have more than one. This is not the case and many congregations may be suffering without elders because of this addition to the Word. The emphasis is on the disposition of the child and the manner/attitude in which the father guides the child. The emphasis is not on the amount of children. We will look at this more when we investigate the epistle of Paul to Titus.
15) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil: The term Novice comes from the Greek word Neophutos and means newly planted to Christianity and newly implanted in the church. God is seeking seasoned men for the eldership to prevent a quick fall due to pride and power.
16) Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil: A good report comes from the Greek word Marturia and means bearing witness or certifying. This concept appears to deal with the fact that bishops should be spoken well of those outside the body of Christ to again prevent reproach and a snare.
Titus
1:6-14
In this section we will only deal with the terminology and qualifications not mentioned in 1Timothy. Before moving to further define terminology let us understand an important concept in verse 5.
Titus 1:5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:
Titus was left in Crete to set in order the things that were wanting/left undone and then to ordain elders. Before elders are installed the disorder of the congregation needs to be put in place. It is my belief that it would be a shame to install elders, expecting them to clean up years of mess that went unchecked. That would place the elders in the position to the congregation as being the church police and street sweepers. Congregations should do all they can to prepare itself for the installation of elders and the minister(s) would do this.
17) Having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly: The word faith comes from the Greek word Pistos and it can mean faithful in word, faithful to parents or faithful to God as a believing Christian. There is some debate with this qualification as to bind it to the children of elders being faithful to God as a Christian or faithful to their parents in obedience and not being accused of riot (Asotia: One who does what they please in the flesh) or unruly (Anupotaktos: Disobedient to authority).
To continue our discussion of the two plus children rule let us examine it a bit more critically. In the Greek this word children comes from Teknon and has nothing to do with a number and simply means child, daughter or son. God is not saying that a man with two children is more qualified to be an overseer than the man with one. If that be the case is the man with 8 children more qualified to be a bishop than the man with three.? That is absurd. God does not base our obedience to Him on how many children we can raise successfully.
Lets look at some scriptural points that refute the notion that a bishop must have a plurality of children.
Question:
Do these scriptures not apply if there is only one child?
1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
1 Timothy 5:4 But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.
Question:
In relation to 1Timothy 5:4 if a widow only has one child does this scripture not
apply to him/her? Of course it does. The emphasis is not on the number of
children it is on what the child should
do.
We should not let the misunderstanding of terminology limit us in selecting overseers and this is not an attempt to lay hands on someone suddenly or rush to install elders it is an attempt to correct a misnomer.
18) Blameless as the steward of God: The word steward comes from the Greek word Oikonomos and denotes one who administers, manages domestic affairs of a family, a treasurer or chamberlain of a city. Bishops must be blameless in handling the affairs of others as well as the money in the church treasury.
19) Not self-willed: Bishops are not to lean unto their own intellect without a scriptural basis.
20) Not soon angry: Take it literally!
21) A lover of good men: This phrase comes from the Greek word Philagathos and denotes one who loves and practices what is good. Bishops with this quality will be quick to encourage men walking after God and will have a strong affinity for them.
22) Just: Comes from the Greek word Dikaios and speaks of one who lives justly and will handle the matters of others in a just fashion.
23) Holy: Comes from the Greek word Hosios and speaks of one who is unpolluted with wickedness.
24) Temperate: Self-controlled.
These are the qualifications that make up the office of a bishop and they are all necessary before one can serve in that capacity.
Terminology:
Before we move into the work of bishops, elders and overseers we must define our terms for they speak of the work, position and disposition of the office.
Bishop, Elder, Overseer and Pastor all describe the work of an elder with the term elder signifying that they are older men and cannot be of the younger men.
The term bishop, used in 1Timothy 3:1 comes from the Greek word Episkope and is derived from Episkeo and means to visit, consider, examine, provide a covering for and look after.
The term bishop in 1Timothy 3:2 comes from the word Episkopos and is defined as watcher and overseer.
The term elder as rendered in Acts 14:23 comes from the Greek word Presbuteros and indicates the dignity or age of the bishop, pastor, overseer.
The term pastors, as rendered in Ephesians 4:11 comes from the Greek word Poimen and it means to feed the flock. It is also translated "Shepard." We understand that the term pastor is correctly used in regard to the office of a bishop and is not to denote a preacher as done in denominations.
The above words all assist us in understanding the work that an ordained elder performs in the church of Christ.
The
work of the eldership:
The work of the elder is to oversee the spiritual affairs of the congregation they are over. This shows the criticalness of having elders. If a congregation does not have elders, who is doing the overseeing as God commands? Many times the preacher ends up doing the overseeing in the absence of elders, but that is not God's plan. Moses could not lead the people alone and neither can or should a preacher.
Elders are Shepherd's and imagine what a Shepard does for his sheep/flock. More importantly imagine those sheep without a Shepard. Or imagine the Shepard with more sheep than he can actually oversee and watch. That means some are going to walk into danger without the Shepard noticing. The same thing happens in congregations without elders.
Poimens (Shepherd's or pastors) are to feed the flock of God.
Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
We must understand that the word "to feed" (the act of Shepherd's and pastors) is rendered as Poimaino in this text and means much more than simply feeding (Bosko) but implies the whole office of shepherding, guiding, guarding and leading to nourishment.
Elders have a special place in the body of Christ and we must watch how we view and treat them for their job is to watch and look after the entire flock/congregation:
Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Elders are to be treated well and they are worthy of financial compensation for their spiritual service. One of the most neglected aspects in the church today is the fact that many congregations are not financially supporting their elders on any level:
1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. 18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward. 19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
Elders are overseers and feed the flock not in a dogmatic fashion but in love, providing a good example for the members:
1 Peter 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
The elders of a congregation look after each member and that is why the more qualified and ordained elders a congregation has the better off it is because sometimes two elders are not enough. Sometimes in the body of Christ, because there must be more than one, we only strive for two elders.
The elders have a special spiritual work and they free up the preacher so he can tend to simple evangelism:
James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
The elders are responsible for correcting error in the church as exemplified in Acts 15:1-21 as the elders attended the Jerusalem conference to correct the false doctrine in the church regarding circumcision.
The elders are also ordained to stop congregational confusion among members who attempt to cause schism, especially those who attempt to teach the Word incorrectly.
In relationship to the elders, they are responsible because they are equipped to do so to silence the ungodly and cantankerous:
Titus 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
Members should know their leadership just as the leadership must know their flock. A shepherd should smell like sheep
1 Thessalonians 5:12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
The work of the eldership is a benefit to all congregations, for it is a part of God's divine plan.
Conclusion:
God would not have it for one man to spiritually lead a flock of His. He designed for this work to be done by a plurality of men, as laid down in Old Testament scripture. Congregations are able to manage without elders but in reality it is not according to God. A preacher cannot spiritually oversee, shepherd and pastor a congregation efficiently. God is looking for qualified men and not pseudo leaders in theory.
Note: This lesson is not meant to be comprehensive of all scriptures pertaining to the work and concept of the New Testament eldership and is meant to provide a brief overview of the benefits and necessity of the ordination of elders in all congregations. Without them we are all missing something.
May God continue to bless your life.
Amen!
1 Timothy 5:22 Lay
hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself
pure.