Church Leadership: Part 2
The Elder: His Role and Responsibilities
A Sermon by Dave Redick
Hwy 20 Church of Christ, Sweet Home, OR
A lonely destroyer skipper ran his ship with both strength and compassion. He was well-liked by his crew, but kept mostly to himself. He had a strange daily ritual that puzzled his fellow officers and crewmen. Every morning before coming up to the bridge he would unlock a special drawer in his desk, take out a strongbox, unlock it, remove a small scrap of paper, read it carefully, return it to the strongbox, replace the box in the drawer, and lock the drawer.
One day during a heavy air attack the skipper was killed. After the funeral, his executive officer led a hurried delegation to the captain's cabin, unlocked the special drawer, removed the strongbox, unlocked it, removed the mysterious scrap of paper, and examined it carefully. His companions waited in anticipation. On the paper was written these words: "Port is left; starboard is right."
Leadership can be pretty basic sometimes!
A church in Mississippi wanted to encourage its leadership by placing a special article in the church newsletter. The author of the paragraph titled it, "Boost the Preacher and the Elders a Bit." The article was sent to the print shop, and a typesetter went right to work on it. When it appeared in the weekly church paper, however, the headline read, "Boot the Preacher and Elders a Bit."
Well, sometimes church leaders need a boost and sometimes a boot. Either way, it must be understood by them and those who follow their leadership that they have a very serious calling. They are charged to feed, manage, and protect the church of God. For this they will give an accounting of their work someday to God. They will be held eternally responsible.
Last Sunday I announced to you our intention to appoint Roland Morehead to the office of elder in this congregation. I indicated to you that our current elders and I believe that Rollie is qualified for this office. He has been a member of this congregation since he was a child. He has worked with the elders and me for over a year doing some of the work of an elder (without the title). He has made it clear to us that he desires this office and is willing to do the work it entails. He must, however, be approved by you, the members of this congregation before we will appoint him to this office. I proposed to you that I would preach a four part series on leadership in the church, with special attention given to the office of elder. I also indicated our intention to speak to each family or single in the church in private to get your input and that, only when we have reasonable approval from you will we proceed with this appointment. We will begin those interviews with you as soon as I have taught on the qualifications of elders.
If you were not with us last Sunday, and are a member of this congregation, I encourage you to contact Tony LaFond and get a copy of the audio tape of that morning service. I will not be repeating most of the things I taught in last week's lesson.
This will be part two then, in the series of messages on the Eldership. Today I want to cover The Role and Responsibilities of Elders. We'll begin by looking at
I. Three Important Words That Pertain To This Office.
I explained to you last time that there are six words used to designate the church office that we are considering. The terms elder, pastor, bishop, overseer, shepherd, and presbyter all designate the same office in the church, according to the New Testament. I refer you to the little half sheet of paper you found in your mailbox last week called the "Sermon Sidebar" where I made a detailed explanation of that point. I won't repeat it here. I will, however, deal with each word because each one carries a meaning that describes a function of this office.
A. The First Word Is "Elder"
Paul told Titus to "appoint elders in every city..." (Titus 1:5). At the end of Paul's first missionary journey, Acts 14:23 tells us that he and Barnabas had "appointed elders in every church..."
You may have noticed that we here at Hwy 20 most often use this word elder to designate those who hold this office among us. Someone might wonder, "Why don't you call them pastors like so many of the denominations around us?"
Well, it would certainly be OK to call them pastors, but if you carefully consider your New Testament you will find that they were most often called elders. The word elder appears 18 times in the NASV New Testament in the context of this office in the church. By contrast, the word pastor appears only once. The word shepherd appears only two times and in each instance it is in the verb form and not the noun. It was something they were to do not something they were called. Those who held this office in the New Testament were most often called elders so that's the way we do it.
Our English word elder comes from the Greek word presbuteros and it means simply "one who is older." It was used in both the general sense (referring to anyone who was older) and the specific sense (the church office of elder). In the specific sense it appears in Acts, 1 Timothy, Titus, James, and 1 Peter. There is an Anglicized version of the Greek word as well: presbyter from whence we get out word Presbyterian. Though this would be a proper designation, it is not often used today because it does not really translate the word.
Since an elder is one who is older, a reasonable question to ask might be "how old is an elder to be?" Some suggest he should be a grandfather because, after all, only grandfathers really know what life is all about, right? On the other hand, life expectancies in New Testament times were considerably shorter than they are today. Actually, as recently as the turn of our present century the typical male life span was only 47 years. If a guy had to be a grandfather, he surely wouldn't be an elder for long under those circumstances!
Actually, the New Testament doesn't name a minimum age. Rather, it points to his life experiences. 1) Titus 1:6 tells us he must be old enough to have children who believe. 2) I Timothy 3:6 says he must not be a new convert due to the temptation to become conceited. 3) I Timothy 3:4 indicates he must be old enough to have proven himself to be a good manager of his family.
Any further determinations of age requirements are based merely on speculation and not Scripture.
I might add one further point here about elders. In every situation in the NT mentioning these men, there were always more than one of them: a plurality of elders. Apparently a single elder never presided over a church. From history we learn that the idea of one man Eldership didn't come about until well after the first century closed and was a practice introduced by men, not God.
B. The Second Word We Want to Look At Is "Overseer" or "Bishop"
Acts 20:28 says, "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (KJV, 'bishops'), to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood."
Both of these words (overseer and bishop) translate the Greek word episkopos. The NASV uses overseer, the KJV, bishop. It refers to one who oversees, who sees that things are done and done rightly, it refers to a guardian, a curator, a superintendent.
While the word elder indicates the age and maturity of the man in this office, the word bishop or overseer refers to the nature of the work he does.
The overseer or bishop is the guardian of the flock.
C. The Third Word Is "Pastor" or "Shepherd."
I have already pointed out that these words are used only once in the NT as a designating title, as opposed to 18 times for the word elder or overseer. But that doesn't make them unimportant.
The word pastor comes out of the language of shepherding. The pastor or shepherd is the one who takes care of the flock. He tends the sheep. Sheep are his primary business. In God's flock, that's Christians. He tenderly cares for them. I'll speak more of that in a moment.
Let's move not to
II. Six Specific Responsibilities of the Elder
A. First, He Is To Shepherd God's Flock
We read in 1 Peter 5:1-4,
"Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2 shepherd [other translations say "feed," or "tend"] the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God... And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory."
Do you hear the language of shepherding? You can almost smell the pasture and hear the bleating of the sheep! And there's the shepherd out there right in the middle of the flock doing his shepherding thing.
Right after I moved here I and the elders were working through a series of difficult situations involving people with problems in the congregation. It was a bit exasperating at times. In the middle of all of it someone left a coffee cup on my desk that shows a guy with a shepherd's crook out in the middle of a flock of sheep. It's my favorite cup. The guy has this stressed-out look on his face. The caption reads, "Knee deep in sheep." That is the place of the pastor or elder. He isn't a power broking boss who only meets with other bosses behind closed doors, though some of his work will involve meeting in private with the other shepherds. Most the time, he's a shepherd out among the Lord's sheep.
Jesus said that one of the characteristics of a good shepherd is that "..the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out." (John 10:3). A good shepherd knows the sheep by name! Later, in that same passage, describing his own shepherding as an example, Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep." These verses suggest plenty of "people contact" for the elder.
At certain times of the year, when the shepherd was in the mountains, shepherding was a dangerous occupation. To defend the flock the shepherd sometimes had to risk his life. This is a hands-on work, this work of a shepherd. If a man isn't willing to get his hands dirty, so to speak, dealing with the problems of people, he shouldn't take the office.
A second responsibility of the elder is
B. To Be An Example To The Flock, Not Lording It Over Them.
Reading from 1 Peter 5 again,
"shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock."
One of the things the elder cannot do is use his position of responsibility with a heavy hand. He cannot lord it over the sheep. He cannot use his office to get his own selfish way or press his own personal convictions, or his family's convictions, by force. When he takes the mantle of this office, he leaves selfish desires and personal agendas behind. He lives for the good of the sheep. This is probably one reason why there was always a plural of elders in the New Testament church. It provided a check and balance over one man's personal agenda becoming too self-centered.
I could tell you a lot of stories about abuses of this. I'll limit myself to just one.
While I worked in California, we built a beautiful, new church building. It was designed by an architect who really knew what he was doing. One of the most attractive parts of that building was two large (floor to ceiling) windows behind the front platform. The congregation paid several thousand dollars extra for these. They were functional, as well, lighting the pulpit area with a diffused light.
Well, once they were in place, after our first service, we discovered that one of the elder's wives didn't like them. I don't know entirely why. What she said was that they let in too much light and, from her place in the pews, she had a hard time seeing the preacher. I suggested that she take another spot in the auditorium (It would seat several hundred people comfortably, so finding a place was no problem.) The dear sister was upset that I would even suggest that she move from her chosen spot. As a matter of fact, it made her quite angry. Anyway, the following week, that elder, on his own, with no one else's knowledge, and without bouncing off the other elders, went down and bought a tinted stick on covering for those windows - the kind that is glued on and doesn't come off again. During the day, from then on, those windows were a dark green color. During night they looked like mirrors (You could comb your hair from the front pew if you wanted to.) Needless to say, that move was very unpopular with those people. To many it seemed rather childish that this elder would use his authority to placate his wife's wishes.
Yes, we survived the controversy. I did my best to convince the congregation that, with lost and dying people all around us, we couldn't afford to get sidetracked over two slabs of glass that would burn up one day anyway. Besides, the man was an elder and we should do our best to do what he said. But from that point onward, that congregation lost a great deal of respect for that man. And there was nothing I could do about it. It was an abuse of his authority for a selfish reason. That elder also lost a golden opportunity to model self-denial and the need to put other's needs ahead of his own to the congregation.
One of the interesting things about the shepherds of Palestine was that they always led the sheep. They did not drive them. The shepherd was out in front of his flock. If there was danger ahead, he stood between it and the sheep. If they were afraid, the way he dispelled their fear was to move ahead in the face of the danger himself. The sheep followed because they trusted him, not because he forced them.
There is no place for the man whose life is a poor example of what he teaches. The "do as I say, not as I do" person is forever barred from the office of elder! So is the one who tends to be a tyrant or a dictator. One of the qualifications we will look at in the next message is that he cannot be "self willed."
I talked to a man once who wanted to be an elder and had been working toward that goal for many years. On day he told me, "You just wait. When I get to be an elder, heads are going to roll! I'm going to whip this church into shape! These people will submit to my leadership, or else!" Such a man should never be an elder. There is one Lord we serve and that is Jesus Christ. Elders are not without authority, but the greatest authority they carry is that of a good example. The people follow them because they respect them.
Within the elder's area of responsibility is also the need to
C. Teach And Exhort
As we saw in last week's lesson, the word pastor is hooked up with the word teacher in Ephesians 4:11&12. As such, the pastor or elder must be one who is devoted to teaching. He is a teacher by his words and by his example. In this way he feeds the flock.
Must an elder by a great public speaker? That would be helpful, but I do not believe it is necessary. Much of his work will be done one-on-one and in small groups anyway. He must, however, be apt to teach. We'll look more closely at that next time.
His responsibility is also to
D. Stand Against False Teaching and False Teachers
Paul admonished the elders of Ephesus in Acts 20:28-31,
"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert..."
The shepherd of Palestine was constantly scanning the horizon for predators of the flock. Wolves and wild cats were nearly constantly lurking around the edges of the flock, watching for a weak or wandering sheep to get beyond protective range of the shepherd.
The shepherd carried something called a "rod" for occasions like that. (You might remember the phrase in the 23rd Psalm, "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." The rod was a club, usually cut with a root ball on one end. In this end were embedded sharp slivers of bone or metal. The shepherd could hurl this weapon with deadly accuracy over the heads of the sheep. Predators knew not to get too close.
Paul told Titus that the elder must be one who can "exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict." He warned, "For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers... who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach..." (Titus 1:9-11).
It takes a man of both knowledge and courage to do that. The Eldership isn't a place for the timid or those who are unsure of the authority of God's Word, or those who are unfamiliar with the Bible.
The elder is also to
E. Manage God's Church
Paul told Timothy that the elder must be one who "manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?)" (1 Tim 3:4-5)
W.E. Vine says of the word manage appearing in these verses that it means, "to take care of [in a way] involving both forethought and provision."
An elder is a thinker and a planner. His daily thoughts are upon managing God's flock in a way that their needs are cared for. In the physical realm, sheep need food, water, exercise, rest, sometimes medical attention, and protection. The shepherd must plan to balance these needs. There are the needs of the new lambs, the older, producing sheep, and the aged ones. He will manage the resources of the flock so that all are cared for.
A good manager also accepts responsibility for the actions of those he manages. He doesn't shift blame. If something is wrong in the flock, he considered it his concern, his responsibility.
If I am the manager at WalMart and a disgruntled customer comes in a complains about one of the employees I manage, I don't say "Well, that's your problem. It's not my concern." No. I say, "I'm sorry for this problem. I will get right to it and try to figure out what has happened."
My point is that if things are not going the way they should be in the church, the elder considers it his responsibility to do something about it. He doesn't make excuses or blame others.
The sixth responsibility of the elder is to
F. Visit And Pray For The Sick
James 5:13-15 says,
"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? 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; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him."
Back when Gwen Burdick was here with us, during her five year struggle with cancer, there were a number of times when Gwen called the elders and requested a special time of prayer. During those times the elders, myself, and a few other close friends of Gwen, got together and prayed with her for God's help. You don't get any more Biblical than that!
Conclusion
With a job description like I have just given you, you're probably wondering why anyone would want the job of elder - especially since in most congregations these men serve without pay! I believe the motivation to be an elder comes from several sources:
It needs to be done. Spiritual men usually have a hard time ignoring the needs of God's people. They want to do what they can to help. A good candidate for the office of elder will be one who sees this need.
These men love God and His church. His work is their work, his concerns are their life. The number one issue of his life is Christ and His church.
I believe God places a burden of responsibility upon them that they cannot ignore. If a man knows he is qualified and sees the desperate need, he will probably feel that burden.
There is a great reward. 1 Timothy 3:1 says, "If any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do." Peter told elders in 1 Peter 5:4, "When the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory."
In spite of these motives to serve, I believe that any man coming to this office ought to feel just a little bit daunted by the magnitude of the task. I know Rollie was when we first started talking about it. He wasn't sure he could do it, given the great responsibility. Hearing the Bible's description of the work of the elder, one might get the idea that it is too big for any man. And that it is, if he tries to do his work alone. Without the help of the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, in his life, and without the help of the other shepherds working with him, the task is too big. With that help, though, a Biblically qualified man who desires the work will be able to do what God calls him to do. I am confident that God never calls anyone to a task that he cannot do.
Jacques Plante, a goalie for a professional ice hockey team, had just come off the ice after a particularly poor performance and responded to a badgering reporter with the following remark: "How would you like a job where, if you make a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?"
Well, how would you like such a job? Furthermore, seeing the role and responsibility of the elder, how would you like to have the job? Most of us probably wouldn't. Because of that, may I remind you to appreciate the elders who work among us? May I remind you to support them, listen to them, and heed what they say?
I'll close with a quote from Hebrews 13:17,
"Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you."
May God guide us as we continue on our path to add to our body of elders!
Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.
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