The Construction of Our House
When someone wants to build a house, they must start with the foundation. Then they build the walls and the roof and do the plumbing and electrical and everything else needed to make it livable. Once all the building is done, they move in and fill the house with all their stuff.
When I think about our church, about what God has done in my four short years here, I think we’ve laid the foundation and are now in the stage of building the major components of the house. By God’s grace, our church is firmly established on the foundation of God’s word and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Word of God must continue to be the thing that holds us up, stabilizes our walls, and makes us a house where we can live in peace and love and joy.
By God’s grace, we’ve framed out our house with things like meaningful church membership, a faithful deacon ministry, an unwavering commitment to prayer and world missions, and several avenues for members to grow with other members in the gospel and in meaningful relationships, things such as Sunday School, reading groups, women’s ministry, and Wednesday night fellowship meals. Lord willing, in the years to come, we’ll keep building on the foundation of God’s word and be able to fill our house with good things like more giving toward missions, more small groups, more men called to preach, more missionaries sent out, a counseling ministry, and even more avenues for us to love and care for one another.
Still Under Construction
One part of our house that’s been under construction since we sent Ryan and Robin Ivy to serve in another ministry is our elder ministry. Ryan and I served as your elders for almost two years, and I have missed him dearly. Even though we’ve only had one elder for over a year, God’s design for the leadership of local churches hasn’t changed. The clear pattern of the New Testament is that each local church should have multiple elders. This is why I’ve spent much of the last year discipling men in our church in order to discern whether they’re qualified and ready to serve as elders. Lord willing, at our December 2nd member meeting, I’ll be nominating one of our men to join me in the shepherding ministry of the church.
Because elders are such a crucial part of the structural integrity of any local church, and because God has given you the responsibility of affirming your own leaders, we’re going to spend the next few weeks talking about elders and congregationalism. This morning, we’ll consider what elders do. Next week, we’ll study 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and see who can be an elder. Then on December 2nd we’ll discuss congregationalism, or what the Bible says about the role of the church in the governing of the church.
Three Terms Refer to One Office
What does the New Testament say about the role of elders in the church? First, we need to see that the New Testament uses three different terms to refer to the office, or position, of elder. The three terms are elder, overseer, and shepherd (or pastor).
There are two places where these three terms are used interchangeably, telling us that they all refer to the same position. First, in Acts 20:17, 28, Paul calls the Ephesian “elders” to meet him in Miletus, then he tells them to pay attention to their flock “which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,” and that they should “care for the church of God” (ESV), or “be shepherds of the church of God” (NIV). Paul tells the elders that the Holy Spirit has made them overseers and that they should shepherd their flock with care. These men are called elders, overseers, and shepherds all in the same passage.
The second passage is 1 Peter 5:1-3. In this passage, Peter addresses the elders, then uses the verb form of the word for overseer and shepherd to explain their duties. The “elders” are to exercise “oversight” and “shepherd the flock of God” (v. 2).
Acts 20 and 1 Peter 5 are the two places where these three words are used interchangeably. In Titus 1, Paul uses the word elder and overseer to refer to the same person (1:5, 7). The titles of “elder” and “overseer” are applied to the same office.
The New Testament makes it clear that these three terms all refer to one position. An elder is an overseer and a shepherd. An overseer is an elder and a shepherd. A shepherd (pastor) is an elder or an overseer. Three titles refer to one office.
Each Term Reveals Aspects of Function
Why do you think that God led Paul and Peter and Luke to describe this group of men with three different terms? Because each term tells us about a certain aspect of the office. Each term reveals to us some of what God wants to be present in the group of men who’ll lead his church. As Phil Newton says in his book Elders in the Life of the Church, “Each (term) provides a clearer picture of the dignity and function of elders in church life: elder emphasizes the spiritual maturity required for this office; overseer implies the leadership and direction given to the church; pastor (or shepherd) suggests feeding, nurturing, and protecting the flock.” An elder is a spiritually mature man who leads, governs, feeds, nurtures, and protects the church.
Elders Are Teachers
This is a general and broad definition, so I want to talk about a few of the specific things an elder does. An elder’s duties are summed up by three words: teaching, governing, and shepherding. First, an elder is a teacher. 1 Timothy 3:2 says that an elder must be “able to teach.” We’ll discuss this in more detail next week when we examine the qualifications for an elder. For now, I’ll simply say that elders must be men who know the Bible and are able to teach it to others. God’s sheep will become malnourished, diseased, and ultimately die if they’re not fed the food of God’s word. An elder must, therefore, be able to feed the souls of church members from the Scriptures.
The elders are the guardians of the teaching of the church. This doesn’t mean that they teach every class or preach every sermon. It does mean that they’re the ones who’re responsible for the teaching ministry of the church. What’s taught in Sunday School, Wednesday night Bible Study, women’s ministry, and small groups all fall under the auspices of the elders. Even things like songs we sing during our worship service fall under their purview because music is one of the most important teaching tools that God gave to the church.
Elders Are Leaders
Second, elders govern the church. Elders are the primary governing, or decision-making, group in the church. 1 Timothy 5:17 says, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor.” The elders are given the responsibility of “ruling,” or leading and giving direction, to the church, of “directing the affairs of the church” (NIV). This involves planning, administrating, and delegating. It looks slightly different in every church, but having elders who govern means that the decision-making processes of the church are streamlined. Instead of requiring a church vote or a committee decision on the details of the church’s life and ministry, the elders are entrusted with the authority to make many of those decisions. This is what Peter is referring to when he tells the elders to “exercise oversight” (1 Pet. 5:2). This streamlining of the decision-making process frees the church to do more of what God has called us to do: more ministry to one another and more disciple-making. It also protects the unity of the church, as it prevents church-wide squabbles or debates over non-essential matters.
Elders Are Shepherds
Third, elders shepherd the church. Acts 20:28, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” 1 Peter 5:1-2, “I exhort the elders (to)…shepherd the flock of God that is among you.”
“Shepherd” summarizes the complete biblical portrait of the elder. Think about it, a shepherd has to teach and train his sheep. He leads and governs them. And he takes care of them, making sure they’re fed, watered, healthy, and safe. As Jeramie Rinne says, “Elders are pastor/shepherds, and their core job is to tend the church’s members like shepherds tend their sheep.”
This has massive implications for the ministry of the elders. It means that the elders aren’t merely men who sit in a board room and make decisions for the church. It means that they’re men who’re involved in the lives of the members of the church. Elders must be actively engaged in the lives of church members because they cannot shepherd sheep they don’t know. This is why one of the qualifications for an elder is hospitality, as it shows the church that the prospective elder wants to be with people and welcome people into his life.
Some may assume that this means that the elders need to be the most outgoing men in the church, that they must be extroverts who’re always the life of the party. I’m an introvert. I prefer being alone to being with people. The reason I do my best to know the members of our church is because I love you, not because I’m an extrovert. Rinne again says, “People know real love and concern when they see it, even if it comes in a shy or slightly awkward package. Love leaps over all kinds of obstacles.”
The reason why elders must love and be engaged in the lives of church members is in order to help them grow in Christian maturity. Paul explicitly says that this is the goal of pastoral ministry in Ephesians 4:11-13. Shepherds need to smell like the sheep in order to help the sheep smell more like Jesus. Elders aren’t just managers who work on the organization of the church. Elders are shepherds who work on the sanctification of the church.
How Many Elders Should a Church Have?
How many elders should a church should have? The New Testament doesn’t give us a number, but it does make it very clear that each local church should have more than one elder.
Acts 14:23 says that Paul and Barnabas “appointed elders…in every church.” Acts 15:6 says that “the apostles and the elders…gathered together” to consider a doctrinal dispute in the church. In Acts 20:17, Paul “sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.” In Philippians 1:1, Paul writes to “all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons.” In Titus 1:5, Paul instructs Titus to “appoint elders in every town as I directed you.” And James 5:14 says, “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.”
The clear pattern of the New Testament is that each local church should have multiple elders. I wrote an article in this month’s Highlander outlining the twelve benefits of having multiple elders. God, in his wisdom, has designed his church to be led by more than one man. May we continue to embrace his good design for the structure of our leadership.
Relationship between Senior Pastor and Elders
I want to address one more question about elders before we close. What is the relationship between the senior pastor and the elders? Relatedly, Is the senior pastor an elder? Yes, the senior pastor is an elder. So right now, our church has one elder.
But what will my relationship be to other elders? The best way to describe it would be, “Leader among equals.” All elders have the same amount of authority, but there’s biblical precedent for setting aside one of the elders who may come from outside our community of faith, supporting him financially, and giving him the primary teaching responsibility in the church (1 Tim. 5:17-18). Some elders are supported by the flock that they shepherd. They’re “worthy of double honor,” which in context means financial compensation. Other elders, like Paul, work at another job. I think it’s wise and important that a church have some elders who’re paid by the church and some who aren’t. But all the elders have equal authority, whether paid or not.
Jeramie Rinne provides a great illustration of this point. He says, “Just because a paid pastor may have more availability, education, or gifting, it doesn’t follow logically (or biblically) that a lay elder is any less a real pastor. Volunteer firefighters face the same flames as the paid firefighters, and volunteer elders confront the same challenges of shepherding as the staff pastors. Lay elders may honor vocational pastors as ‘firsts among equals,’ but the lay elders are still equals.”
Back To Our Roots
When our church transitioned to an elder-led system of government in the Fall of 2015, we went back to our roots as a church. Renner Baptist Church was organized in the Renner School House on Saturday, September 6, 1890 with sixteen members. Two of the members listed are Elder J. J. Butler and Elder R. F. Butler. This group of sixteen folks recognized these two men as their elders. R. F. Butler was the primary teacher/preacher, and was nicknamed “Uncle Snort” because of his manner of preaching.
In 1890, our brothers and sisters believed that having multiple elders was God’s plan for the leadership of this church. 128 years later, we still believe this. May we continue to believe and embrace God’s good design for the leadership of his church.
Pray for me and for your future elders. Pray that God would make it clear to us who should serve us and lead us as elders. Pray also that there would continue to be unity and humility and joyful obedience to God’s word in this area of the life of our church. Pray that the ministry of our church would bear more fruit as we’re faithful to God’s word.
The ultimate goal of Preston Highlands Baptist Church is not to have more elders. Our ultimate goal is the glory of God. And God is always glorified when we cherish and obey the clear instructions of his word.