[BBC List] elder rule

[Mike Abendroth]

2003 Shepherd's Conference, A Ministry of Grace Community Church 818.909.5530.  © 2003 All Rights Reserved. Grace Community Church. A CD, MP3, or tape cassette copy of this session can be obtained by going to www.shepherdsconference.org

 

The Biblical Case for Elder Rule
(Handout and Study Notes)

Whom Does God Want Leading His Church?

Tom Pennington

Executive Pastor

 

Introduction

 

·         Many churches and their leaders think the issue of how the church is organized, its structure, is unimportant.

 

“No particular structure of church life is divinely ordained.” 

“Any form . . . which the Holy Spirit can inhabit and to which He may impart the life of Christ, must be accepted as valid for the church.  As all forms of life adapt themselves to their environment, so does the life of Christ by His Spirit in the church.” 

                                                      Robert L. Saucy in The Church in God’s Program (Quoting Donald Miller from The Nature and Mission of the Church)

                       

·         But this issue is crucial; organizational structure determines how people think and act.

·         And if structure is important to secular organizations and nations, then certainly the structure of the church should be very important to us.

 

“Some of the worst havoc wrought to the Christian faith has been a direct result of unscriptural forms of church structure.  Only a few centuries after the apostles’ death, for example, Christ’s churches began to assimilate both Roman and Jewish concepts of status, power, and priesthood…. Under Christ’s name an elaborately structured institution emerged that corrupted the simple, family structure of the apostolic churches, robbed God’s people of their lofty position and ministry in Christ, and exchanged Christ’s supremacy over His people for the supremacy of the institutional church.” 

Alexander Strauch in Biblical Eldership

 

·         What does the Scripture say about the structure of church?

 

“The church must have some form; in fact, it always does.  The question remains as to which form is prescribed in the Scriptures.”

                                                                                                      Saucy

My task is twofold:

 

1.      Present the evidence from the NT.  That evidence will show that a group of godly men, not a single individual, led the churches.

2.      Persuade you that God requires every church to follow that pattern.

 

Lesson

 

I.                   The Historical Forms of Church Government (from Grudem’s Systematic Theology)

 

A.      Episcopalian

 

1.      The Definition – rule by bishops (see attached chart ^#1)

This form of church government maintains that there are three legitimate church offices: bishops, presbyters (or rectors of priests), and deacons.  The bishops alone have authority to appoint other bishops, presbyters, and deacons.  Some Episcopalians trace the authority of the bishop back to the apostles (apostolic succession); others trace the bishop’s authority to church history, and still others claim no historic succession.

 

2.      The Denominations

·         Orthodox

·         Anglican

·         Roman Catholic

·         Methodist

 

3.      The Defense

·         Church history

 

“History seems to show decisively that before the middle of the second century each church or organized Christian community had its three orders of ministers.”

                                                                              Lightfoot in The Christian Ministry

·         The position and authority of James in Acts 15 (for a response to this argument, see Saucy, p. 107)

·         Titus and Timothy’s role with several churches

·         It is not forbidden in the New Testament

 

4.      The Arguments Against

·         In the New Testament, bishop is not a distinct office but a synonym for elder (see discussion below).

·         There is no New Testament evidence that bishops were designed to replace the apostles.  For example, Paul alone did not ordain Timothy – it was a council of elders (1 Timothy 4:14).

 

B.      Presbyterian

 

1.      The Definition – rule by elders over both local and regional or national churches as representatives of the members (see attached chart^#2)

 

“The local church is governed by the session, which is composed of ruling elders elected by the membership, with the teaching elder or minister as presiding officer.  The next highest-ranking body is the Presbytery, which includes all the ordained ministers or teaching elders and one ruling elder from each local congregation in a given district.  Above the presbytery is the synod, and over the synod is the general assembly, the highest court.  Both of these bodies are also equally divided between ministers and laymen or ruling elders.”

                                                                                                      Saucy

·         Typically the congregation ordains the ruling elders, while only teaching elders ordain other teaching elders.

 

2.      The Denominations

 

·         Presbyterians

·         Reformed Churches

 

3.      The Defense

 

·         The opportunity for gifted men to serve beyond their local church

·         A demonstration of the unity of the Body of Christ

·         The distinctions between ruling and teaching in 1 Timothy 5:17

·         The example of the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)

·         The command of Titus 1:5

 

4.      The Arguments Against

 

·         Scripture nowhere calls for elders to have authority beyond their local flock.

·         Acts 15 cannot be used to defend Presbyterianism:

-The apostles were present and in leadership

-The church at Antioch voluntarily requested the help of the Jerusalem church

-The entire Jerusalem church sent the letter (15:22); “If this narrative gives support to regional government by elders, it therefore also gives support to regional government by whole congregations!” (Grudem)

·         See 1 Timothy 5:17 discussion under II, A, 2.

 

Note: “If organizational structure is not evident, cooperation among churches in a recognition of their basic unity certainly is.  The Jerusalem council forbids an absolute independence in attitude and practice among local congregations.  This is further supported in the New Testament by the practice of interchurch relief   (1 Corinthians 16: 1-3).”

                                                                                                      Saucy

 

C.      Congregational

 

1.      The Definition – ultimate authority for each local church resides within that church; each church is completely autonomous.

 

2.      The Denominations

·         Congregational

·         Baptist

·         Mennonite

·         Evangelical Free

·         Independents

 

3.  The Defense (see A.H. Strong’s, Systematic Theology, pp. 903-916)

 

4. The Diversity of Congregationalism (see attached chart ^#3-7)

a)      Single Pastor (or Single Elder)

b)      Corporate Board

c)      Pure Democracy

d)      “No Government but the Holy Spirit”

e)      Plural Local Elders

 

II.                The Evidence for a Plurality of Leaders in Each Church

 

A.     The OT patternà the Jewish mindset

 

·         The most common NT word for the church’s leader is “elder.”

·         So let’s examine what would have been in the minds of the apostles from studying the OT office of elder; The Old Testament office and office in the church are not identical, but we can learn what they were thinking.

·         There are two primary words in Hebrew for elder:

1.      !qez" zaqen {zaw-kane'} substantive; means “old”; speaks of mature age; usually plural; 178 times in the OT; about 100 of those times is a technical term for those in authority.

2.      bf' siyb {seeb} (Aramaic); this means “gray-headed”; it appears five times in the OT, all in Ezra (after the exile).

·         Elders ruled:

·         Within a house or family (Gen. 50:7; Ps. 105:22; 2 Sam. 12:17)

·         Within a city they administered local government (Num. 24:4, 7; Deut. 19:12; 21:1ff, 19; 22:15; Jud. 8:14; Ruth 4:9, 11)

·         Within the nation—“elders of Israel”

·         Other nations had elders (cf. Gen. 50:7; Num. 22:7).

·         In Israel, it existed by time of Moses (Ex. 3:16; 4:29; 12:21; 17:5; 18:12; 24:1, 9, 11, 14).

·         It continued in the monarchy as an advisory body (1 Sam. 8:4; 2 Sam. 3:17; 5:3; 17:4, 15; 19:11; 1 Kings 20:7; 21:8; 23:1).

·         The group was influential during the Exile (Jer. 29:1; Ezek. 7:1; 8:1; 14:1; 20:1) and after the return from Babylon (Ezra 5:9ff; 6:7; 10:8, 14).

·         In the Maccabean period and the Gospels & Acts, “elders of Israel” describe the Jewish Sanhedrin, the highest ruling body of Judaism, which they believed Moses established when he appointed the Seventy (Num. 11:16ff).

 

·         So clearly in the Jewish mind, when you mentioned “elders,” you were referring to a plurality of godly leaders.  And with this kind of history, it was only natural for the concept of elder rule to be adopted by the first churches, all of which were primarily Jewish.

 

But in addition to the clear OT pattern, when you examine several key passages, there is overwhelming evidence in the NT of a plurality of godly men leading each church.

 

B.      The NT Passages

 

Acts 11:30; 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4; 21:18  (Re: the Jerusalem Church)

·         Elders played a dominant role in the life of the church in Jerusalem and in the Jerusalem council.

·         Note church (singular) with elders (plural); 15:4, 22.

·         James, the half-brother of Christ, had become a key leader in the Jerusalem church; note what he says in the epistle that bears his name…

 

 

Jas. 5:14  

·         The Epistle of James was sent to the Jewish believers who had been dispersed because of persecution, probably that of Herod Agrippa (Acts 12).

·         It was written in the mid 40’s AD; it is the first NT book written.

·         James commands that if an individual is sick, he is to call for the elders (plural) of the church (sing.).

 

Acts 14:23

·         This is the first referral to gentile leaders of the church.

·         At the end of Paul’s first missionary journey, but really the beginning of his ministry, he “appointed elders (plural) for them in every church (sing.).

·         The construction calls for the distributive use of the preposition kata; literally it can be translated, “having appointed for them church by church, elders.” 

·         This is a reference to churches in Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.

·         One of the key steps in organizing a new church was appointing elders; most commentators agree that this reveals Paul’s pattern everywhere he went.

 

Acts 20:17  

·         In Acts 20, Paul was concluding his 3rd missionary journey and heading to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost (May 57AD).

·         Earlier on the 3rd missionary journey he had established the church in Ephesus and had stayed there for about three years.

·         His ship docked in Miletus for several days to load and unload cargo.

·         Miletus is only 40 miles south of Ephesus; so Paul seizes the opportunity and calls the Ephesian elders to Miletus.

·         This is the only record of Paul speaking directly to elders and “elders” is plural.

 

Acts 20:28

·         Paul warns them; "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock (sing.), among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.”

·         So the church in Ephesus had a plurality of godly men leading and pastoring it.

·         Cf. 1 Tim. 5:17 – Timothy is in Ephesus, and there is a plurality of elders.

 

Phil. 1:1    

·         “Paul and Timothy…to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.”

·         At this point, the church in Philippi was more than 10 years old.

·         Paul is under house arrest in Rome.

·         The Philippians had sent an offering to Paul and Epaphroditus to be his personal assistant.  And Philippians is his response.

·         In 1:1 he identifies two offices:  overseers and deacons.

·         Both are plural; but there was only one church in Philippi.  Fifty years later Polycarp writes to the church (sing.) and tells them to submit to their deacons and elders.

 

 

Tit. 1:5     

·         Paul harbored south of Crete in the ship taking him to Rome (Acts 27:7).  After Paul’s release from his first Roman imprisonment, he visited Crete.

·         Churches were probably already established and were weak and under assault from false teachers (Tit. 1:10-16; 3:9-11).

·         He left Titus there for a specific purpose:

“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders (plural) in every city (sing.) as I directed you.”

 

1 Pet. 5:1  

·         Peter is writing to churches scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia (1 Pet. 1:1) - those were territories, not cities.

·         “I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder…shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight….”

·         Every church in those regions had elders.

 

C.      The Greek Words

 

1.      presbu,teroj (Elder)

·         This Greek word has two primary uses in NT.

a)      Older man or old man (1 Tim. 5:1)

b)      Title for a community official, an elder

·         No specific age remains with this second usage, but it implies maturity, dignity, experience, and honor.

·         Twenty-eight times in the Gospels & Acts it refers to the members of the Jewish Sanhedrin.

·         Twelve times in Revelation it identifies the 24 elders—representatives of the redeemed people of God.

·         Nineteen times in Acts and the Epistles, it identifies a unique group of leaders in the church.

 

2.      evpi,skopoj (Overseer; also translated bishop)

·         It is a common word for an office holder in the Greek culture; used of secular officials of various kinds, especially local officials; any official who acted as a superintendent, manager, controller, or ruler.

·         The LXX uses the word for army officers (Num. 31:14); tabernacle administrators (Num. 4:16); supervisors of the temple repair (2 Chron. 24:12, 17); temple guardians (2 Kings 11:18); city supervisor or mayor (Neh. 11:9).

·         It occurs only five times in NT; one time of Christ (1 Pet. 2:25); other four times of church leaders; especially used for Gentile congregations like Ephesus.

·         It is a general word like supervisor, manager, or guardian.

·         1 Tim. 5:17 further develops the idea of oversight.

a.    “Rules” (proi<sthmi) means “to put before,” “to set over,” or “to rule”; it is also translated:

·         “Leads” (Rom. 12:8); refers to the gift of administration

·         “Manages” (1 Tim. 3:4-5); refers to an elder’s oversight of his “household” (oi=ko,j)

·         “Managers” (1 Tim. 3:12); refers to a deacon’s managing of his “children” and  “household” (oi=ko,j)

b.   “Especially” (ma,lista) is used twelve times in the NT.

·         This Greek word occurs eight times in Paul’s epistles.

·         Every time Paul uses this word, what follows it is always a subset of what has come before.

·         Gal. 6:10; Phil. 4:22; 1 Tim. 4:10; 1 Tim. 5:8; 1 Tim. 5:17; 2 Tim. 4:13; Tit. 1:10; Phlm. 1:16

·         In 1 Tim. 5:17 the point is:

·         All elders are supposed to “rule.”

·         Some elders rule particularly well (kalw/j).

·         While all elders are to be able to teach (1 Tim. 3:2), some work hard at preaching and teaching; the implication is that some elders have greater teaching responsibilities, probably because of superior gifts.

 

3.      poimh,n (Shepherd; also translated pastor)

·         The noun form occurs eighteen times in the NT.

a)      Actual shepherds; keepers of animals

b)      Christ (eg. Heb. 13:20-21; 1 Pet. 2:25)

c)      One time of church leaders; translated “pastor” in English versions—Eph. 4:11 “pastor-teachers”

·         The Greek construction puts the two words together.

·         Emphasizes the shepherd’s primary role:  teaching or feeding the sheep.

·         The verb form used three times in context of the church’s leaders:

·         John 21:16 – Christ demanded that Peter shepherd His sheep.

·         Acts 20:28 – Paul reminds the Ephesian elders that they are to shepherd the church.

·         1 Pet. 5:1a, 2a – Peter charged the elders scattered across Asia Minor to shepherd the flock of God.

 

·         Elder, overseer, shepherd, all refer to the same office and person: 

a)      The qualifications for an overseer (1 Tim. 3:1-7) and for an elder (Tit. 1:6-9) are almost identical.

b)      Paul tells Titus to appoint elders (1:5), then calls the same office overseer (1:7).

c)      1 Peter 5:1-2 brings all three concepts together into one office: “I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder … shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight….”

d)      Acts 20 uses all three terms interchangeably:

20:17   “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.”

20:28   "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.”

 

So the terms are used of the same office, and…

·         The term elder emphasizes his character—he is spiritually mature.

·         The term overseer or bishop emphasizes his function—he exercises oversight and supervision.

·         The term shepherd or pastor emphasizes his attitude—he has a shepherd’s caring heart.

 

“The term elder emphasizes who the man is.  Bishop speaks of what he does. And pastor (shepherd) deals with how he ministers.”

MacArthur

 

The NT pattern is certain and clear—a group of qualified men leading the church.  But is that pattern required for every church today?  Is it a mandate?

 

III.             The Arguments for a Mandate

 

A.     The Purpose of the Pastoral Epistles

·         They were written to church leaders with instruction about life in the church.

·         In 1 Tim. 3:15 Paul spells out the purpose: “in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”

·         Within the pastoral epistles the evidence is clear:  Paul is insisting on a plurality of leadership.

 

B.      Apostolic Authority 

·         The Twelve Apostles probably established elder rule in the Jewish churches (Acts 15:6).

·         James, the most influential leader in the Jerusalem church, expected elder rule in the Diaspora (Jam. 5:14).

·         Paul established elder rule in Gentile churches (Acts 14:23).

·         Paul commanded Titus to appoint elders in every church (Titus 1:5).

 

Conclusion

1.      If you already have a plurality of godly men leading the church, then this should serve as a great encouragement to you.

2.      If not, carefully study what the Scripture teaches about this crucial subject.  

3.      And if you determine your church’s government needs to change, pray for wisdom and move very slowly. 

·         The first step is to reestablish the sufficiency and authority of Scripture; remind your people that the Scripture must be obeyed, even when it means difficult change. 

·         Begin slowly and carefully to teach the biblical form of church leadership. 

·         Identify some men in the church who meet the biblical qualifications and begin to involve them in decisions. 

4.      It may take several years, but the day will come when your congregation will embrace the biblical pattern.

 

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Shepherd's Conference Collection" by:

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Appendix 1:

A Brief Bibliography

 

·         Adams, Jay E.  Shepherding God’s Flock.  Zondervan, 1975.

·         Bordwine, James E.  The Pauline Doctrine of Male Headship.  Westminster & Greenville, 1996.

·         Bromiley, George W.  The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.  Eerdmans, 1979.

·         Calvin, John.  Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion.  The Westminster Press.

·         Grudem, Wayne.  Systematic Theology.  Zondervan, 1994.

·         Harvey, Hezekiah.  The Church: Its Polity and Ordinances.  Backus Book Publishers, 1982.

·         Hay, Alex R.  The New Testament Order for Church and Missionary.  New Testament Missionary Union, Third Edition.

·         Hodge, Charles D.D.  The Church and Its Polity.  Thomas Nelson and Sons, Paternoster Row, 1879.

·         Lightfoot, J.B.  The Christian Ministry.  Morehouse-Barlow Co., Inc.  1983.

·         MacArthur, John.  The Master’s Plan for the Church.  Moody, 1991.

·         Mayhue, Richard.  From Congregational to Elder Rule.  Shepherds’ Conference Audio, 2002.

·         Saucy, Robert.  The Church in God’s Program.  Moody, 1972.

·         Strauch, Alexander.  Biblical Eldership.  Lewis and Roth Publishers, 1995.

·         Strong, Augustus.  Systematic Theology.  Fleming H. Revell Company, 1907.

 

Thanks.

 

HBTN

 

Mike Abendroth

www.nocompromiseradio.com

 

www.bbcchurch.org

 

Ephesians 3:21 auvtw/| h` do,xa evn th/| evkklhsi,a|

Thomas Watson, "[Jesus] alone is the Prince of Preachers.  He alone is the best of expositors."

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