Why We Do what we do

Eldership

Introduction

Here at Harvest Church this is how we 'do' eldership:
·    We have elders who lead the church
·    We have a group of elders, as opposed to a single elder
·    They are men, not women
·    They shape and teach doctrine
·    They oversee the affairs of the church as shepherds, not dictators
These things are not true of all churches, and you will find many variations on these themes in other churches. However, we believe these five aspects are what the Bible teaches on eldership.

Eldership Defined

The Old Testament mentions eldership twice as often as the New Testament – over 120 times. Eldership was an important part of Jewish society, and it was this body of men who directed the daily affairs of the people.
As the name suggests, the elders were the older men in each community, who, because of their age, were considered to have the most experience and wisdom.
Their roles included judging disputes, passing sentence on Law breakers, teaching, making decisions concerning local affairs, and they would sometimes be called upon to meet with elders from other communities to discuss wider issues.
Elders are mentioned in the Gospels several times, such as Matthew 16:21 - 

After Pentecost, the apostles had some run ins with the Jewish elders, such as Acts 4 where the elders commanded Peter and John to stop preaching about Jesus.
Eldership was a long-standing and widely accepted form of government and was so firmly established in Jewish society that it was perfectly natural for the early Church to adopt this form of leadership.
However, the criteria for becoming an elder changed. Rather than an elder being physically older than most, Paul states that an elder

“must not be a recent convert.” (1 Timothy 3:6)

he must be spiritually more mature than most of those he is leading.
The other criteria for eldership are found in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 & 2, and 1 Peter 5. Broadly speaking there are three areas into which these criteria fall:
1.     Personal Life - how does he lead himself?
2.     Family Life - if he has a wife and children, how does he lead them?
3.     Church Life - how does he lead the church?
 

 Personal Life

·      An elder must be ‘blameless’, ‘upright’, ‘holy’, ‘above reproach’ and 'must have a good reputation with outsiders.'
·      An elder must be 'self-controlled. . . and disciplined.'
·      An elder must be ‘temperate’ and ‘not quick-tempered’. - he must be stable, not given to extremes of emotion or behaviour.
·      An elder must be ‘respectable’ – he should be worthy of people’s respect.
·      An elder must ‘not be violent, but gentle’.
·      An elder must not be ‘quarrelsome’ - he shouldn’t be someone who goes looking for arguments and turns everything into a dispute.
·      An elder must not be ‘given to drunkenness’ - in fact an elder should not be given to any form of addiction. Addiction is slavery, and the elder should be a slave of Christ, and Christ alone.
·      An elder must not be ‘a lover of money – not pursuing dishonest gain’ and 'not greedy for money' – in fact an elder must not have any idol in his life, because they cannot, then, be truly serving God.
·      An elder must be “one who loves what is good.”

 Family Life

·      An elder must be the ‘husband of but one wife’ - the family is a great training and testing ground for eldership, so it is preferable for an elder to be married and have a family, simply because he can prove himself in this area. Divorced men who remarry are not excluded from eldership on the basis of having two wives, but it may be a sign of poor family leadership.
 
The term ‘husband’ and the gender of all language concerning eldership in the Bible is male, which points to this being a male role. This can be the cause of some controversy, as some suggest the is oppressing women, treating them as inferiors.
However, elders are not 'superior' to other Christians, rather they are supervisors - servants of the rest of the church. Men and women are different – physically and functionally – and eldership is simply a role given to men.
 
·      An elder must 'manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect,' and be one 'whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.' - elders should display the qualities of leadership required of elders within their family context, for

·      An elder must be ‘hospitable’

 Church Life

·      An elder must be 'able to teach', 'He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.' - he must have a good, firm grasp of sound Biblical doctrine and be able to teach and correct others in all areas of life
·      An elder must not be ‘overbearing’, and must 'not Lord it over those entrusted to them' – he must not abuse his role of supervising and overseeing the local church
·      An elder must be ‘eager to serve’ - however, he doesn't have to serve in every area of church life!
·      Elders should be ‘examples to the flock’
 

Plurality in Eldership

Whenever the Bible mentions elders, it is always a plural reference, unless a specifically named elder is being written about. The New Testament churches were lead by teams of elders and there is not even one account of a church led by a single leader – this was Paul’s policy when planting churches, and it was the policy he passed on to his successors.
Reasons for having more than one elder include accountability, complementary areas of gifting, less pressure on a single individual, greater pool of wisdom and experience, and the resulting church will be more balanced.
 

Roles of Elders

There are two other titles that are used of elders in the Bible:
·      Shepherds (or pastors)
·      Overseers
By unpacking these two titles, we can see the various way in which elders are called to serve the church:
·    Leadership: Shepherds lead their sheep, and overseers look ahead to see where they are going. In the same way the elders lead the church, looking ahead to see where God is calling them.
·    Feeding: Shepherds provide food for their sheep. The elders provide the church with the food of God's Word, both through teaching, but also through discipling - showing them how to read their Bibles and meditate on Scripture.
·    Caring: Overseers look out over the people, seeking out those who need special care and attention, and shepherds tend their sheep, caring for those which are unwell, finding those which are lost, comforting those which are nervous. In the same way elders look out for and care for those in the local church.
·    Guarding: Overseers look out for danger, and shepherds protect their sheep from thieves and wild animals. Elders guard the local church against those who come in to cause division or worry, looking to damage people’s faith and come against sound Biblical doctrine. Elders are also responsible for church discipline.
·    Uniting: Overseers, from their vantage point, see where there are people drifting, where there are factions and splits, where there is grumbling and discontent, and shepherds need to keep their sheep together or they will lose them. Elders need to protect the unity of the church, dealing swiftly and ruthlessly with anything that could damage it.
 
Eldership is a vital part of the local church and I ask you to remember to pray for your elders, submit to them, encourage them, and follow their example, remembering these words from the writer to the Hebrews:

 
If you have any questions about our understanding of Eldership or our practice of Eldership then please contact us.