i

Qualifications for Elder

by Wayne Rogers
T
he importance of the office of
Elder is everywhere evident in
Scripture:
1. The continuity of the office from
the O.T. into the N.T,
While men were called and
appointed to the specific offices of pro-
phet, priest, and king in the O.T., it is
the office of elder that is continued into
the N.T. as a particular office that is
still held by particular men. We recog-
nize that the three offices of prophet,
priest, and king converge and continue
in Christ, and also in all Christians in
some sense. But it is only the particu-
lar office of Elder that continues as a
specific office that is held by some men .
and not others.
2. The Pastor-Teacher was one of the
ascension gifts of Christ to His church
for her edification and perfection, Eph.
4:11-12.
3. The first business of the Apostles
3fter people were converted was the or-
of a church by the appoint-
ing of elders, Acts 14:23.
4. The high calling and qualifications
of Elders is emphasized in the N.T.,
Acts 20:28, I Tim. 3: lf. In I Tim.
5:22 Paul warns Timothy to not lay
hands too hastily on any man. The fact
that Paul indicates that the church is the
pillar and ground of the truth, I Tim.
3:15, certainly adds weight to the impor-
tance of the men who govern and over-
see the life of the church.
5. The prominence and position of the
Elders in the Book of Revelation, 4:4,
10, 11:16, indicates the importance of
the Elders in the plan and purpose of
God.
It is therefore vital for the life, In Ex. 18:17f Jethro counseled
witness, work, mission, and progress of Moses to appoint men to assist him in
the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ exercising leadership. Verse 18:21lists
that we give great consideration to the the qualifications, men who fear God, .
qualifications o,f the men who hold _ men of truth, those who hate dishonest
office. Election to the office of Elder gcrin; . It is not as though a list of
has degenerated into a means of fications had to be created for a new job
ing prominent men in the church. positiop. to be filled These were si.n).-
Churches elect men who may be s.uc- ply the characteristics of a mature
cessful in the business and professionill of God. Deut. 1:13 also mentions quali-
world, thinlcing that this qualifies them fications, wise, discerning men of ex-
to be an elder .in the church. It is cer- perience. Elders also appear parallel
tainly an honor to be elected an elder, with judges, rulers, and officers iq the
but that is not its purpose. Moreover, O.T., Deut. 16:18, 22:16.
because a man may be successful and Elders represented and were the cove-
prominent in the business or soCial nant heads of families who had the
community does not mean that he is . . . wisdom, discernment and experience to
called or qualified to be an elder. rule in the life of the people of God'as .a
community, socially, judicially, and
What are the qualifications for being an morally. They represented the goal of
Elder? life, to live all of life as men of God
I. Qualifications and the Origin of the
office.
The origin of the office in the O.T.
is important in understanding the qualifi-
cations for an elder. It is clear from the
O.T. that an elder was as a man of au-
thority, leadership, wisdom, knowledge;
and possessed the ability to rule ..
The word "elder" derived from one
who was in fact older or aged and was
therefore to be honored, Lev. 19:32 .
The implication was that he was a man
who had attained to a degree of wisdom,
knowledge, and proven leadership over a
period of time. There is no Biblical age
requirement that is stated or given. The
requirement is that a man possess . Ute
wisdom, knowledge, dignity, and re-
spect that is usually associated with old-
er men. Timothy was a younger man,
though entrusted with the spiritual wel-
fare of the church, I Tim. 4:12. While
"youth" is relative, nevertheless, by
N.T. &tandards Timothy was young and
not an older man.
created in the image of God, subduing
and bringing all things into submission
to the Lord their God, and they func.
tioned to bring the whole of God's com-
munity into comformity to the will of .
God. There is no reason to assume that:
the place, the function, and the
cations of these men has ceased in the
N.T. church or society of men. I
6: 1 f refers to the saints judging and ren-
dering justice in what would be cdJ}-
sidered civil matters today. '
U. The Qualifications and the Purpose
of me Office.
It should be evident that the
cations fit a man for a particular fqnc-
tion or task. It is important that we
consider the qualifications in the light
of that function and purpose.
Many churches consider the
function of the Elder and the Session is
to oversee the "minister," to act' as the
board of the Corporation to which the
CEO is accountable. Their central
tion then . is to supervise and approve
The Counsel of Chalcedon Jan.-Feb., 1990 page 17
Cbrlst Community CJturch, Presbyterian, IA:wrenceVille, Georgia
the work of the pastor. Others see the
office as one. of sitting to make busi ...
or organizational decisions once a
month. Since the church in O.T. and
N.T. days had no chOir, Sunday School,
youth, womens', or mens' organiza-
tions, this cannot be of the essence of
their work and purpose.
1be Elder is a bishop, an overseer,
Acts 20:17, 28. The Elder is the office,
bishoping is the function, overseeing.
Obviously, the primary concern of the
Elder is the spiritual nurture; govern-
ment and protection of the flock of
God. The Elder is a pastor, I Pet. 5:1-5.
Here, Peter, the Apostle, identifies his
own task as that of an elder in
herding the flock. Now, much more
can be said. I am only reminding you of
the broad. role of the elder in the light of
his qualifications. At least this much
can be said, that the task and purpose of
the elders was and is to shepherd and
oversee the whole of the life and faith
of the church. This is a spiritlial task.
It is the task of all the Elders to pas-
tor the flock, and not simply the Teach-
Elder. The Teaching Elder may
specialize in preaching and teaching,
and may labor as a full time calling.
However, all the elders are shepherds of
the flock. Therefore, again, the qualifi-
cations listed in I Tim. 3, for example,
are qualifications to shepherd and to gov-
ern the life of the church that she may
be the pillar and ground of the truth.
Never separate the qualifications from
the function which is often done in prac-
tice. Men .may be generally evaluated
or examined on the basis of the qualifi-
cations of I Tim. 3, but when elected
their functioning and task may have
little relationship. to their qualifications.
They become a corporation board of the
"Church plant"
ill. The Qualifications and the Calling
of the Elder.
. ' I ' . . - - .
Jn Acts 20:28, Paul says concerning
the Elders at Ephesus that they. have
been appointed, by the Holy Spirit It
was the Holy Spirit that made them
overseers. We must never lose sight of
this fact. Men. are called of God, quali-
fied by God, identified by the people of
Ood, and ordained by men of God. No
man should allow himself to .be elected
and ordained to office unless lie believes
that Ood has and gifted him for
the office. Indeed, Paul says that if a
man "desires" to become a bishop, it is
a good work that he desires. It is not
wrong to desire the office. Paul is ap-
parently responding to men who desired
to be teachers of the law, l Tim. 1:7.
Paul says that it is good to to be
a elder- but there are spiritual qualifica-
U9flS. Unless a man is truly willing
fore God to ser:ve as an elder he should
not. He should not serve simply be-
cat1se elected for the reason that he feels
it is such an honor, Nor should he say,
"Well, if I'm l will serve, but
only because you elected me." True; if
a congregation so c;ills a man, he
should give serious consideration to
this as a call of (Jod. But he must
approach it as a call of God and concur
in his own heart, and not sil;nply serve
because elected. He must even consider
the. motives and understanding of those
who elected him. Was their knowledge
and understanding of . what they were
doing based on. Biblical understanding?
Those who engage in the privilege
and responsibility of chasing elders
who will pastor them, must consider
The Counsel ()f Chalcedon Jan.-Feb., 1990 page 18
that theirs is a task of recogniZing those
whom God has called, gifted, and quali-
fied for the It is not a. personality
contest, . or, as we have said, a way to
honor a prominant man in .the church.
And, once elected, they must have the
attitude that God, the Holy Spirit. has
appointed this man to oversee the
church. Electing elders has been com-
pared to a woman choosing a husband.
She has the right to choose or to
respond to a proposal. But once she is
married, she must . now submit to his
headship. if she. is not will-
ing to submit to his headship, she
should not choose him . in the first
place! The Sjlllle is true with the elec-
tion of Elders. Do not elect someone
whom you cannot submit t6 as one
who is called of God and appointed by
the Holy Spirit.
IV; The Qualifications and the Maturi-
ty of the Eldet.
It is not my irttent or purpose to
give art exposition of the qualifications
listed in I Tim. 3.andTitus 1. This has
adequately artd amply been done by
marty men. I refer you to Lawrence
Byres' boOk, The Elders Of the ChUrch,
Presbyterian and Refotmed PubliShing
Co.; The Ruling Elder, Samuel Millet;
Presbyterian Heritage Publications, for
a couple. I simply want to make two
general observations in this connection.
1. These qualifications are a "must," l
Tim. 3:1. Paul says that the elder or
bishop, terms used interchangeably,
must be blameless. The word "must"
is the same word used by Jesus in John
3:3 where Jesus said "You must be
born again."
Many have ignored and
lessened the standards of elders by say-
ing, "Well, we .can't reaJJ.y expect arty
man to measure up to these standards. n
This is an absolute prostitution of the
church to deny these standards and to
elect any man as an elder who does not
fit the descriptiOn given by Paul.
Others elect men to the office
hoping that they will eventually attain
to the standards; that election to office
will encoli.tage them tb becotne mature.
This, also, is a prostitution of the Word
of God. Men must already evidence the
attainment and reality of these quaiities
in their life.
2. These qualifications are simply a
description of a man of God, a man
who has attained to the degree of
spiritual maturity that is the goal of
every Christian. In that sense, these are
qualifications or goals for every Chris-
tian, every man of God. A man can't
say, l don't intenl;l to be an elder
1
so I don't have to be a good ruler at
home, sober, etc." Paul is saying sim-
ply that in order to be called and quali-
fied, one must give evidence of already
having attained to those qualities thlit
mark a man who has matured in
faith.
Moreover, it is possible to simply
look at these qualifications as a check;
list, and evaluate men in general, with-
out seeing the overall intent. The point
of all these qualifJCations is that the.
man must be equipped for the job or
task to which called - that of ruling and
pastoring the people of God. He must
be mature and sound in the faith. It is
from this perspective that we discuss
and define the particulars that Paul has
listed.
Nothing is more important for the
life and progress of the Church of Jesus
Christ than the calling and work of the
Elder. There is nothing more important
that you will do as a Christian than
electing men to serve Christ as an El-
der. There is perhaps nothing more
harmful to the church than electing men
to this offiCe who are not called or
qualified by the Holy Spirit of God.
For the sake of the glory of God, the
growth of the chureh, the advancement
of His kingdom, let us seek and elect
men who are called and qualified by God
for the spiritual oversight and shep-
herding of the flock of God. .Q
This special
January-February issue
brings us to the end of the
eleventh year of
The Counsel
of Chalcedon.
Please pray for God's
continued blessings on
this ministry as we begin
our twelfth year with the
March issue.
The Meaning of Eldership
by R.I. Rushdoony
F
ew offices have deteriorated
more radically than that of the el-
er. Its original purpose has been
obscured, its functions lost, and its
purpose altered.
To understand the meaning of the of-
fice of elder, it is necessary to remem-
ber that the office was not created by
the church but taken over from the prac-
tices of Israel. As Morris has written,
"The first Christians were all Jews, and
it is a reasonable inference that they
took over the office of elder from the
Judaism with which they were familiar.
It will repay us accordingly to give
some attention to the Jewish elders.
"Those men were officials responsible
for the administration of Jewish com-
munal life. They had responsibilities in
both what we would call civil and eccle-
siastical affairs. Probably they made no
hard and fast distinction between the
two, for their law was the law of Moses
which deals impartially with both.
Moreover, their unit of organization
was the synagogue congregation, and
the synagogue, in addition to being a
place for worship, was a place of in-
struction, a school. The Rabbis dealt
with all manner of subjects. They did
not confine themselves to what we
would call religious matters, but laid
down regulations for the conduct of
civil affairs as well.
"The elders were elected by the com-
munity and held office for life. They
were admitted to their functions by a
solenm rite, which in New Testament
times was apparently an act of en-
thronement The laying on of hands
does not appear to have been practised
at this time, and it probably did not
make its appearance until the war of Bar
Kochba or later. . . . The function of
the elder was apparently centred on the
law. They were to study it, expound it
and deal with people who had offended
against it.
"There are obvious similarities between
this office and that of the first Christian
elders. The importance of this similari-
ty is heightened when we reflect that
the Christian Church appears to have
been regarded at first as a branch .of
Judaism. Her assemblies seem to have
been modelled on the synagogue pat-
tern. Any ter. male adult Jews could
form a synagogue. And it is probable
that the ftrst assemblies of Christians
were organized as synagogues. In fact
one is called by this very name in
James 2:2 and there is evidence that
The Christian congregations in Pale-
stine long continued to be designated by
this name' (J.B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's
Epistle to the Philippians, p. 192) ..
These would supervise the affairs of the
new society in the same way as Jewish
elders looked after the synagogue." 1
In to understand the Hebrew
background of the office, it is important
to recognize its origin in the family and
tribal structure of Israel. The elder, first,
was what the name indicated, an older
man in a position of authority. The
term elder was comparative, so it could
mean a man ruling over his household.
This head of the household, or of a
group of families, supervised the dis-
cipline and justice within his family,
its education, worship, and economic
support; he was also responsible for its
defense against enemies. Thus, very
clearly, law and order were basic func-
tions of the elder but in far more than
in a police sense, in that it was the
duty of the elder to train his charges
into a way of life. The concern of the
elder was thus religious, civil, educa-
tional, and vocational. He also provided
for the welfare of his household.
Second, elders formed the basis of civ-
il government. Since men who gov-
erned in so extensive a way their own
households were best trained to govern,
The Counsel of Ctlalcedon Jan.-Feb., 1990 page19