The Qualifications of Elders
25/10/09
Recap
So far in our series we’ve looked at the leadership structure contained in the New Testament.
Leadership is always about service, it’s never about power and control.
The New Testament describes 3 basic ways in which we serve in the church.
The first is the general service that is expected of all believers. Ephesians 4 mentions that the body of Christ grows to maturity when every part does it’s work. We are all to serve one another in love, and that service takes many different forms. I believe that service in any form is also form of leadership. It influences people. It affects things. When you read the Bible it is very clear that we all have a responsibility to be building one another up and leading each other in the ways of godliness. We are either leading people toward Christ or away from him. I really want you to understand this, otherwise we become too worried about positions that people hold instead of the way people live. We are all leaders, we all have influence and we are all called to lead well.
There have been many times over the years that my ministry here has been improved by the leadership of others in the congregation. And, to be honest, there are times my ministry has been hindered by the actions and attitudes of others. Things people have said and done, even down to the body language people display as they listen to a sermon – all of these things have either helped or hindered me.
Leadership is not a top-down thing. We all influence each other. We are all to serve each other in the way that we influence each other.
There are 2 more specific types of servant-leadership that the Bible describes. One is the role of Deacon, where there are particular tasks that are entrusted to people of demonstrated spiritual maturity and wisdom appropriate to those tasks.
The second type of servant-leadership is the role of Elder, which we talked about a couple of weeks ago and includes the general task of shepherding the flock, which is the local church. Specifically, that means guarding the flock, caring for the flock and leading the flock.
Today we are going to look more closely at the qualifications that are expected of an Elder. What sort of person should a congregation appoint to this role of oversight and nurture?
1 Timothy 3:1-7
Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap. [1]
Titus 1:5-11
5 The reason I left you in
10 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
What we’re going to do first of all is step through our reading in 1 Timothy 3, and we’ll refer to our passage in Titus 1 as appropriate as we look at each of the qualifications listed.
Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.
Here again we are reminded that to be an Elder is to serve, not to lord over others. To be an elder is to desire a noble form of service. The tasks of guarding, caring for and leading the flock are both joyful and solemn.
The NIV translation here raises a question: does “anyone” really mean “anyone”, or does it mean “any man”? In other words, should a woman also aspire to the task and office of Elder?
The Greek word itself does not specify any specific person or type of person, it’s meaning depends on the context. Some translations stick to “anyone” here because that is the most literal way of interpreting the word. Some translations say “any man”, because in the opinion of the translators, the passage as a whole is addressing men and not women.
I believe that both approaches are equally valid, but what I want to emphasise today is that whether your Bible says anyone or any man, it is a noble task that they aspire to do. However the task has been set aside for men to perform.
I’m going to give you a brief rundown of why we teach that…
First of all if you read in verse 2 we discover that the Elder must be “the husband of but one wife”, later on in verse 4 “he must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect”.
Similarly in Titus 1:6 we read that an Elder must be “the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.”
The most obvious conclusion here is that an Elder must be a man, since only a man can be a husband. Also as a father he is evaluated on the basis of how he has used his authority and discharged his responsibilities as a father as an indication of how effectively he will use authority and discharge his responsibilities as an Elder.
However, it can be pointed out that there are some assumptions that are being made or might be being made here. Some might argue that since infidelity was both more common and even acceptable practice for men, there was no need for women to be told to be faithful to one husband.
It could also be argued that perhaps Paul is simply assuming that Elders will be men, as almost all positions of authority in that culture were held by men. In that case, he is simply giving the standards necessary for those men, not teaching that it must only ever be men who hold those positions. Just as it is no longer culturally necessary for women to have covered heads in worship or for us to greet one another with holy kisses, it may not be any longer necessary to only have men functioning as Elders.
After all, Paul does not say an Elder must be a man, the husband of one wife. Rather, he seems to assume the Elder will be a man, in which case he should be the husband of one wife.
I want to point this out to you because it is very likely that as people come into our church family they will have questions about why we only have male elders. I want you to be comfortable with why some churches teach a different point of view than we do without labelling them as unbiblical, but I also want you to be convinced that the bible teaches that the role of elder is a role for qualified men only. I want to stress that there is no genetic superiority built into men that makes them better or wiser leaders. Being a man is no advantage or disadvantage as opposed to being a woman.
The reason we teach male leadership in the church and home is that we are convinced that is what the Bible teaches and therefore what God intends. We are blessed by obeying Him, not by pursuing what we might think of as a better way. God always knows best, whether we recognise that or not!
So why are we convinced the Bible teaches male eldership as an ongoing pattern rather than a pattern just for that time and place? We could have a long discussion on that but I’ll just give you the short version!
One of the key tasks of an Elder is to protect the flock. One of the ways this happens is that Elders keep a lookout for people who are teaching false doctrine or whose lifestyles are corrupting the church, and they provide the necessary correction.
Titus 1:9-11 describes it this way:
9 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.
10 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
When we did our series on the role of women in the church, we discovered that in Timothy chapter 2 and 1 Corinthians chapter 14 Paul expressly forbids women from this task. It is not appropriate for a woman to exercise authority over a man in this way.
Again some might say that this was due to the culture of the time in which Paul lived and wrote, and that things are different today. However we conclude, based on Paul’s reference to the created order and other biblical evidence, that this is in fact God’s revealed will for the Church and also for the Family. We believe that this is the wisdom of God for our good. It is not repression or control or abuse of power – although sadly some have warped it and made it an excuse for such ungodly behaviour.
If you want more information about why we have reached this conclusion I invite you to have a look at the series we did on that subject earlier in the year, or I can recommend some good books on the subject for you.
So to put it simply, an Elder must be a man, but what kind of man should he be?
Let’s trace through our passage:
2 Now the overseer must be above reproach,
This is how Paul begins his list of qualifications in his letters to both Timothy and Titus. It is the overarching statement, and the rest of the qualifications are just adding more detail to this one: An Elder must be above reproach, he must be blameless.
This is not the same thing as being perfect, which is what we often start thinking straight away. Any honest person reads this and thinks “Well that rules me out! I’ve made lots of mistakes, and I still have many struggles with my thoughts and desires and attitudes and actions. There’s no way that I am a perfect Christian.”
Don’t forget that there is no such thing as a perfect Christian, only a perfect Christ! Paul himself was very conscious of his own sins, and he didn’t hold back in pointing them out in others either!
Nevertheless as Titus 1:7 says: “Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless”.
Remember that the overseer is like the steward in the Master’s house. We are all servants, but the steward is the one responsible to make sure that all of us are doing our work as the Master requires. The buck stops with him. However the biblical pattern is that this responsibility does not rest on one man alone but on a group of qualified men in each congregation.
So if being blameless does not mean being perfect, what exactly does it mean?
The general answer to that is the same for Elders as it is for all Christians. To be blameless is to neither deny our sin or harbour sin (eg: 1 Jn 1:5-10). Rather, when we fall short we confess it and allow God to cleanse us in order to make us more like Jesus.
When a person does not respond to the inner conviction brought about by the Holy Spirit, it is the role of the Church to help them to come to that point of conviction and repentance. Usually this is done privately, but if they are determined to continue in sin the church must resort to dealing with the matter publicly in order to protect the purity of the church and help the person to be cleansed.
(Matthew 18:15-20, 1 Corinthians 5).
However if an Elder is found to be presently harbouring sin in his life, he must be rebuked publicly as a warning to others.
1 Timothy 5:19
19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20 Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.
An Elder is a role-model to the congregation and an authoritative witness to unbelievers. People judge the church much more stringently by the conduct of its leaders. Therefore when an Elder sins publicly he must be dealt with publicly. The word “sin” in verse 20 could perhaps be better translated “are sinning” which a number of translations do. Some translations use the phrase “persist in sin” or “continue sinning”. The idea is that if an Elder is harbouring sin in his life then he needs to be rebuked so that others may realise the seriousness of sin and may be aware that even Elders are not beyond the discipline of the Church. Of course, if the Elder does not repent then he could expect to disciplined in the normal manner, which would be to lose his position as Elder and also his membership in the church.
Where an Elder commits a public sin but confesses of his own accord or after being confronted about the issue, I would expect that he would have the humility and integrity to do so publicly so that everyone may be aware that the issue has been properly resolved and may be encouraged by the example of the Elder in response to his own mistake.
I have seen examples of Elder misconduct swept under the carpet in the mistaken belief that it would be harmful for people to find out that certain things have happened. Guess what – people know, and if they don’t know, they suspect! Secrecy goes hand in hand with hypocrisy, not with holiness. When Elders don’t confess their sins they actually become objects of reproach instead of being above reproach. People remember their wrongdoings and continue to associate those wrongs with the Elder concerned because they have never seen the wrongs dealt with properly.
An Elder needs to be blameless, and to be blameless we need to refuse to harbour sin in our lives, and we need to deal with it appropriately when it happens.
the husband of but one wife,
What does it mean to be the husband of one wife? Does it mean an unmarried man cannot be an Elder? Does it mean a widower who has remarried cannot be an Elder? Does it mean a divorced man, or a divorced man who has remarried cannot be an Elder? Does it mean that a polygamist cannot be an Elder?
The phrase translated as “husband of but one wife” literally says “a one-woman man”. In other words if he is married, as most men were, he must be faithful to his wife. Not only does this mean he must not be married to more than one woman and that he must not have affairs, but it means that his heart and affection must belong to one woman only. Jesus said that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt. 5:28). An Elder must be a one-woman man.
What about men who are single? Must they marry before they qualify to be Elders? Some groups would teach that, however I would find it strange that the Apostle Paul, who was single himself (2 Cor. 7:8) and encouraged others to remain single if that was God’s gift to them. It would be strange for Paul to recommend singleness as a way of being able to concentrate on the Lord’s work, but then forbid single men from the noble task of being an Elder.
What about a man who has been divorced? I know people who have really struggled with this question, and I have seen many different answers given. The Bible itself never prohibits a divorced person from holding a position within a local church. Some would say that we need to protect the reputation of the church by making sure that it’s leaders have never been divorced, which is something that God hates.
However, most people realise that we cannot judge a person solely on their history, particularly when we don’t know the full story leading up to and following after these sorts of events. I know plenty of lousy husbands who have never been divorced, and I know men who have given their best to the marriage only to wind up divorced. I know men whose lives were turned around by God after divorce and remarriage. We need to judge people by who they are now and what God has done in them, not where they came from.
An Elder must be a suitable example to the flock of what it means either to be married or to be single. It is possible for someone to be divorced and for God to do a work of teaching and restoring so that they become highly qualified to then be an example and a help to others. It is also possible that a previous divorce reveals a lack of maturity that has not yet been addressed and therefore disqualifies that person from serving as an Elder.
We need to be very careful that when it comes to selecting Elders that we look closely at their situation in marriage or singleness and see whether they are being suitable role models for others in that situation.
Close…. We’ll do the rest next week!
So how do we live by the Spirit? That’s the key question of the Christian life. We cannot do it on our own, we need God to work in us and through us.
In John 15 we find Jesus saying exactly this, and He uses the image of a vine and its branches. He says: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)[1]
To live by the Spirit means to remain in a condition of connection with Jesus. The Spirit will continually point us to Christ if we let Him. He will help us to talk to Jesus, listen to Him, love Him, obey Him, follow Him etc.. The Spirit loves to point us to Jesus and help us to live as Jesus did during His time on Earth (1 John 2:6).
The critical discipline of the Christian life is to carry an awareness of God with you in every part of life. We are to remain in Him – this means literally to dwell (abide) in Him.
There’s a great theme of abiding that flows through the Bible, but even in the previous chapter we find that God the Father abides in the Son and the Son abides in the Father (Jn 14:10). Not only that, but while Jesus abided with His followers for a time (14:25) the Spirit abides in us (14:17). It is the Spirit who enables us to abide in Christ.
So living by the Spirit means to abide in Christ and allow Him to produce good fruit in our lives. It is to have our whole lives oriented around a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, not excluding Him from any part of who we are or what we do.
More next week!
[1]All Scriptures from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984.
Leadership in the Church pt 2
The Ministry of Elders
11/10/09
Introduction
Last week I mentioned that when it comes to appointing Elders and Deacons for ministry, the Bible doesn’t give a detailed set of instructions for how to do it. What the God does emphasise in His word are the qualifications necessary for those who undertake such roles, and what those roles actually involve.
We’re going to start our exploration of the Ministry of Elders by looking at what that ministry entails, then we’ll get stuck into looking at the qualifications needed by those who are appointed as Elders.
We established last week that Biblical Eldership is a continuation of the Apostolic ministry. The Apostles – men who had been trained and commissioned for ministry by Jesus Himself – then set about establishing other leaders who would continue their ministry of spiritual leadership in the many locations in which churches were springing up, and also carry on from the Apostles as they died or departed.
There’s something that I need to make clear at the very outset though. The authority of the Apostles rested in their first hand experience of Jesus. They could teach and model the truth because it had been entrusted to them by Jesus. Today, the authority of Elders rests in their conformity to the written Word of God. The teachings and example of the Apostles have been preserved for us by the power and grace of God in the form of the New Testament, which follows on from the Old Testament in complete unity and harmony.
The word “apostle” simply means “sent one”. It describes a delegate, someone who represents another and carries their message. This phrase is used in the New Testament to describe people who were entrusted by the Church to take the message of the gospel out to others – people like Barnabas and Timothy. However when I use the word “Apostle” in the context of leadership I’m using capital “A” Apostle, if you like. I’m referring to only those personally sent by Jesus as His representatives. These men established the pattern for leadership in the Church, and they recorded for us all that we need to know in order for our church to be governed the way Christ intends.
What an Elder is to do and what sort of man he is, is completely determined by the Bible.
Let’s go through the biblical role description of an Elder, starting with a passage we referred to last week, Acts 20:28-31.
28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the
An Elder must never be complacent! They need to keep a careful watch on their own life and teaching to make sure that they are being faithful to Christ and His Church. The Church is under constant attack from our adversary, and we must be careful to recognise the things that are threatening our own purity and the purity of the church. Elders must protect the congregation, and they do this in 3 key ways:
· They teach the truth. They are always teaching the congregation the whole counsel of Scripture so that the people are equipped in order to handle every temptation, recognise every false teaching and do every good work.
· They model the truth. This is part of teaching, but it’s worth listing separately just to be clear. Teaching is not just what you say in Bible Study or from the pulpit or in conversations or meetings. Elders teach the truth in the manner of their lives. Their attitudes, speech, lifestyle, behaviours – in all of these things they show how to follow Christ. In this way false teachers are recognisable, because they live for their own glory and gain rather than the glory and gain of Jesus Christ as all true Elders do.
· They discipline the Church. We are all to be correcting and rebuking one another in love. In fact it is one of the healthiest things we do for each other, because before we can speak to someone else we must first examine our own lives (Luke 6:41-42) and give God the opportunity to work on us first. However Elders have a special responsibility to make sure that they are active in church discipline. They keep careful watch over their own lives in order to discipline themselves, and they keep careful watch over the lives of the congregation in order to help other members of the church to overcome sin and error. The church has been bought with the precious blood of Christ, so we must not become complacent about sin.
Paul urged the Ephesian Elders to “Be shepherds of the
In 1 Peter 5:1-4 we read…
To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
In this passage Peter stresses the servant nature of an Elder’s ministry. Elders are called not to lord it over others, but to serve them in love. Being an Elder is hard work, just as Paul described to the Ephesian Elders in Acts 20. The authority of an Elder is not given to him in order for him to lord it over others, always getting his own way because he knows best. Rather, his authority is what enables him to serve effectively.
Peter reminds the Elders that they are to be willing to serve as God wants them to be (v.2) and that Christ the Chief Shepherd will appear and their work for Him will be rewarded on that day.
In these 2 ways Peter stresses the accountability of Elders to God for the manner of their service.
The two main ways of caring for the needs of the flock were mentioned in Acts 6 – the ministry of the word and prayer. Praying for and with believers is an important part of an Elder’s ministry. In James 5 prayer for the sick, along with anointing with oil, is specifically mentioned. When we look at the letters of Paul we can see how much he invested in praying for Christians and churches, and that is an important aspect of every Elder’s work. One of the greatest dangers in the church is a reliance on ourselves rather than on God. It is particularly important that our leaders understand our complete dependence upon God and always be seeking Him in prayer. Elders care for the flock by praying.
Secondly the ministry of the Word describes not only teaching the word but applying the Word to every aspect of church life. Helping people individually and the church corporately to stay true to God’s revealed truth and will for us is a core responsibility of Elders. An Elder must love God’s Word. He must study it, meditate on it, memorise it and apply it regularly. This is all hard work, but it’s essential work in order to be men of spiritual maturity and to be able to care for the spiritual needs of the flock and be an example to them.
In verse 3 Peter said that Elders should not lord it over those entrusted to them. In other words, they should not misuse the authority they have over those in their congregations. In Titus 1:7, Elders are described as “God’s Stewards” (Funnily enough, my two favourite translations don’t bring this idea out very well!). The word translated in the KJV & NASB as “steward” and by the NCV as “manager” has the idea of being the person – most probably a slave – in the household who is not the master but has been given responsibility by the master to oversee the running of the household. The Good News Bible words it like this “For since a church leader is in charge of God’s work…”[2] which is a simple but clear way to put it. The NIV says “Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work”, which is OK, but we tend to think of it as they are being entrusted with their own work, but the sense of the word here is that they are being entrusted with the work of the household, which is the church.
In 1 Timothy 5:17 we read…
“17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.”
As you can see by these verses, Elders are to lead – to rule over and direct - the congregation.
In Hebrews 13:7 we hear about the leadership role which is exercised by their teaching and example, and we are urged to remember and consider these things and imitate their faith.
7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith
A little later on in verse 17, we are told to… “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
In other words, Elders lead not only by teaching and by example, but in the careful exercise of authority as people who have been entrusted with the care and oversight of the flock. Elders are accountable to God for how they lead, members of the congregation are accountable for how they obey their leaders. That’s not an easy thing to stomach sometimes! I’m reminded of that great phrase in 1 John 4:20 that says: “For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen”. I think the same principle is true of many other things as well. How can we say we serve God if we do not serve others? How can we claim to obey God if we will not obey our earthly leaders – both in society and in the church? God has told us to submit to both under the Lordship of Christ!
It’s one of the reasons that it is so important for children to learn to respect and obey their parents. A child who does not do this for their parents is going to have a hard time learning to do it for God!
Elders also must obey and submit. Their obedience, like all of us, is first of all to God. Secondly they come under the authority of His Word, like all of us. Thirdly, they come under the authority of Earthly government, like all of us. Finally, they come under the authority of Elders, like all of us! What does that mean? Simply that the Bible always commands a plurality of Elders leading a church. Any time you have more than one person in a team, you’re going to need to have submission!
I’ve been in Eldership meetings where particular Elders have had an opinion on something but changed their minds as the issue was discussed biblically and prayed about. I’ve seen other issues passionately debated, and in the end some Elders have agreed to support a decision that they still did not agree with. They’ve done this because they don’t want to get their own way, they want to see God’s will done. And while most of the time it is possible to work things through biblically and come to a consensus, sometimes you need to trust that God is guiding the majority when you’re in the minority! Sometimes that shows a work of character-building that God is doing in you to check that you’re not a person who demands to get their own way – a fatal condition for an Elder to be in, both for him and for the church.
So obedience and an attitude of submission are essential qualities in the Christian life, and we must have these toward Elders as they direct the affairs of the church and as they watch over our lives.
Conclusion
So that’s the job description for Elders! They are to:
· guard their own lives and the lives of the flock
· care for the needs of the flock
· lead the flock
They fulfil each of these tasks through prayer, teaching, example and leadership.
I want to close with 1 Timothy 3:1
“Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.”
I want to encourage all of the men of the congregation: set your hearts on being overseers. Don’t desire the title or the authority, desire the task! Pray, study God’s Word, teach, set a good example – these are things that all Christians should do! As you do these things you will become a fit person to handle the authority that comes as the congregation recognises the work of God in you and appoints you as an Elder, giving you the opportunity to be even more effective in your labours for the church, for the glory of Jesus Christ.
The classic text when it comes to understanding the roles of Deacons is found in the book of Acts 6:1-7…
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in
The interesting thing about this text is that it does not mention Elders or Deacons! It mentions 12 men who had the responsibility pray and teach and 7 men who were given responsibility to overlook the daily distribution of food to widows who were in need.
This passage is important because it describes for us the way that the first leaders of the church – the 12 Apostles – delegated some of the tasks of ministry so that they were able to focus on the task that they had been entrusted with – prayer and the ministry of the Word.
As God continued to grow the Church under the guidance of the Apostles these ministries became better defined as the roles of Elders and Deacons.
By Acts 11 we read of Elders in the Church at
In Acts 14:23 we read that as they returned from their first missionary journey, “Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.”
In Acts 20:17-38 we get a great picture of this process of the Lord’s Apostles handing over responsibility for spiritual leadership to Elders – men who had not been appointed by Jesus personally as the Apostles had, but rather men who had been appointed to leadership because of their maturity, holiness and firm grasp of right doctrine.
17 From Miletus, Paul sent to
22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to
25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.
28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the
32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36 When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
This passage teaches us a lot about the ministry of Elders, which we won’t explore in detail today. I want to just pull out some of the big ideas though. You can see in this passage that Eldership:
· Continues the ministry of the Apostles in the teaching and governing of the Church. (Interestingly, the Apostle Peter calls himself a “fellow elder” when writing to Elders in 1 Peter 5:1. The Apostle John simply calls himself “the Elder” in the letters of 2nd and 3rd John).
· Follows the example and teaching of the Apostles ministry (v. 18-26)
· Involves watching over their own lives first and the lives of those who God has entrusted to their care (v. 28)
· Involves guarding the church from error and attack (vv. 29-31)
· Is hard work! (v. 35)
So getting back to Acts chapter 6, let’s apply the pattern of what happened in that situation and apply it to our own context.
As the church in
So in this particular situation, which was to do with financial administration and distribution of food, the Apostles invited the church to bring forward 7 trustworthy men, who the Apostles then commissioned for that task, giving them the authority to carry it out. Notice that the Apostles specified for the church to choose men “Full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom”. In other words men of demonstrated spiritual maturity and the discernment necessary to make good decisions in carrying out their role.
Over time the word “Deacon” was applied to people serving in these recognised capacities within the church. Deacon simply means “Servant”. Of course we are all servants of Christ and of His Church. We are all to serve one another in love, and we have all been shaped by God in order to do good works which will build up the Church.
So the word deacon is applied in Scripture both as a verb – an action word describing what people do; and a noun – a title given to people who have been recognised as having a particular role in serving the Body.
It’s important to recognise that the Apostles apply the word “deacon” to themselves also in this passage. In verse 2 they say it would not be right for them to neglect the Word in order to serve tables – that’s not their area of service. In verse 6 they describe their area as prayer and to serve, or minister, the Word.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:5
“There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.”
Paul calls himself a servant (deacon) of the gospel in Ephesians 3:7, and there are many other references that we could look up where this word is being used.
So what does this actually teach us about the role of Deacons in the church?
Simply this, that we all have different areas of service, and that it is important for our leaders to be able to delegate responsibility to other believers who demonstrate suitable Christian character and suitability for the tasks which they will be given responsibility for.
In our church, we have a Deacons Board which serves the church by looking after administrative matters which are mostly to do with finances and property. Other people serve as deacons – but without the title – in areas such as overseeing children’s ministry, youth ministry, music ministry, ladies ministry, missions and so on. These must all be people full of the Spirit and wisdom, appropriate to their specific roles. We would not want a spiritually immature or unwise person serving in any of these positions, which is why we have a formal process of appointing people to those roles. I wonder if it would help us to understand the spiritual significance of these roles if we were to hold a commissioning service in a similar way to that which we see in Acts 6 where people appointed to these roles are consecrated for ministry by prayer and the laying on of hands by the Elders.
Other churches have different ways of organising the ministry of Deacons. For example in some churches the Deacons Board consists of people who are in charge of different ministry areas in the church who do not often meet together. They may have a finance team, property team, children’s ministry team, worship team and so on, and the leaders of these teams meet together every so often to talk about resourcing and other issues that they have in common.
However it is that we organise our Deacons – the main thing to keep in mind is that being a deacon means being a servant. It is not a title to pursue. It is not an office by which you get to have a say in what goes on. It is being entrusted by the congregation to serve faithfully in a particular area.
Likewise, being an Elder is also being a servant, but where deacons can be appointed to serve in whatever areas the church has need, Elders have a very clearly defined role in Scripture, and must be careful to not let anything deter them from fulfilling that Scriptural mandate.
So to wrap up the different roles, we could summarise to say that Elders have governing authority in the church and are to watch over it as under-shepherds to Jesus Christ. Deacons are people who have been entrusted with a particular responsibility within the church and have been given the authority necessary to carry out that responsibility.
How should we appoint people to these roles of service?
It should be remembered that it is God who divinely appoints people for roles of service. Our task is to recognise people who God has gifted, matured and ordained for particular roles within His Body.
In Acts 14 we read that Elders were appointed by the Apostles Paul and Barnabas in every town where there had been a church established. It should be noted that the Greek word being used does not tell us specifically how they did it. They may have elected the elders by mutual consent between themselves, or they may have had the congregation elect the elders and then ordained them in a similar way the first deacons were ordained in Acts 6. Acts 14:23 tells us they did this with prayer and fasting, such was the seriousness of the responsibility entrusted to these elders to watch over the fledgling churches.
It’s worth noting that Paul & Barnabas appointed these Elders on their return trip, passing through churches that had already been planted and had an opportunity to grow under their own supervision. In such circumstances, men who held on to the true teaching of the Apostles and who showed transformed character would have had a chance to become easily identified.
The lists of qualifications for Elders and Deacons are found in the letters written to Titus and to Timothy. Paul wrote to these men to help them teach the churches they were responsible for how to identify suitable candidates for these ministries. It’s possible that Timothy and Titus simply appointed Elders and Deacons with the Apostolic authority that had been delegated to them by Paul in keeping with his instructions, but it’s equally possible that their task was more to supervise the process and make sure the churches knew what sort of people they should be appointing to the roles.
In our church, we invite members of the congregation to identify people suited for service as either an Elder or Deacon, and with that person’s consent to nominate them to serve in that capacity. The nomination then must be approved by the Elders, since Elders by virtue of their ministry may be aware of issues that may render a person unfit for a particular role. If the nomination is approved, it is brought before the church at a members meeting so that the whole congregation has an opportunity to express their confidence in the character and calling of the person. Deacons serving on our Church Board are elected for a 3 year term, while other positions of recognised service are renewed annually.
The role of Elder is not for a defined period, but for life unless an Elder disqualifies himself by his conduct or else chooses to resign the position for some other reason.
[1]All Scriptures from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984.
Aim for Perfection pt 5
1 John 1:9 promised that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”. How does God purify us from unrighteousness?
We already know that we have been purified legally – we are no longer guilty of our crimes against God – and we have been purified relationally – sin is no longer a barrier between God and us. The purification (cleansing) referred to in this verse is the final step in the process: effectual purification. This is the work that God does in getting sin out of our lives completely. It is the process of refinement that He is undertaking in every Christian in order to present us as a pure Bride (see Ephesians 5:25-27).
Remember we are purified legally once for all as believers in Jesus. We are purified relationally as soon as we confess our sin to God. We are purified effectually as we allow God through His Spirit to change us from the inside out.
In Psalm 51 we hear David’s confession to God for his sins of adultery and murder. It’s a great example of confession that I have personally found useful to use as my own prayer to God. In verse 10-13 he says: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.”
We don’t become more holy by our own efforts, but by allowing God to make us holy. He is the One who creates a clean heart (desires & attitudes) within us through His indwelling Spirit. As Paul writes in Romans 7&8, our own efforts are never enough. It is the Spirit who frees us from condemnation and transforms us to be more like Jesus.
Confession of our sin restores our relationship with God and puts us in a position where He can cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
What standards do you set for yourself when it comes to how well you are living the Christian life? It is so easy to compare yourself to others, which is a very convenient comparison since we always judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves! Jesus tells us to “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48), and Paul prayed for the perfection of the saints (2 Cor 13:9). That set’s the bar pretty high doesn’t it!
Hebrews 10 reminds us that we have been made perfect in Christ, but we are also being made perfect in Christ. The first is what Jesus has done for us through His death and resurrection, the second is what is happens as we allow Him to work in us through His Spirit to help us receive what we have already been given. The two go together. If you have been made perfect (you have been saved by grace through faith), then you will show signs of being made perfect (growing in holiness and maturity). Hebrews 10 and other passages confront us with this truth – if there is no sign of being made perfect (a change in lifestyle that we can all see), then you have not been made perfect (a change in spiritual condition that only God sees).
This is not salvation by good works, it is salvation producing good works. Genuine salvation always produces transformation. The question is, how holy is holy enough? How many good works are enough? Is God being realistic when He commands us to aspire to perfection? We’ll explore that over the next few weeks!
Aim for Perfection pt 2
“…by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” – Hebrews 10:14
As we looked at last week, in Jesus we have already been made perfect through His death on the cross to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But we are also being made perfect as He continues His work of changing us so that we can live up to what we have already been given (Php 3:16).
The passage in Hebrews 10 continues…
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
Verse 16 is a quote from Jeremiah 31 which prophesies that a time would come when God would indwell His people through His Spirit, so their relationship with Him would not be based on their obedience to the Law, rather our obedience to the Law would be based on our relationship with God. We can’t keep God’s laws by ourselves, we can only do it as we live by His Spirit (Rom 1 – 8). If we are to live the lives that honour God, build up His people and witness to others we must learn to live by His Spirit – to hear His gentle voice instructing, correcting, convicting, comforting, encouraging and so on. Notice that God’s laws then become applied both in our hearts – the desire to please God; and our minds – the knowledge of how to please God. We need both.
You can check your own life to see how well you are living by the Holy Spirit by looking at the descriptions found in Galatians 5:16-26. Next week we’ll look at what we need to do when we discover that we are falling short of that standard.
Aim for Perfection pt 3
Last week we looked at the promise quoted in Hebrews 10:16 -
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
God has done this through the Holy Spirit who lives inside all believers, convicting us of sin, instructing us in righteousness and replacing our sinful desires with godly motives. It is by receiving this ministry that we grow closer to perfection in Christ. But what happens when we fail to live by the Spirit and instead indulge our sinful natures? The passage continues:
17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
It’s important to recognise first of all that our failings as Christians cannot separate us from God. God has forgiven us once and for all – Christ’s sacrifice was enough to cover our sins past, present and future and God as the righteous Judge has already chosen to forgive us. Our eternal salvation is secure. This is not a license to sin, as the Bible describes that the desire to live a righteous life is evidence of genuine faith – it is impossible to have proclaimed Jesus as Lord if there is not an accompanying attitude of obedience. The sins of a genuine believer do not affect the fact that we have “been” saved, but they do affect how we are “being” saved. More on that next week!
Aim for Perfection pt 4
We established last week that the sins of a genuine believer cannot separate them from God, but they do affect the work of God within us and through us. It is impossible for a true Christian to be content to harbour sin in their life, since it goes against the very nature of the One whom we call Father in Heaven, the One who is Saviour and Lord and the One who lives within. A classic text that deals with this is 1 John 1:5-10…
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
When God through His Spirit convicts us of sin, our responsibility is to confess it – to own up to what God already knows. When we do that, God forgives us – not in the sense of restoring our salvation, we discovered last week that He doesn’t save then condemn us, it’s a once for all thing. He knows those who are His. This type of forgiveness is where the problem of sin in our relationship with God is dealt with and removed. Until we own up to it, it is a problem that creates a barrier in our relationship with God and produces evil effects in our lives. God must address it through discipline if we will not respond to the quiet voice of the Spirit or the ministry of the saints in bringing conviction.
However once we stop trying to hide our sin and bring it out into the open for God to deal with, He forgives us and purifies us. The victory that Jesus won over sin and death becomes applied to our lives – sin no longer has any control over us. More on this purifying work next week!
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