Elders: What Do They Do?

Introduction

There’s a story of an elder who went on a joy ride one Sunday afternoon. Suddenly, he noticed a police officer in his rear view mirror following him and waving for him to pull over. Once the elder had pulled over the police officer approached the car. The elder proceeded to roll down his window and asked, “Yes, officer. How can I help you?” The officer then noticed a clear glass bottle in the passenger seat with a clear liquid inside it. So the officer asked, “Sir, what’s in that bottle?” The elder replied, “Oh, that’s water, sir.” The officer said, “May I see it please?” The elder handed the bottle to him. The officer opened it up and smelled it and said, “Whew! That’s not water! That’s white wine!” Then the elder replied, “Praise the Lord! Jesus did it again!”

Taken quite a bit of material from Alexander Strauch’s book Biblical Eldership. The elders and I will actually be using this book to begin an elders Bible study in January. Encourage you to read this book.

1. Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:1-2a)

1 Peter 5:1–2a (NASB95)

Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you. . . .

Feed the Sheep

Teach Word of God, sound doctrine; one of the requirements to be an elder is the ability to teach (1 Tim. 3:2)

Some who labor at teaching, preaching are to be paid (1 Tim 5:17-18

1 Timothy 5:17–18 NASB95

The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”

Teaching and preaching God’s Word is so important that it must be taken with the upmost seriousness:

Correctly handle the Word of God: 2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

=> They know their Bible, biblical history, and theology well. They are not susceptible to following popular and culturally new interpretations. They are grounded in the faith once for all delivered to the saints. This is why knowing church history is important

Once had a professor who had a unique interpretation of a Romans 5 I had never heard before. I asked him where I could find some good resources of others who take this view so I could understand more deeply. His reply was that he knew of no one else who took this view. Problem!

Illustration of Homer Simpson

Sometimes, perhaps many times, feeding/teaching the sheep is not easy. We especially live in a time when many people are convinced that everything they believe and have ever been taught is true. This often makes the teaching responsibility of the elders-pastors difficult.

Sheep can be stubborn.

Illustration: Story about church member yelling “wrong!” In my first ministry as a youth minister over 20 years ago, I was teaching an adult Bible study on Wednesday evening.

Care for the Sheep

Love the sheep

Pray and visit the sick (James 5:14)

James 5:14 “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”

Knows strengths and weaknesses of the sheep, and then attempts to help with weaknesses and encourage and build the strengths.

Counsel those with spiritual issues and those who are engaged, married, or divorced, counsel those struggling with specific types of sins, comfort those who mourn, visit new members and visitors

Set an Example for the Sheep

In Character and Practice

This does not mean moral and behavioral perfection. Rather, what are the elders-pastors overall characterized by?

Qualifications in 1 Tim 3 and Titus 1: some use it as a strict checklist.

The idea is more along the lines of how the man is consistently like. Does he have a problem with fits of rage? Not a good example.

Does he have a drinking problem? No a good example.

Have you ever met someone, or do you know a person, who is just an all-around great guy? The exude love, gentleness, temperance, and self-control? They would give you the shirt off his back? Has an overall good family?

Elders-pastors do not just set an example in character and practice, but especially in exemplifying hard work.

In Hard Work

“Some people say you can't expect laymen to raise their families, work all day, and shepherd a local church. But that is simply not true. Many people raise families, work, and give substantial hours of time to community service, clubs, athletic activities, and/or religious institutions. The cults have built up large lay movements that survive primarily because of the volunteer time of their members. We Bible-believing Christians are becoming lazy, soft, pay-for-it-to-be done group of Christians. It is positively amazing how much people can accomplish when they are motivated to work for something they love. I've seen people build and remodel houses in their spare time. I've also seen men discipline themselves to gain a phenomenal knowledge of the scriptures. The real problem, then, lies not in men's limited time and energy but in false ideas about work, Christian living, life's priorities, and—especially—Christian ministry.” [Strauch, Biblical Eldership, 28.]

It’s all about sacrifice, not wasting time, and whittling down those things in life that are not necessary.

The elders-pastors ought to be showing by example what commitment to Christ and his church looks like: they are present at worship and Bible studies, evangelism and discipleship events. They show the sheep, the church, what it looks like to make Jesus and his church the priority in one’s life.

2. Oversee (1 Pet. 5:2b-3)

1 Peter 5:2b–3 (NASB95)

. . . shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.

Oversee = lead, direct, manage

Rule (1 Tim 5:17a)

1 Timothy 5:17 “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.”

Manage (1 Tim 3:4-5)

1 Timothy 3:4–5 “He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?).”

Notice that Paul says elders who rule well. What does it mean to rule well? The answer lies in what the Apostle Peter says in 5:2-3:

“. . . shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge

What do they manage?

Manage the Sheep

There is a reason why the term for elders is “pastor.” It denotes that they are like shepherds with their flock sheep. Sheep by themselves often get into trouble, and so they need a shepherd to lead and manage them.

Charles Jefferson, a popular pastor of the early 20th century:

“Sheep are not independent travelers. They must have a human conductor. They cannot go to predetermined places by themselves. They cannot start out in the morning in search of pasture and then come home at evening time. They have, apparently, no sense of direction. The greenest pasture may be only a few miles away, but the sheep left to themselves cannot find it. What animal is more incapable than a sheep? He realizes his impotence, for no animal is more docile. Where the shepherd leads, the sheep will go. He knows that the shepherd is a guide and that it is safe to follow him.”

[Charles Edward Jefferson, The Minister as Shepherd, 65, in Strauch, 25-26.]

Jesus, in fact, describes all of us as sheep who need a shepherd, a leader, a manager:

Matthew 9:36 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”

Application:

Contrary to what many may think, we need leaders. We need elders-pastors who have wisdom, knowledge, and gifts to give us guidance and lead us.

We need to recognize this. We need to be honest and humble enough to admit we need leaders who know more and have more wisdom than we do. And we need to be humble enough to submit to the elder-pastor leadership of the church as Scripture commands us.

There is a popular idea that we do not need leaders telling us what ought to be done, guiding us, or teaching us what the Bible says and how those who have gone before us have understood the biblical text.

Our American society has especially been baptized into this antiauthoritarian belief. Probably one of the pillars of American faith is the belief in self-autonomy, the right to guide our own lives apart from any external authority. Authorities, or those who lead or try to lead, know nothing more than we do.

Illustration: Christian comedian Tim Hawkins. He once said to the audience at his show, “I am just like you guys. You know, I’m not better than you and you’re no better than me. We’re all the same. I’m just another guy. There is no difference between us . . . except I have a mic and I’m standing on a stage, other than than that, there’s no difference between us.”

We laugh because we intuitively know that there is actually a difference between Tim Hawkins and the crowd: if there were absolutely on differences between him and the audience, then someone in the audience would be on the stage with a mic. Is it true that Tim Hawkins is just like everyone else? Sure. But there is also a difference. You and I are not comedians; he is.

And so we need to recognize that elders-pastors (leaders in the church) are just like everyone else, there is still a difference: they are in authority over church members to lead, guide, manage them.

Manage the Ministries

They are thinkers and planners. They have the ability to see where the church needs to go and how to get there, or at least think through how to get there.

They set goals, give direction and guidance, make decisions, manage finances and ministries of the church.

3. Protect (Acts 20:28-31)

Acts 20:28–31 (NASB95)

“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. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”

Correct False Teaching

Be alert, on guard!

Titus 1:9 “. . . holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”

“They must be aware of changing issues both in society and the church” (Strauch, Biblical Eldership, 19).

Elders who are not aware are the most dangerous:

Isaiah 56:9–12 NASB95

All you beasts of the field, All you beasts in the forest, Come to eat. His watchmen are blind, All of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark, Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber; And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied. And they are shepherds who have no understanding; They have all turned to their own way, Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one. “Come,” they say, “let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink; And tomorrow will be like today, only more so.”

Provide Discipline

Seek straying sheep

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”

Correcting bad behavior, giving consequences for bad behavior

1 Thessalonians 5:12 “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction.”

Instruction = “admonishment”

Matthew 18:15–17 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Providing church discipline is probably the most difficult task, and probably why many churches do not practice it. Who likes confrontation? And who really wants to take the chance that the disciplined church member will leave in anger and disgust?

Alexander Strauch: “Church leaders who fail to admonish God’s people because they are afraid that people will leave the church or stop giving financially dishonor God, disobey His Word, and fail miserably at spiritual care.” [Strauch, 169]

Application

Avoid Misconceptions of What the Elders Do

Serve as the board to the CEO Pastor

Serve as the Senate of the church

Do all the work of the evangelism and ministry (fulfill the task of deacons)

Serve as a personal waiter (taking complaints, implementing every idea you have—basically, serving as your representative)

Have Biblical Expectations of Them

Expect them to:

Shepherd:

(1) teach God’s Word (all of it) — if they do not, something is egregiously wrong. And we should keep in mind it is not just about the parts of Scripture they do preach, but the ones they ignore or never preach or teach. I.e., it’s not just about what they DO preach, but what they DO NOT and WILL NOT preach.

(2) love you (includes give counsel and guidance when needed, visit the sick, etc.)

(3) equip you to do good works and to do ministry, i.e., be an example to you

Hebrews 13:7 “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.”

Oversee (Manage):

(1) lead you, make hard decisions when they need to be made

(2) be fiscally responsible

(3) oversee the management of the facilities to be taken care of

Protect:

(1) By correcting false teaching

We may not like this. This may include at times calling out specific popular teachings we may have come to believe but are in fact false. May include referring to specific people who teach false doctrine.

This is not done to be mean to anyone, but to protect us from accepting teaching that could wreck our faith.

2 Timothy 2:16–18 “But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.”

Upset = “ruin”

1 Timothy 1:18–20 “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.”

(2) Practicing and applying church discipline

Not fun!

1 Corinthians 5:1–5 “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

Have Realistic Expectations of Them

They may be men of integrity, but they are not:

Morally perfect

Superhuman

Having their best life now

No one is! Everyone has his issues, and so do elders. Be gracious and merciful.