The Qualifications Of An Elder

Good Morning!

I don’t know how your week has been, but mine has been a little nuts.

Busy to say the least and I am thankful to be starting a new one.

Hopefully, it will start with a little snow!

As you guys know, I have a tendency to try to cram too much into the time that I have.

I thought that I would be able to close out our study on eldership this week, but I don’t think it is fair to us or the material.

It is more important that we understand than it is that we move quickly.

I’m going to add a few more Sundays in this study so that we can take our time.

The why, what, and how of eldership are the foundation of how we operate as a church.

For that reason, I want take the time necessary to explain why God choose this leadership style, what the expectations are, and how we go about appointing elders.

The last two Sundays covered the why.

Let’s take a moment this morning to review so that our hearts and minds are back in that place.

As we begin talking about what the expectations are, we need to have our thoughts and hearts in the why.

This allows our perspective to remain in the correct place.

Many of us used to have our minds rooted in legalism and when we see a list, it is all too easy to revert to our legalistic view of scripture.

All of these things that Paul is talking about are firmly rooted in love and are the outworking of the Holy Spirit.

So, can we all agree this morning that as we dig into qualifications, we are going to remember that it is only through the power of the HS, that we could even begin to fulfill them?

Okay, good. I will also remind us of this repeatedly to make sure.

Two Sundays ago, we looked at the historical context of elders.

At the beginning of scripture, we see them based on family structures.

The eldest of the family was given the role with the expectation that he would care for and advise the family.

The relationship between the elders and their family members was the foundation that ensured that all parties were acting in ways that benefited everyone.

During the Babylonian exile, due to death and the strategic separation of families and leadership structures in order to subdue Israel, the role of the elder was changed.

Instead of the elders coming from families, they were appointed based on political power and wealth.

The relationships that kept everyone acting in love, were no longer there and the role became aristocratic.

That led to the abuse of power.

We saw Jesus often address elders with the Pharisees when rebuking them for leading people astray.

After Jesus’ death, as the new church was being established by the Holy Spirit, God chooses to re-invent the role of elder.

God used a well-established leadership construct to oversee the church.

Rather than the elders being appointed based on worldly positions or accomplishments, God gave a specific set of qualifications that should be seen in the lives of an elder.

Last week we picked up at this point and looked at 1 Timothy 3:1 to understand what it means to “aspire” and “desire” to be an elder.

1 Timothy 3:1 CSB

1 This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.”

We need to understand what Paul is telling Timothy because the motivation behind why someone becomes an elder is important.

We saw that when we looked at the historical context.

When the position was founded in love found in close relationships, it was good.

When the positions were founded in worldly positions, talents, or possessions, it was not good.

In the early church, there was a need for leadership that was pursuing God.

This ensured that those men’s interests were founded in love for the father, and for their new family, the church.

When we read this first verse of 1 Timothy 3, we see that Paul is telling Timothy to find men who were progressively moving forward in their relationship with God.

He wasn’t saying to find men who had already accomplished these things.

The only one that was able had already come to earth to live, die, and rise again.

Timothy was looking for men who desired to know and obey God no matter the cost.

These were to be the men that would oversee the church.

God desires men who have a heart for Him.

We looked briefly at 1 Peter 5:1-5 and saw that Peter tells us that elders should exhibit three specific characteristics.

First, they should serve willingly.

Not because they are required or feel like they should.

They are to led the church, as Christ did, out of love.

Second, they should lead as God would have them.

Again, like Christ, they do nothing on their own, but only what the father would have them do.

And thirdly, they should be an example to the flock.

When the church looks at these men and the relationship that they have with God, it should inspire them to pursue God in the same way.

Being an elder is a big deal to God and it is a big deal to us.

That is why we want to take our time and make sure we are appointing the men that God is calling us to appoint.

This is also why our by-laws require that an elder must be a member for three years before they are eligible to serve in this role.

It is to make sure that they know the church and that the church has had time to know them.

It establishes the all so important relational element of the elders to the church.

I have been asking you guys to be praying about who God is calling to fulfill this role in addition to Ben and myself.

I was able to go to two of the life groups this week and share with them two men that God has been pointing the elders too.

I want to share this with you so that you can continue to pray for them and I want you all to be a part of this process.

I was at the LG that Jacob Crump leads and he has already shared with them that God has been speaking for some time that He was calling Jacob to be an elder.

I also shared that God told Glen and I to ask Carey Westbrook to pray about being an elder.

Carey has been and God has confirmed to him that he should move in that direction.

I know that none of you are surprised that God would be calling these two men.

In sharing that with the group, Debi Upshaw told me that she has been praying and God also told her that He was calling Carey.

The funny thing is, she told me that she doesn’t really know Carey very well.

To me, that was a great confirmation because she wasn’t choosing Carey based on what she knows of him.

His merit isn’t in what Debi knows.

His merit is in God was speaking to her.

How cool is that!

Now, God may call others, but at this time, these are the two that I know of.

As we begin looking at the qualifications, we need to understand something.

These qualifications are not just for elders.

This is what all believers should be striving towards.

All of us, as members of TGP, have committed ourselves to know God progressively.

Our Mission is to know God, more progressively every day, and to help others to know God in the same way.

As we move through these qualifications, we should all ask God to show us where we are weak and in need of correction.

The love of God is our motivation to be like him, not a set of rules and regulations.

As we are praying about these things and praying over those that God is calling to be an elder, we should ask God to give all of us a desire to be more like Christ.

We are in this together.

All of us are in the same condition, we are sinners that have been saved by the grace of God alone.

We cannot work on ourselves, trying really hard, to be more like Christ.

If you look at this list and think you can accomplish it on your own, good luck and I’ll be there for you when you crash.

Also, if you look at this list, and think that they don’t apply to you because God isn’t calling you to be an elder, you have missed the point.

Let’s read 1 Tim 3:2-7 together and then we will work through a bit of it.

1 Timothy 3:2–7 CSB

2 An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy. 4 He must manage his own household competently and have his children under control with all dignity. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and incur the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the devil’s trap.

Paul begins his description of what an elder should aspire to.

Please remember that aspire means that we are striving towards these and relying on the Holy Spirit to accomplish the work.

Paul uses a very general term to set the tone for all the rest of these qualifications.

An elder should be above reproach.

We see this same blanket term in Titus 1:7.

Titus 1:7 CSB

7 As an overseer of God’s household, he must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money,

When someone looks at the life of a believer, there should not be some glaring area that would make it weird that they call themselves such.

I’m sure we can all think of examples of this, but I don’t want to point fingers or make fun of anyone.

Also, I’m not thinking of anyone in this room, just for the record.

I’m just saying that we have all meet someone that professes to be a believer and we think, “wait, what?!”

The overall evaluation of someone's life should give no opportunity for someone to say they are unfit for church leadership.

This qualification points us to look at the character of the man.

When we look at an elder’s life as a whole, we should see that progressive movement toward God.

The next thing that Paul tells us is one that has been interpreted in different ways, but I want to look at the heart of what he is saying.

Paul’s words, “The husband of one wife” can literally be translated as “a one-woman man”.

Paul was dealing with a culture of polygamy and other immorality issues and those things would not be representative of God’s love for his people.

Therefore, Paul is telling us that…

An elder should be committed to his wife.

As an under-Shepard of the church, we should love as Christ loves.

We can see the sentiment that Paul is using by looking at Eph 5:25.

Ephesians 5:25 CSB

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her

God has used marriages over and over in scripture to communicate His love for his people.

Paul wants the church to know that in order to lead, an elder should love his wife as Christ loved His bride (the church).

That covenant relationship with his wife will show other believers and unbelievers the love of Christ for the church.

We all know, especially in our culture, that there are many that separate from their spouses.

Sometimes, it is a matter of life and death or something equally as serious.

However, there are far more than simply give up and decide to separate.

When a husband and wife enter into a covenant marriage with one another, love well, and work through all their struggles, it shows the world that it is possible to experience true love.

It’s easy to give up, but it is difficult to stick to it and work through problems.

One of the best examples we can ever give to anyone about the love of God is, to be honest about our marriages, struggles, and all, and role model working through those issues.

One of the best gifts I’ve ever been given was Bethany telling me that she had already forgiven me for anything I would do in our marriage.

Which just shows you how well she knew what she was getting herself into.

Marriage is incredible, but it does have times that are hard.

When a man and women, who have never had to think about anyone but themselves 24/7, all of the sudden have to think of someone else 24/7, there are growing pains.

The same is true when someone becomes a believer.

Everything about their lives changes and it would be easy to just give up and go back to the ease of living for yourself.

All of us need encouragement to persevere in living in obedience.

What I have discovered to be true of both marriage and in my relationship with God is that it gets more incredible every year!

It only gets better because in both cases, the Holy Spirit is making us more like himself.

In doing so, we are able to love like the father.

This is what is important to Paul, that we are role modeling covenant living in our relationships.

An elder should be self-controlled, sensible, and respectable.

Someone was telling me recently about a church they use to attend whose pastor would yell at and use very unkind language toward the other leaders.

This is the very thing that Paul is trying to prevent.

As I mentioned last week, there are many that seek a place of power and authority and unfortunately, they often find it in the church.

If someone aspires to be an elder, how they handle difficulties is significant.

An elder should not act in a rash way, but be level headed and able to control himself.

Paul is speaking of someone who has sober and balanced in Spirit.

This is a person that is able to control himself and his emotions.

All three of these words point towards an orderly life, both inside and out.

If an elder’s life is not orderly then he will not be able to lead the church in an orderly way either.

Again, we are directed to look at the character of the elder that is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work in his life.

Galatians 5:22–23 CSB

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

I keep saying this in different ways because it is so important.

No one is qualified, in their own power and abilities, for this role.

It is only because of God’s grace and the through the Holy Spirit that we can be anything other than wretched.

Everyone gets upset, angry, stressed, sad, etc, but how we handle those emotions matters because as under-shepherds, we are representing Christ.

The next item on the list is similar because with self-control comes the ability to be self-giving.

An elder should be hospitable.

Paul is talking specifically about other believers.

There were not five or six hotels in every town like there are these days.

Even if they were, they were dirty, unsafe, and unsavory.

This meant that when traveling, a person would need a place to stay, take a meal, and rest before beginning again the next day.

Romans 12:13 CSB

13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality.

Paul is telling the church that when you find a stranger in need, specifically other believers, provide what they need.

Give them a place to stay, food to eat, and a warm, inviting atmosphere in which to enjoy those things.

This was a serious need in the early church and without this practice, the church would not have expanded as it did.

An elder must be willing to take others into their home, even if they don’t need a meal or place to sleep, his home should be a place of warm reception.

This is an area that I really enjoy and one of my favorite times of hosting someone is when Kenneth and Kristi Williams came in to visit our church.

Bethany and I had them over for lunch and one of the SIDES was green beans.

During lunch one of their kids asked Kristi for more bean juice.

Now, that is saying something about you cooking if someone wants more of the juice from the green beans!

Just for the record, I’m pretty certain it was Bethany that cooked them.

I have to give credit where it is due. lol

This concept is as important today as it was for the early church.

Opening your home to be a place of refuge and love for others is an incredible tool that God has given us to love others.

You don’t really know someone until you have spent time in their home.

I think it was last week, Casandra made a comment about how comfortable our life group is with one another.

She was specifically messing with me because I just walked into Carey and Kara’s house and started moving decorations around on their piano.

I need to set up my computer so that I could get Zoom going for a couple of LG members that needed to zoom in.

We explained to her that I had previously asked Kara about setting up there.

The truth is also that I know Kara and Carey well enough to know that they wouldn’t care if I moved a few things around in order to set up.

I know that because we have all spent so much time together and in each others home.

When someone new began to come, they immediately noticed the level of comfort that we had.

That is a result of Carey and Kara’s hospitality!

An elder should be able to teach.

Some churches take this to mean that every elder should be able to preach and should do so regularly.

Some take it to mean that only those that preach should be appointed as an elder.

I don’t think that either of those things are what Paul is saying.

Paul is saying that an elder, one over the church, should be able to effectively communicate the truth of the gospel.

Don’t you agree that would be a good quality in someone that is leading the church?

There is an expectation from Paul that if someone knows the Lord and is progressively growing in a deeper relationship with God, they obviously know the gospel and should be able to share that truth with someone else.

There are some elders that have a specific call to preach, but that is not a requirement for all.

After all, preaching and teaching are different communication methods.

Just so everyone knows, since I no longer have Glen in my back pocket when I have to be gone on a Sunday for work, vacation, or sickness, I will have to call on someone to fill in.

I’m just giving all of you a heads up and a fair warning.

Paul’s heart behind this qualification is to set the bar for those in leadership.

It should not be a surprise when they are called upon to explain the truth of the gospel.

This is a significant quality, especially for our current culture.

We talk about all the time how Millennial's don’t just accept the beliefs of their parents as previous generations did.

There are hard questions they want to ask and should ask.

Instead of just taking on those beliefs, many of which are based on legalism, they want to dissect them, study scripture, and understand truth for themselves.

As older churches die out and new churches are planted, this quality of these new churches will give them a strength that the previous churches didn’t have.

In order for elders to facilitate this kind of growth, we must be willing and able to point to scripture and explain what God is communicating to His people.

Having men that know God, are progressively knowing him more, and have a passion for His word, will enable the church to flourish!

God reveals himself through his word and so for an elder to be able to teach that word allows the church to know God better.

We are going to stop here today, but I want to recap quickly by reminding all of us that these qualifications are for all believers.

Being blameless, committed to our spouses, sensible, respectable, hospitable, and able to teach are expectations that God has for all of his children.

In order to be in leadership in God’s church, our elders must desire to be more like Christ and in doing so, will be made in his likeness.

It is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that qualifies us for leadership, not our talents, abilities, or position.

Let’s pray together and ask God to give all of us a greater desire to know Him.