Theology Thursday: Who Should Elders Be?

Welcome to Theology Thursday! Theology is the study of God, his relation to the world, and our relation to him. I hope these newsletters help enhance your faith and deepen your love for God and his people, the church.

Today's question:
Today is the last in a series of three TT's looking at a biblical understanding of eldership. Now: Who should elders be?

Pastor Brady's thoughts:
Let’s go straight to scripture to help us understand the type of man qualified for eldership. 

Here’s Paul, in 1st Timothy 3:1-7: 

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 

He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

Paul again, in Titus 1:6-9: 

An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 

Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 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.

Peter gets in on the action in the concluding chapter of his first letter: 

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. - 1st Peter 5:2-5

There’s a lot there. Those are lofty expectations! Many of us may be tempted to think “Well, that’s not me, then.” 

First, yes, this is a serious thing. Leading Christ’s church is a weighty responsibility, and it's appropriate that we should feel that weight. These are precious eternal souls under our care - there’s nothing more important than that.  

But second, many of these items are general categories that exist on sliding scales. If we took them at their strictest definitions, there’d be no leaders and there'd be no church! For example, “self-controlled” is one of the qualifications. Most of us have a great deal of self-control in some areas of life, and struggle in others. It’s unreasonable to think that Paul is insisting here that the only men qualified to serve as elders are those who have perfected the discipline of self-control without exception. 

Another example is the inclusion of how one leads his family. Do we think Paul means that if you have a child with behavioral problems or who walks away from the faith as an adult, you cannot lead the church? That’s unlikely. Just as church family members may sin and stray regardless of how outstanding their pastors and elders are, an elders’ biological family members may sin and stray even though he’s loved and led them for years with intentionality and care.

In general, when we’re thinking of a potential elder and his qualifications, we’re looking for clear and consistent evidence that the patterns of his life broadly lend themselves to confirm he is the type of person outlined in these scriptural passages. Is he normally upright, temperate, moral, honest, faithful to his family and to the church, using his gifts for the Lord, and committed to continued spiritual maturation? If so, then we (and Paul and Peter, we believe) would consider that person to be qualified. 

These four categories may be a helpful way of thinking about the qualifications for eldership at MCC:

CHARACTER
- church body participation (worship/event attendance, ministry team service)
- personal spiritual development (prayer, Bible study)
- good reputation, positive example
Is this man already representing and serving Christ and his church as a mature Christian should? Is he “above reproach” (1st. Tim. 3:2)?

ALIGNMENT
- statement of faith
- mission, vision, values statements
- bylaws
Is this man generally aligned with MCC’s theological beliefs, missional direction, and church polity? If there are disagreements, to what extent are they significant?

POSITION AND POSTURE
- believer’s baptism
- sexual and relational identity/ethics
- complementarianism
What are this man’s opinions on controversial issues? What is his attitude? Does he disagree well? Is he agenda-minded or service-minded?

ROLE COMPREHENSION
- shepherding the flock
- making disciples
- institutional leadership
Does this man know and embrace that the role of an elder is not merely or even firstly decision-making, but shepherding?
 
TO KNOW GOD AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN!
- Pastor Brady

Have a question for Theology Thursday? Send an email to office@minierchristian.org and we'll respond, or we'll include in a future Theology Thursday Buffet.