What Is An Elder?
It is God's will that each congregation of the Lord's people have a plurality of elders (Acts 14:23). Elders have been given the responsibility to care for and oversee the church among them and are therefore referred to as bishops and pastors (Acts 20:17, 28-30; I Pet. 5:1-3; Eph 4:11).
The elders' first priority is pastoring the sheep. Hebrews 13:7 says they will give account for every sheep. Shepherds are in the sheep business.
Elder is the most often used term because the leadership of the church has been entrusted to men of age and experience. These are men who have grown in the Lord to a high level of spiritual maturity. This is the meaning of I Timothy 5:17, men "steeped in Scripture" who really "know the Lord". Elders ought to be obvious by their profound spituality.
Elders are also bishops. They are "in charge" of the local church. Sometimes preachers run the church. This is wrong. Elders oversee the church. Anyone, as James and John, more interested in sitting on God's right hand than washing other's feet are out of step with Jesus.
God has laid down over twenty definite qualifications a man "must" meet in order to be appointed as an elder (I Tim. 3:17; Tit. 1:5-9). Any man considered must be evaluated by these texts. Qualified elders do not harm the church. Unqualified elders hinder and destroy the church. Remember, God chooses men for elders, not angels nor supermen. They are still men with flaws and weaknesses. Abraham, Moses, David, and Peter were all men of God, but they were still men with feet of clay.
Robert Dodson
© 1998 Robert Dodson. Permission granted to use this article in any manner, as long as: 1) the content is not changed and 2) the name of the author is left on the article.
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