God is concerned about leadership. Consider some of the great leaders from the Old Testament. One of the first names that come to mind is Moses. God’s hand was on him from the time of his birth. God put Moses through a rigorous eighty year training course before calling him to lead His people. Moses was revered by the Jewish people as being their greatest leader. However, contained within the pages of the Old Testament are many great leaders whose names we do not have. These men provided the communities of God’s people with steady leadership and guidance. These men often were found sitting at the city gates sharing wisdom and managing the affairs of the people. They witnessed legal transactions, announced God’s blessings and sometimes they announced His warnings. These men were well seasoned and were representatives from the community. Who were these unnamed leaders? These great civic leaders were known as elders or shepherds. So we should not be surprised that when we get to the New Testament that God calls the leaders of His church by the same name. Today we are going to look closely at exactly what an elder is and how they function. This will help us in our continuing quest to more fully understand God’s plan for leadership in the church.
I. Understanding what an elder is.
A. Elders are shepherds.
1. Shepherds in Bible times were not someone who showed up in a strangers pasture, put in eight hours and then went home.
2. There was a genuine relationship between the shepherd and his sheep. Through the long time spent together and the frequent touching the shepherds smelled like sheep.
3. Elders are not merely some stranger plugged into a position of authority or job; they are those who have developed a heart for the sheep through frequent contact.
4. The best elders are those who already have a flock that has developed because of their genuineness, service and concern for people.
5. Shepherding is not about making decisions or running the church. Shepherding is about developing relationships and caring for sheep.
B. Elders are mentors.
1. Elders are those men who have walked the trail ahead of us for a long time pointing us in the right direction to go.
2. We are attracted to good mentors by the way they live their lives. Their lives provide a positive message which shows us they way to go.
3. When we are tempted to throw in the towel they give us courage to go on because they have kept on, in spite of everything.
4. Someone once eloquently put it this way, “You write a sermon a chapter a day by the deeds that you do and the words that you say. Men read what you write whether false or true, so what is the Gospel according to you?
C. Elders are equippers.
1. Elders prepare people for service through one on one time and other teaching opportunities. They help individuals discover their God given gifts.
2. They guide individuals to areas of ministry that match their gifts and passions and provide them with the tools and skills that they need to carry it out effectively.
3. Never forget, whether shepherding, mentoring or equipping; elders do their best work through relationships.
4. An elder is to be known by the credibility of his walk with God, the genuineness of his service and the authenticity of his relationship with the sheep.
5. Elders cannot help but to smell like sheep.
II. The Biblical definition of an elder.
A. Elders are men rich in spiritual experience.
1. Here in Acts 20 Paul uses three terms that define an elder. In fact Peter uses these same terms as well.
2. 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. (1 Peter 5:1-4—NIV)
3. We should take note of the fact that the Ephesian church had a plurality of elders.
4. The first term is presbuteroi which refers to older ones who lead by experience.
5. This does not simply refer to life experience but it also encompasses the area of spiritual experience.
6. This would fall into line with what Paul states in 1 Timothy, “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.” (I Timothy 3:6—NIV)
B. Elders are men who shepherd a flock.
1. The second word is a metaphor, poimaenoi and is usually translated in the English as pastor but a more literal translation would be shepherd.
2. Modern American churches often refer to ministers as pastors but when we examine the context of how this term is used in the Bible we discover that this is in error.
3. The term poimaenoi is always used to describe a plurality of leaders within a given congregation.
4. These leaders are more commonly known as elders.
C. Elders are caretakers of God’s flock.
1. The third word episkopoi is a descriptive word and is most commonly translated in the English as bishops or overseers.
2. These popular translations find their roots more commonly in the seventeenth century church hierarchy rather than the New Testament.
3. A more accurate translation of episkopoi would be guides, care takers or those who watch on behalf of.
4. In Acts and 1 Peter the word episkopoi is used to describe spiritual leaders and within the passages we discover that their work is described in pastoral terminology.
III. The Biblical character sketch of en elder.
A. Understanding the qualities of an elder outlined by Paul.
1. 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 Timothy 3:1-7—NIV)
2. Paul never intended this to be an exhaustive list of qualifications or a checklist to be used to determine who should serve as an elder.
3. Paul is using a common ancient Greek literary device of using a list of qualities to form a profile of a good person.
4. Consider this passage from ancient secular literature in which Diogenes Laertius presents the stoics concept of a good man; he must be married, must be without pride, he must be temperate and he must combine prudence of mind with excellence of outward behavior.
5. Paul did not intend to give us an exhaustive list of qualifications but he simply provided us with two broad character sketches of an ideal elder.
B. Elder is not a generic one size fits all leadership term.
1. When you compare the list in 1 Timothy to the list found in Titus, we can see that there are some notable differences.
2. The list in Titus pictures the sort of men who would make good shepherds among God’s flock on the island of Crete while 1 Timothy explains what sort of men would make good shepherds among God’s flock in Ephesus.
3. This makes perfect sense because different situations required different leadership traits and qualities.
4. Rural Crete was not at all like refined, ordered, urban Ephesus. The issues faced by the one church were not the same as those faced by the other. The two situations called for different qualities in their elders.
5. A good elder in one congregation will not necessarily be a good elder in another congregation. That is why Paul provides us with two separate character sketches. God intended each shepherd to fit his own church situation.
Robert Moffatt, missionary to savage tribes of South Africa, translated the Bible into the native language of the people and taught the people to read. He watched the remarkable changes which the gospel brought in the lives of these formerly fierce warriors. He saw them show mercy and compassion to enemies and to the weak and helpless.
One day a native with a dog on a leash came running up, “My best hunting dog is ruined and it’s your fault,” the native said. Moffatt examined him, “I see nothing wrong.” “But I know he is ruined. He ate some pages from the Bible you gave me.” Moffat laughed, “That won’t hurt.” “But it will,” argued the native. “I have seen the Bible in the heart of man change him from a fierce warrior to a meek, peaceful neighbor. If it will do that to a man, I know that my dog will never again be fierce enough to be a good hunting dog.”
