DEVOTED TO GOD
Acts 6.1-7; I Timothy 3.1-7
S: Church Structure
C: Elders
Th: A People with Purpose
Pr: THE ROLE OF ELDER IS A MINISTRY OF LEADERSHIP
?: How? How do we come to that conclusion?
KW: Topics
TS: We will find in our study of Scripture four topics that guide us in our understanding of the role of elder.
Type: Propositional
The ____ topic is…
I. DEFINITION
II. SELECTION
III. DISPOSITION
IV. OCCUPATION
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• We need leaders who are fully devoted to God.
• We need to follow leaders.
• The role of elder appears in the plural.
Version: ESV
RMBC 26 February 06 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL monkey steering (Luke serm)
Two police officers respond to a call from the dispatcher concerning a bad traffic accident.
When they arrive on the scene, they find a father, mother, and two children alive, but unconscious inside a wrecked automobile. Almost immediately after the officers arrive, an ambulance pulls up and tells the officers that several more ambulances are on the way.
After the other ambulances arrive and begin to load their patients, the officers discover that there is a monkey inside the car and that the monkey is conscious, though a little bruised up. Since the monkey is the only conscious passenger in the car and there are no other witnesses to the accident, the officers decide they’ll try to get the monkey to tell them what happened.
They ask the monkey, “What was the father doing?” The monkey mimics drinking from a bottle.
One of the officers said, “Makes sense.”
They ask the monkey, “What was the mother doing?” The monkey mimics shaking his finger.
“Okay. Now we’re getting somewhere. The father was drinking
and the mother was getting on him about it.”
They ask the monkey, “What were the children doing?” The monkey mimics the children fighting in the back seat.
The officers look at each other and one of them
says, “Well, with all that going on, it was inevitable that they were going to have a wreck.”
The two officers turn to walk away when one of them turns around and asks the monkey, “By the way, what were you doing the whole time?”
The monkey mimics driving.
Well, have you ever wondered who is steering?
Have you ever wondered…
Who is in charge?
There is no doubt, leadership is strategic.
In fact, it is big business.
Go to your local bookstore, and you will see shelves of books on how to lead.
Go to my library, and I have over sixty books on some aspect of leadership (In fact, I have even read some of them!).
TRANSITION:
Here is a truth we should recognize this morning…
1. God has given leaders to the church.
God has considered leadership so important, He has given it as a spiritual gift.
In God’s economy (design), He has entrusted leadership to certain individuals in the church.
The church does require a unique style of leadership.
For the church is, essentially, an organism as opposed to an organization.
Organizations, like a corporation or a country club, are the inventions of man.
But organisms find their life in God Himself.
Thus, they are not to be treated mechanically, relying on cause and effect.
They are spiritual in nature.
And unless we recognize this, we will do more harm than good.
If you are looking for evidence of this, consider this…
2. God has given guidelines for leadership, but not one structure.
No structure for how a church is to operate and accomplish its mission and purpose is laid out for us in the New Testament writings.
We are given guidelines, but not structure.
So, God has given us the opportunity to be creative with how we structure ourselves.
And through the years, the different denominations have demonstrated this variety.
For the Baptists, we have Deacon Boards
The Presbyterians have elders that sit on a Session Board.
The Methodists have church councils and bishops.
Episcopalians have rectors and vicars, along with bishops.
The Roman Catholic church has priests, bishops, archbishops, cardinals and one pope.
And then consider all the terms we have for pastors…
There is clergy, ministers, reverends, preachers, and even parsons.
I have always gotten a chuckle out of my alma mater whose nickname was “The Fighting Parsons.”
We are on the second of a three-part series on church leadership today.
Last week, we considered the role of deacon.
Today, we are studying the role of elder.
Simply, we need to state that…
3. THE ROLE OF ELDER IS A MINISTRY OF LEADERSHIP.
If you were here last week, we noted that the deacons of Randall are a bit of a hybrid, a cross between the functions of deacons and elders.
This week, though, we giving our attention solely to the concept and role of Elder.
So…
4. We will find in our study of Scripture four topics that guide us in our understanding of the role of elder.
Also, again if you were here last week, you will note that our outline is similar to last Sunday’s study.
The Scripture passages are also at the end as well.
(1) The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. (2) Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, (3) not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. (4) He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, (5) for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? (6) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. (7) Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first topic is DEFINITION.
1. In the early church, spiritual leaders in the local churches were identified as elders (presbuteroi).
As you consider the Greek form, you see the word Presbyterian there.
This is where Presbyterians get there name because they specifically espouse an elder-led church.
Now the essential meaning of the word elder is obvious.
Its basic meaning refers to one that is aged and advanced.
Its application in the New Testament was the same, except that it applied spiritually, not just physically or chronologically in years.
In other words, the one that held the position of elder was experienced in the faith and demonstrated maturity.
2. As ministry expanded, Paul would identify leadership as overseers (episkopoi).
This term did not have as common of use as presbuteroi, but it was used several times.
Again, you see in the Greek word for overseer is where Episcopalian arrived from.
It is also translated bishop, which is why the Episcopalians are so named since they are a bishop-led church.
In other words, there is a definitive hierarchy that exists.
The word episkopoi was a common word in the Gentile world, describing a superintendent of a colony.
So here we see Paul using a common term and giving it new spiritual definition.
As Paul saw it, overseers were put over the church, managing and directing its affairs.
Now we come to…
II. The second topic is SELECTION.
ILL Choice: orange date cake
Newlyweds were celebrating their first New Year’s together as a married couple. The wife offered her a husband a choice of pumpkin pie, cheesecake or orange-date cake.
"Pumpkin pie," he requested.
"We’ve been eating pumpkin pie since Thanksgiving," she protested. "Can’t you choose something else?"
"Okay," he replied, "how about cheesecake?"
Making a face, she said, "After all that rich food you ate over Christmas, surely you don’t want cheesecake."
Recognizing his limited options, the husband then selected orange-date cake.
"Oh, I’m glad you chose that one," she said. "Orange-date cake is a New Year’s tradition in our family."
Have you ever noticed that some choices are no choices at all?
In our American culture, we are very much into choice.
We are very much into democracy.
Sometimes it is good.
But not always so.
For the emphasis on choice is also what energizes the pro-abortion movement.
Generally speaking, I think having choices is great because it speaks to freedom.
But there are also times when I don’t want choice.
One of those times is when God has given specific direction.
There is no need for another choice at that point in time.
Over our next few points, I want you to keep an open mind because the statements are going to contradict our American, Baptist and Randall culture.
I could have skipped around this, but then we would have missed important doctrine about leadership that we should hear.
First, I want us to see that…
1. Elders are appointed by God-given leadership (Acts 14.23, Titus 1.5).
On the first missionary trip by Paul and Barnabas, they appointed elders:
And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
So the apostles appointed elders.
But it did not stop there.
Paul clearly saw that leadership should be determined by those in leadership.
This is why he gives specific instructions to both Timothy and Titus to appoint elders where they are pastoring.
This means then that…
2. Elders are recognized by their qualifications.
Did you know that voting is not in the Bible?
Pardon me for complaining for the moment…
It seems that every year, someone complains that the annual meeting is a farce when it comes to the presentation of our nomination committee.
Humbly, though, I will not apologize for our method, for I believe it is more in line with biblical principles than having competitive voting.
Please forgive me if you need to, but I see voting as competitive and divisive, and I believe it hurts the church, not helps.
ILL Personal
I saw this in action at my first church, when at one annual meeting a man was nominated for deacon at the floor.
Contrary to what sometimes happens, this was a good nomination. This man had been a deacon before, but he had not been nominated this time because had been ill and so the nomination process had chosen a younger man, in his late 30s, a teacher in one of the local school districts to take that spot.
By the time of the meeting, the man had recovered from his illness and someone in the church thought he should stay on the deacon board.
So do you see what was about to happen? We were going to have a popularity contest between the younger and older members. It was not going to be pretty.
Interestingly, the younger man immediately withdrew his nomination from the slate, deferring to his elder brother in the Lord (I have always thought it should have been the other way around). He understood the divisive nature of what was about to happen and refused it.
That man grew in the eyes of many that day, and the next year, no one would deny him a position of deacon, because of the humility he showed. It was just the quality they wanted in their leadership.
It is tough for us in our American culture and the fierce independence that often comes with being Baptist, but we must never confuse democratic procedures with biblical ones.
They are not the same.
But this does not mean there is not a role for the church family.
We should always have the opportunity to express our voice.
We need to affirm what God is doing.
We must state that we recognize it and see it.
And at the same time, we must express our concern if we think something is amiss.
For no one in leadership is perfect.
Sometimes things are missed.
And this is why the body needs to participate and should have the opportunity to do so.
Every person in leadership needs help and godly advice.
This is why, I believe that…
3. Elders come in plural (Acts 15.2; 20.17; I Timothy 5.17; Titus 1.5; I Peter 5.1)
Every time we see elders in action in the New Testament, it is in plural.
There is more than one of them.
As we just noted in Acts 14, Paul appoints elders at each newly formed local church.
In Acts 15, the elders unite with the apostles to deliberate over a doctrinal controversy.
In Acts 20, Paul calls for the elders to meet him in Miletus.
In Paul’s writings, Timothy and Titus are called on to appoint elders.
Even in the book of James, it says that we are to call for the elders when we are sick.
There is good reason…
There is good reason for a council of equals.
For a council of elders balance each other’s weaknesses.
Where one is weak, another will be strong, and vice versa.
They bring balance to each other.
They also lighten the workload for each other.
Leadership for a church is too large for one person.
A support network has to exist.
And a council provides needed accountability.
Since no one is perfect, we need to check on each other, encouraging one another to do better.
III. The third topic is DISPOSITION.
It says in I Timothy that the one seeks the role of overseer desires a noble task.
But it must be understood that it is an unending task.
And having the wrong person in leadership could be disastrous.
ILL Fit: Forgot my teeth
A dinner speaker was in such a hurry to get to his engagement that when he arrived and sat down at the head table, he suddenly realized that he had forgotten his false teeth.
Turning to the man next to him he said, “I forgot my teeth.”
The man said, “No problem.” And reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of false teeth. “Try these,” he said.
The speaker tried them. “Too loose,” he said. The man then said, “I have another pair – try these.”
The speaker tried them and responded, “Too tight.”
The man was not taken back at all. He then said, “I have one more pair of false teeth – try them.”
The speaker said, “They fit perfectly.” With that he ate his meal and gave his speech. After the dinner meeting was over, the speaker went over to thank the man who had helped him. “I want to thank you for coming to my aid. Where is your office? I’ve been looking for a good dentist.”
The man replied, “I’m not a dentist. I’m the local undertaker.”
Well, we have to have a good fit too.
We have to have leaders that make a good fit.
First…
1. Elders are to be morally sound.
They are to possess personal integrity.
They are to be ones that do not entertain sin in their lives.
They are also to be temperate.
This means that they are not given to excess.
In times of trouble, they are sensible and calm, always able to keep their head.
They should be sober-minded.
In other words, their mind is sound, disciplined and orderly.
They possess self-control and are not caught behaving foolishly.
They are respectable and gentle.
Elders are not given to drink.
They will not give into excess.
They will not be drunk.
Instead, they will always be under the control of the Spirit.
Elders are not looking for a fight, neither verbally or physically.
They are not contentious.
They are not quarrelsome and stubborn, insisting on their own point of view.
It should be noted alongside of this point that short tempers do not make long ministry.
They are to be patient and gracious.
They are not greedy, for the love of money leads to discontent.
They have a good reputation.
Along with this…
2. Elders are to be sexually pure.
As we noted last week, the text tells us that the elders were to be the husband of one wife.
The issue at that time would have been polygamy more than anything else.
So the emphasis here is not on how often one can be married.
The emphasis is not what constitutes a legitimate marriage.
But the emphasis is on how one conducts oneself in marriage relationship.
They are to be single-minded when it comes to their spouse.
Elders are also to manage the household well.
This does not mean that they won’t have problems.
It does mean, though, that the family will not be out of control with one scandal following another.
Also…
3. Elders are to be spiritually mature.
They are not to be a novice.
When you are new in the Lord, it is an exciting time.
Every thing is fresh.
But there is also a process going on, a process of learning submission to the Lord.
We all too naturally depend on our personality, magnetism, education, good looks, and our fine minds.
But until that sorts out, it is better to wait, for public leadership makes one proud, arrogant, and conceited.
That is hard enough on the mature believer.
It is too hard on the younger one.
Finally…
4. Elders are to be genuinely hospitable.
Simply, they are to be approachable, not isolated.
They enjoy people, and have open hearts and open homes for them.
Now we come to what is an elder to do?
IV. The fourth topic is OCCUPATION.
1. Elders are to be devoted to God (Acts 6.3-4; Titus 1:9).
The inspiration of this particular series started when we began our series in Acts.
And when we consider the passage in Acts 6, it is a logical conclusion that the responsibility that came to the apostles in terms of the ministry of the Word, was passed directly to the elders.
So when the apostles use the expression…
“…we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word”
…it is a part of the noble task for elders as well.
Elders are to be devoted to sound doctrine.
Elders are to be devoted to prayer.
Elders are to be devoted to God.
And when they are, they are in excellent position to oversee.
For…
2. Elders are to exercise oversight and give direction to the church (I Thessalonians 5:12).
Elders are entrusted with Jesus’ most precious possession – His Bride – the Church!
You see, elders are at the “controls” (so to speak) of the most important communities in the world.
For the church has been set at the center of life, given the task to fulfill divine purposes.
This is truly an awesome responsibility.
It is truly an honor.
It is truly exciting.
Now, when it comes to the actual oversight of the church, I believe that no single elder is to be the “boss.”
Rather, since elders are to be plural, they should meet together and seek the mind of the Lord.
After all, they are to be devoted to the ministry of the Word and prayer, so they should be able to seek God’s will together.
When it comes to the decision making process, in principle, I believe decisions ought to be unanimous.
I think this because when elders are seeking the Lord together, the Holy Spirit will lead them to the same conclusion.
It does become difficult, though, when someone becomes an elder whose faith is not as authentic as it should be.
In other words, they look the part, but there is something missing.
They are not really giving attention to their spiritual lives, and when this happens, the decision making process can become messy.
Their lack of attention to spiritual matters will bleed into the group and decisions become labor intensive, because every one is not on the same page.
Corresponding to this, because an elder is spiritually sensitive, they are responsible to teach.
It does not mean that every elder has to be able to teach in front of a larger crowd.
A one on one situation is certainly a legitimate understanding of teaching.
But because they are dedicated to the Word of God – they believe in its accuracy and authority – they are able to communicate to others about the correct way to live, how to recognize error, and oversee biblical faithfulness.
They tell us about God’s love for each of us.
They tell us about the wonders of God’s grace, of His unending desire to forgive us of the wrong we do, and His unbending longing for us to have real joy and fulfill His purposes.
APPLICATION:
In our governmental structure here at Randall, we have no formal elders.
It does not mean that we do not have them.
We do, because God has given them to us.
But in our structure, they are not identified officially and so do not operate in one place.
As I noted before, our deacons are a hybrid, and cover both the functions of deacon and elder.
Regardless…
1. It should be our heart’s desire to have leaders who love to pray and know the Word of God.
For when they do – when they pray and study – they will remember that Jesus is the head of the church, and that they ought to be submissive to Him.
In this way, they will be spiritually fit for the tasks before them.
Leaders will make mistakes.
But even when they do, the righteous ones will make it right, because they don’t want to be a hindrance to God’s purposes.
ILL Support: a burden
After dinner, the children turned to Jacob and asked if he would tell them a story.
"A story about what?" asked Jacob.
"About a giant," squealed the children.
Jacob smiled, leaned against the warm stones at the side of the fireplace, and his voice turned softly inward.
"Once there was a boy who asked his father to take him to see the great parade that passed through the village. The father, remembering the parade from when he was a boy, quickly agreed, and the next morning the boy and his father set out together.
"As they approached the parade route, people started to push in from all sides, and the crowd grew thick. When the people along the way became almost a wall; the father lifted his son and placed him on his shoulders.
"Soon the parade began and as it passed, the boy kept telling his father how wonderful it was and how spectacular were the colors and images. The boy, in fact, grew so prideful of what he saw that he mocked those who saw less, saying, even to his father, ’If only you could see what I see.’"
"But," said Jacob staring straight in the faces of the children, "what the boy did not look at was why he could see. What the boy forgot was that once his father, too, could see."
Then as if he had finished the story, Jacob stopped speaking.
"Is that it?" said a disappointed girl. "We thought you were going to tell us a story about a giant."
"But I did," said Jacob. "I told you a story about a boy who could have been a giant."
"How?" squealed the children.
"A giant," said Jacob, "is anyone who remembers we are all sitting on someone else’s shoulders."
"And what does it make us if we don’t remember?" asked the boy.
"A burden," answered Jacob.
We need to remember that each one of us has been brought to where we are by those who have been leaders in our lives.
And these leaders take us further than where we would have gone on our own.
We sit on their shoulders.
So…
2. We need to honor those who have been given the responsibility of leadership (I Thessalonians 5.12-13; Hebrews 13.7).
We need to pray for them.
We need to encourage them.
We need to be positive about them.
We need to assist them and support them.
And above all, we need to love them.
3. For Next Week: What is the relationship of elder and pastor?
SCRIPTURE:
Acts 6:2-4
(2) And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. (3) Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. (4) But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."
1 Timothy 3:1-7
(1) The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. (2) Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, (3) not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. (4) He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, (5) for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? (6) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. (7) Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
I Thessalonians 5:12-13
(12) We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, (13) and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
Hebrews 13:7
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
Titus 1:5-9
(5) This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you — (6) if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. (7) For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, (8) but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. (9) He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Let us honor the leaders God has give us, no matter what their title, role, position or no position; Let us esteem them highly for their desire to know God and their desire for us to the love of God as well.
Now may your love abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best; and may you be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Amen.
RESOURCES:
Books:
Getz, Gene A. Elders and Leaders: God’s Plan for Leading the Church. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2003.
Files:
Stiansen, Richard Elders: Called to Lead the Church
SermonCentral:
Apple, Paul Overseeing the Church of God
Duncan, Jason Just What Is an Elder Anyway?
Luke, Michael Emphasize a Biblically-Functioning Eldership
Perkins, Raymond Honoring Elders
Piper, John Who Are the Elders – Then and Now?
Stedman, Ray C. The Lord’s Leaders
