The High Call & Crucial Need for Godly Elders- Part I

"Ministry that costs nothing accomplishes nothing." Pastor and preacher John Henry Jowett

 INTRODUCTION – For at least the last year or so I have felt the need to write about the crucial role of elders in Christ’s church. I’ve put it off I guess primarily because the subject is a bit daunting.

Throughout the last 45 years or so I have read numerous articles or heard sermons (or given sermons) about what is wrong with the church.  Throughout the last 45 years or so I have heard of Christian leaders who have chosen to sin in some significant way to where they were either forced to step down from their leadership position or they voluntarily (usually after they were found out) chose to step down. If they were visible leaders on the national stage, then usually articles and commentaries followed about why they fell and/or why so many leaders seem to be falling or theories were offered for why they sinned like they did. And critiques were offered for how the leaders around them dealt with their fall.

Rarely if ever have I read or heard podcasts or sermons or read articles wherein the primary root problem was stated as being a lack of godly elders in the mix. And yet every time I read and meditate on Acts 20:17-38 (especially in more recent years), I have to wonder if the lack of godly elders in our churches and ministries is not at or near the root of our issues.

What concerns me even more is that when God pours out His Spirit and thousands are swept into the church before Christ returns, who will shepherd them, who will disciple them, who will labor to present each of them complete in Christ with the character and motives that we see in Acts 20?

And along with that concern, when brand new believers come into a local congregation, what kind of culture will they encounter?  Will the leaders of that congregation even know that by the way they lead their congregation or ministry - a certain culture will be established that will have a huge effect – positive or negative – on everyone who hangs around therein? Will they aspire to develop the culture Paul speaks of in Acts 20?

I am very aware that some church flavors or denominations do not appoint elders or do not call their leaders elders. I grew up in one of those denominations. In that particular denomination you had the church staff, and then you had the deacons or deacon board. And these deacons were nominated by the congregation at large.

It is not the label I am fighting for in this article. Rather it is the righteous standard of what Paul was appealing for in and among the leaders of Christ’s church as seen in Acts chapter 20 and as seen from his example.

Before we look at that very important passage, perhaps we should reflect a bit on the status of elders in Jesus’s day and in the early days of the church in Jerusalem. While God’s expectation for elders among His people has always been high (because of the effect they have on everyone who follows them), the reality is the Jewish elders in Jesus’s day and in the early chapters of the book of Acts were corrupt and spiritually bankrupt. Two quick examples of this – first in the gospels – can be seen in Matthew 16:21, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, ….” Often in the gospels the elders are linked with the chief priests in their opposition to Jesus and His kingdom. The same is true in the early chapters of the book of Acts.

In Acts chapter 4 we find it was the elders and other religious leaders of the Jews who had Peter and John arrested and who ordered them to speak no more in Jesus’s name (see 4:18) (cf. 4:23). In chapter 6 the elders and scribes were among those who rose up in opposition to Stephen and eventually had him stoned to death (see vs. 12).

But then we begin to see a shift as the early church grows in grace and purity and power and as it begins to expand. The earliest passage that might be speaking of godly elders in the church in Jerusalem is found in Acts 11:22. “The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.” Question: Who is the “they” in this verse?  Well if we read on to the last verse of this chapter, we read this, “And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.” (vs. 30). Vs. 30 tells us there were operating elders in the church in Jerusalem who very likely were the ones who sent Barnabas off to Antioch. All we can say at this point is these men were recognized and set apart as elders/overseers. And they were the ones considered most trustworthy to handle these financial gifts from the disciples in Antioch.

So in chapter 13 of Acts we find Paul and Barnabus being sent on their first missionary journey to a number of different cities. The account of this journey is continued in chapter 14 and then we find this very interesting statement about elders in 14:23, “When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”  (Cf. Titus 1:5). Some of these churches were very new/young. Clearly a church did not have to be fully mature and seasoned before elders could be appointed. But I want to make clear here that the congregations did not appoint these elders. The apostles probably along with whomever were considered the most mature disciples in each city prayed and fasted and then appointed elders for each church.

The appointing of elders was never allowed in the early church to be based on popularity or any other fleshly metric. So much damage has been done to Christ’s church in our nation when fleshly and immature congregations were allowed to appoint their leaders. Or when pastors appointed them for fleshly reasons or out of fleshly motivations.

One more thought on the selection process is that the Holy Spirit is the ultimate elder appointer (cf. Acts 20:28). That is why prayer and fasting is so important. We must discern His mind on this and not lean on our own understanding. So when Paul commanded Titus to “…appoint elders in every city as I directed you.”  (Titus 1:5), I’m sure he expected Titus to fast and pray along with whomever else was mature enough to join him in seeking God’s heart and mind.

Please note in Paul’s mind it was not an option to not appoint elders in any church anywhere. He expected Timothy and Titus and any other co-workers/fellow apostles to take elder appointing and elder development and elder leadership of Christ’s church very seriously. And this is why he gave more required qualifications or elements of Christlike character for elders/overseers than he did for deacons (see I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9).

I think the final thing I want to note re: the importance and the practice of elders in the book of Acts or in the early church is they were equal to or on par with apostles. You can see this especially in Acts 15: 2, 4, 6, 22, 23 and in 16:4. Often they worked and deliberated together with apostles seemingly with equal authority.

Well I better stop here as my introduction proved to be longer than I had anticipated. Next post I will jump into Acts 20 re: the bar of godliness and righteousness we all need to aspire to so Christ’s sheep can be shepherded in a way pleasing to Him, and in a way where they can be protected from those who would devour and destroy them.

Please join with me in prayer for the leadership of Christ’s church in our nation. Thank you for praying and caring. And if you read this today or tomorrow please be in prayer for the "Rededicate 250 - National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving" taking place on the National Mall tomorrow/May 17th.