"Elders are the Spiritual Parents for Believers" By Pastor Keith Sherlin (www.essentialchristianity.com)
Elders are the Spiritual Parents for Believers
Doctrinal Thoughts
As we close in our last study on the doctrine of the church let us focus a few minutes on a subject that is very plain from Scripture. The church, if it is a pure and true church according to the New Testament, must have a body of elders to rule, govern, and guide the church just like a parent guides his or her children. The elders are the spiritual parents for the church. For example, the elder John called the congregation his “children” (3 John 4). Furthermore, it is also plain that other elders appoint the elders. The elders are responsible to shepherd the sheep. And consequently the shepherds, the elders, are not hired and fired by the whims of the sheep. Any church that does not embrace the essential truths to the doctrine of eldership violates Scripture in a major way. The eldership, a plurality of elders, is the authoritative leaders of the body. Additionally the elders are not simply voted into office or voted out of office by their spiritual children, which would be equivalent to children voting out their parents or employees voting out (firing) the employers.
First, Scripture teaches us that each church should have a plurality of elders. “Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church and prayed for them with fasting, turning them over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had come to trust” (Acts 14:23). Notice that the word elder is plural. Every church had more than one elder in authority. Read the following texts and you can see that this was the biblical pattern for the NT church (Acts 11:27-30; 15:1-6; 15:22-23; 16:4; 20:17; 21:18; 1 Tim. 4:4; 1 Tim 5:17; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1). Second, Scripture teaches the elders were selected and appointed by other elders based upon their spiritual, moral, and doctrinal purity (1 Tim. 3:1-7). No elder in Scripture is ever voted in or out by the sheep, the congregation or spiritual children, because the sheep do not govern the shepherds, the shepherds or spiritual parents. Look at Titus 1:5. Paul said to Titus, “I left you on the Island of Crete so you could complete your work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you.” Elders are placed in office by appointment and removed only by the other elders. Scripture says that when an elder sins that the elder is to be “rebuked in front of the whole church so that others will have a proper fear of God” (1 Tim. 5:19). However, no elder or church member is to ever “listen to complaints against an elder unless there are two or three witnesses to accuse him” (5:19). Elders are to be disciplined for sin and if it is serious or a habitual pattern then it disqualifies the person from the office. In such a case the elders remove the person from office through disciplinary action. The children, the congregation, do not have the authority to simply oust the parents, the spiritual parents. Biblical process from the priesthood, the believers, and the eldership body must be involved. The idea that the children can simply vote in or out elders is foreign to the NT. Not one verse anywhere in the entire Bible supports such an idea. Third and lastly, let us look at what the Bible says about what an elder does. The Bible says the elder shepherds the flock like a Father governs his household. The Bible shows this parallel. This is why pastoring, the work of an elder, is compared to being a parent. The elder “must manage his own family well, with children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church” (1 Tim. 3:4-5)? This verse teaches us that pastoring is like shepherding in the home (It does not exclude those without children as proved by Jesus and Paul). This is why pastors can be viewed as your spiritual parents. The church is simply an extended family. Take some time to read Hebrews 13:17 and 1 Peter 5:1-5 as it describes further the work of elders. All of these texts point out what Dr. Wayne Grudem has said: “Two significant conclusions may be drawn from a survey of the NT evidence. First, no passage suggests that any church, no matter how small, had only one elder. Second, we do not see a diversity of forms of government in the NT church, but a unified and consistent pattern in which every church had elders governing it and keeping watch over it” (Systematic Theology, 912).
Life Application
Does your church have a plurality of elders? If not then it is going against God’s plan and it is sinful. Work to change this or find a Bible believing church. Does your church vote in or out elders? If so then ask why has this severe departure from NT practice occurred. Do you personally submit yourself to the guidance and authority of your elders as they guide you from Scripture? If not then repent of pride and arrogance and read 2 Timothy 3 about the characteristics of the last days when people rebel against sacred things like parental authority.
Doctrinal Thoughts
As we close in our last study on the doctrine of the church let us focus a few minutes on a subject that is very plain from Scripture. The church, if it is a pure and true church according to the New Testament, must have a body of elders to rule, govern, and guide the church just like a parent guides his or her children. The elders are the spiritual parents for the church. For example, the elder John called the congregation his “children” (3 John 4). Furthermore, it is also plain that other elders appoint the elders. The elders are responsible to shepherd the sheep. And consequently the shepherds, the elders, are not hired and fired by the whims of the sheep. Any church that does not embrace the essential truths to the doctrine of eldership violates Scripture in a major way. The eldership, a plurality of elders, is the authoritative leaders of the body. Additionally the elders are not simply voted into office or voted out of office by their spiritual children, which would be equivalent to children voting out their parents or employees voting out (firing) the employers.
First, Scripture teaches us that each church should have a plurality of elders. “Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church and prayed for them with fasting, turning them over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had come to trust” (Acts 14:23). Notice that the word elder is plural. Every church had more than one elder in authority. Read the following texts and you can see that this was the biblical pattern for the NT church (Acts 11:27-30; 15:1-6; 15:22-23; 16:4; 20:17; 21:18; 1 Tim. 4:4; 1 Tim 5:17; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1). Second, Scripture teaches the elders were selected and appointed by other elders based upon their spiritual, moral, and doctrinal purity (1 Tim. 3:1-7). No elder in Scripture is ever voted in or out by the sheep, the congregation or spiritual children, because the sheep do not govern the shepherds, the shepherds or spiritual parents. Look at Titus 1:5. Paul said to Titus, “I left you on the Island of Crete so you could complete your work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you.” Elders are placed in office by appointment and removed only by the other elders. Scripture says that when an elder sins that the elder is to be “rebuked in front of the whole church so that others will have a proper fear of God” (1 Tim. 5:19). However, no elder or church member is to ever “listen to complaints against an elder unless there are two or three witnesses to accuse him” (5:19). Elders are to be disciplined for sin and if it is serious or a habitual pattern then it disqualifies the person from the office. In such a case the elders remove the person from office through disciplinary action. The children, the congregation, do not have the authority to simply oust the parents, the spiritual parents. Biblical process from the priesthood, the believers, and the eldership body must be involved. The idea that the children can simply vote in or out elders is foreign to the NT. Not one verse anywhere in the entire Bible supports such an idea. Third and lastly, let us look at what the Bible says about what an elder does. The Bible says the elder shepherds the flock like a Father governs his household. The Bible shows this parallel. This is why pastoring, the work of an elder, is compared to being a parent. The elder “must manage his own family well, with children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church” (1 Tim. 3:4-5)? This verse teaches us that pastoring is like shepherding in the home (It does not exclude those without children as proved by Jesus and Paul). This is why pastors can be viewed as your spiritual parents. The church is simply an extended family. Take some time to read Hebrews 13:17 and 1 Peter 5:1-5 as it describes further the work of elders. All of these texts point out what Dr. Wayne Grudem has said: “Two significant conclusions may be drawn from a survey of the NT evidence. First, no passage suggests that any church, no matter how small, had only one elder. Second, we do not see a diversity of forms of government in the NT church, but a unified and consistent pattern in which every church had elders governing it and keeping watch over it” (Systematic Theology, 912).
Life Application
Does your church have a plurality of elders? If not then it is going against God’s plan and it is sinful. Work to change this or find a Bible believing church. Does your church vote in or out elders? If so then ask why has this severe departure from NT practice occurred. Do you personally submit yourself to the guidance and authority of your elders as they guide you from Scripture? If not then repent of pride and arrogance and read 2 Timothy 3 about the characteristics of the last days when people rebel against sacred things like parental authority.
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