We need to see a few points concerning the elders. The children of Israel had elders, but the Old Testament does not tell us how these elders were appointed. In the same way, in the New Testament we can see that there were elders in the first local church, the church in Jerusalem, but there is no record of when or how they became elders. Nevertheless, it is clear that the elders were important.
The first mention of the elders in the churches is in Acts 11:29-30, which says, “The disciples, according to how one was prospered, determined, each one of them, to send things for dispensing to the brothers dwelling in Judea, which also they did, sending it to the elders through the hand of Barnabas and Saul.” These verses reveal that donations from the Gentile churches were sent to the elders in Jerusalem.
In chapter 15 we can see the importance of the elders. Verse 2 says, “When no little dissension and discussion with them came about through Paul and Barnabas, the brothers directed Paul and Barnabas and certain others among them to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning this question.” This shows that when there was a disagreement concerning the truth, not only the apostles but also the elders were involved. This clearly shows that the elders are important in God’s administration.
Verse 4 says, “When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared the things that God had done with them.” Verse 6 says, “The apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter.” Finally, verse 23 says, “Writing to them and sending by their hand the following: The apostles and the elder brothers, to the brothers throughout Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are of the Gentiles, rejoice.” In all these verses the elders are mentioned in a specific way.
Acts 21:18 says, “On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.” In Paul’s last visit to Jerusalem, he met with James and all the elders. This also shows the importance of the elders.
According to the revelation of the entire Bible, the basic factor in God’s administration should not be a king, the apostles, or the prophets but the elders. The direct administration in both the Old Testament and the New Testament is with the elders. When the administration was apparently with the kings in the Old Testament, that was an abnormal situation. The genuine administration of God depends basically and directly on the elders.
We need to consider how the elders are appointed, or the way in which the elders should be produced. The New Testament apparently reveals that the apostles appoint the elders. However, the producing of the elders actually does not depend mainly on the appointment by the apostles. Sometimes what the Bible does not say is as meaningful as what the Bible does say. The Bible does not say how the elders among the children of Israel were produced. Nor does the Bible say how the elders in the church in Jerusalem were produced. This indicates that the producing of the elders does not depend entirely on their appointment.
The producing of the elders depends mainly on the matter of life. In a family there is no need to appoint the father. He is produced not by appointment but by life. It is a spontaneous matter of life that among the persons in a family, one is the father. The term elder, which simply means an older person or a person of advanced age, implies one who is produced by the growth and maturity of life. We need to be impressed that the elders are produced not mainly by appointment but by what they are in life according to their growth and maturity.
Although the father in a family does not need to be appointed, the elders do need to be appointed because the situation in the church is not as simple as that of a family. In a family everyone knows who the father is, and there is no argument about it. In principle, the elders are produced by their maturity in life, but even in a small church it may not be immediately clear which ones have the most maturity. Therefore, in order to prevent confusion, a few need to be appointed as elders. To appoint elders is simply to point out or indicate to the saints who the elders are in order to avoid confusion or complication. Nevertheless, we need to be clear that the elders are produced not by appointment but by growth in life.
According to Acts 14, during the same journey on which Paul preached the gospel, he also raised up local churches and appointed elders in each church. Verse 23 says, “When they had appointed elders for them in every church and had prayed with fastings, they committed them to the Lord into whom they had believed.” These churches in which Paul appointed elders had been established within less than one year. Thus, Paul’s practice in his early ministry and during his first trip was to first preach the gospel, second raise up churches, and third appoint elders. Twenty years later his practice in appointing elders seems to have changed. In Titus 1:5 he said, “For this cause I left you in Crete, that you might set in order the things which I have begun that remain and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you.” Paul did not directly appoint the elders in Crete as he did on his first journey.
Regardless of Paul’s apostleship, which he received of the Lord, I believe that as a human being he needed improvement. The Lord does not need improvement, but Paul did. In one matter this is clear. In 1 Corinthians 7, which was written in Paul’s early ministry, Paul’s opinion was that it was better for widows to remain single (v. 8). However, in his later ministry he said that the younger widows should remarry (1 Tim. 5:14). Through much experience Paul learned something and, as a result, changed his opinion, but this change became part of the divinely inspired record of the Bible. Therefore, we should not be condemned if some minor aspects of our teaching change as a result of years of experience.
Paul may have also changed in the matter of appointing the elders. On his first journey he appointed the elders as soon as a church was established, but later he may have discovered that this practice was unreliable. Therefore, in his later ministry he did not immediately appoint the elders but instead left the task to his younger co-worker because he saw the need for some consideration concerning the qualifications of the elders. Paul did not mention the specific qualifications of the elders until his later ministry (3:2-7; Titus 1:6-9). This may indicate that he found that some elders were appointed at the wrong time. In other words, in Paul’s early ministry the appointment of the elders was quick, but in his later ministry the appointment of elders was slow and deliberate. He became very careful about this matter.
We should not decide whether a brother is an elder at an early stage of his growth in life, when he is immature. We must be slow in this matter and wait until the time is right. Otherwise, it is unsafe and may cause trouble. The New Testament reveals that the elders in a local church should not be appointed in a quick way. There is the need of time for thorough consideration so that the qualifications may be manifested. Then the time will be right to make a decision. Farmers wait to reap grain until it is ripe. It would be foolish to reap before the harvest ripens. Similarly, whenever a new local church is raised up as the Lord’s testimony, it is proper and safe to delay appointing the elders until there is a full manifestation of the situation.