The elders take the lead in the local church. In 1 Timothy 5:17a Paul says, “Let the elders who take the lead well be counted worthy of double honor.” All the elders should be able to take the lead in a local church. This means that in everything they should go ahead of the flock to take the lead. To take the lead is not to rule but to set an example in doing things first that others may follow. The elders should always do things as an example. In taking the lead they are not rulers but patterns.
The elders also teach in the local church. In 1 Timothy 3:2 Paul says that an elder should be “apt to teach.” The word “apt” implies being able and accustomed to. To teach here is similar to parents teaching their children. An elder must be apt to render this kind of home teaching to the members of a local church. In order to teach the saints in the local churches the elders need to labor in the Word. They need to get into the depths of the truths in the Bible.
If the elders would be apt to teach, they need to be knowledgeable. For example, an elder should be able to explain what the mystery of Christ is. If a brother is not knowledgeable concerning the truth, he is disqualified from the eldership. An elder should be able to teach the saints like a parent helps a child with his homework. However, this does not mean that every elder should be a teacher. It is not necessary for parents to be teachers in order to help their children with homework. Similarly, not all elders are teachers, but they all should be apt to teach.
In 1 Timothy 5:17 Paul says that the elders who take the lead well should be counted worthy of double honor, “especially those who labor in word and teaching.” Whereas all the elders should be apt to teach, not all have a special capacity in teaching. Among the elders in a local church, there may be some who have the burden to teach and to labor in the Word. These teaching ones are especially worthy of double honor because nothing is more exhausting than teaching. In verse 17 “word” denotes the general speaking of doctrines, and “teaching” denotes special instruction concerning particular things.
The elders also bear the burden of shepherding the local church. The local church is like a flock, and the elders are the shepherds to shepherd this flock, taking care of the situation of the flock and meeting the needs.
In Acts 20:28 Paul charges the elders of the church in Ephesus “to shepherd the church of God.” The main responsibility of the elders as overseers is not to rule over but to shepherd, to take all-inclusive tender care of the flock, the church of God.
Another verse that speaks of the elders’ shepherding is 1 Peter 5:2. “Shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing not by way of compulsion, but willingly, according to God; not seeking gain by base means, but eagerly.” Literally, the Greek word rendered “flock” is “little flock.” This refers to the church of God, which is small in number (Luke 12:32) compared to the world.
According to 1 Peter 5:2, the elders are not rulers but shepherds. Shepherding is a proper care exercised over the flock. The flock needs to be cared for, protected, led in the right direction, and brought to a place where they can eat and drink. This is shepherding.
In 5:2 Peter does not tell the elders to shepherd their own flock; he charges them to shepherd the flock of God. The flock is not the elders’ possession but God’s possession. Therefore, the elders should not consider the church in which they are taking the lead as belonging to them. In the New Testament we are told that the church is of Christ, of God, and of the saints. The church is called the church of Christ, the church of God, and the church of the saints (Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 1:2; 14:33). But the church is not the church of the apostles or the church of the elders. Because the church is composed of the saints, it is the church of the saints. Because the church has been redeemed by Christ, it is the church of Christ. Because the church has been regenerated by God, it is the church of God. However, Peter makes it clear that the elders should not think that, because they are taking the lead in the church, the church is theirs. The elders are to shepherd the flock of God, not their own flock.
Home | First | Prev | Next