Question: Although Christ is the unique Head, we do have leading brothers and elders in the churches. What exactly is their relationship to the rest of the Body?
Answer: In the Bible every truth has different aspects. In order to understand a truth, we must understand all its aspects. We also need to consider the context in which the truth is mentioned in the Bible. When we consider the elders according to the natural concept, we think that the elders are higher than the other members. However, we should not understand any truth in the Bible according to our natural mentality.
In Matthew 20:21 the mother of James and John, who was a sister of the mother of Jesus, requested of the Lord, “Say that these two sons of mine will sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your kingdom.” In verse 23 the Lord said to James and John, “My cup you shall indeed drink, but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” Verse 24 continues, “And when the ten heard this, they were indignant concerning the two brothers.” This indicates that all twelve disciples were ambitious. Verses 25 through 27 say, “Jesus called them to Him and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you shall be your slave.” A basic principle among the people of God today is that whoever wants to be great must be a serving one, even a slave.
First Peter 5:3, a word to the elders, says, “Nor as lording it over your allotments but by becoming patterns of the flock.” The elders are not lords who give orders; they are examples. If there is a need for someone to clean the restroom in the meeting hall, the elders should take the lead. The elders need to be the example in all areas of service, and the rest of the saints should follow them. This is unlike worldly society, in which the leading ones sit on “thrones” as lords, giving orders for others to do things.
First Corinthians 12:28 says, “God has placed some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then works of power, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.” Helps must refer to the services of the deacons, and administrations must refer to the functions of the elders. According to our human concept, the elders are higher than the deacons, but here the apostle Paul lists the services of the deacons before the functions of the elders. Paul surely does this purposefully in order to indicate there should be no concept among the Lord’s children of who is higher and who is lower. The positions in the Body do not indicate who is higher and who is lower; rather, the members are simply positioned according to their functions.
Because the worldly mentality and the natural human mind cannot understand the divine concept of matters such as the position and function of the elders and leading ones in the church, we should not bring the worldly mentality or the natural human mind into the church life. The elders are not higher than others. Nevertheless, Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey the ones leading you and submit to them.” The ones leading us are the elders. On the one hand, the elders are slaves, but on the other hand, the saints in the church should obey their leading ones. We need to have this balance.
Another matter concerning the elders in the churches is that the Lord never allows there to be only one elder in a church. The New Testament reveals that the elders or overseers should always be plural in number. This plurality annuls any headship among the leaders. The elders in a church should not choose from among themselves one brother to be the top elder over the others. This is hierarchy, and it is darkness, for it is not according to the truth. Some may think that Peter was first among all the apostles and elders, but Peter was not the leader officially or permanently but according to his present spiritual capacity. On the day of Pentecost he had the top spiritual capacity. However, in Acts 15 he lost the capacity, and James took the lead. In the four Gospels and the Acts, whenever the apostles’ names are listed, Peter’s name is first, but Galatians 2:9 lists James first and Peter second. Peter became second because he became spiritually weak. He lost some of his capacity. By this we can see that the leadership among the apostles and elders is not official, permanent, or organizational.
The case of Paul and Barnabas also proves that the leadership in the New Testament age depends upon the present spiritual capacity. When Paul and Barnabas were called in Acts 13:2, Barnabas was mentioned first. On their journey, however, Paul came to the forefront, because by that time he had a higher spiritual capacity (v. 9). This indicates that there is no official, permanent, or organizational leadership among God’s people today.