What is the importance of an eldership team? Have you ever thought about the Biblical significance and benefit of having an Elder team? Biblical Elders have more impact on you than you might think.
Recommended resource for Eldership: The Shepherd Leader, by Dr. Timothy Z. Witmer.
Why is Eldership worth talking about in 2020?
“Church leadership models always seem to be going through a type of cultural renovation. Trying to stay relevant, influential evangelicals try to innovate at every turn; trading in biblical roles like elder and deacon for newer, less biblically stringent leadership positions. Some churches avoid having elders altogether because of bad experiences or horror stories from others who warn, “Don’t have elders, they will control you!” Other churches might have senior pastors with their own agenda in mind who purposely manipulate the system to ensure that only “yes-men”make it into leadership. Still, there are churches who have yet to raise up elders or don’t know how. Whatever the scenario, biblical eldership is not always taken as seriously as it should be, and yet, it is incredibly vital to the health of a church.” (Costi Hinn, For The Gospel)
Knowing this, you might get the response,“We have elders, they’re just called something else, like ministry team.”
But changing the name from Elders to something more culturally relevant actually does a disservice to the congregation as they study the Word on their own time. Here’s why:
- The Bible gives clear wording, definitions, and descriptions for each role. We don’t need to get creative with it because it has already given us titles for these offices.
- Changing things as simple as wording gives way for unbiblical offices to be created. It’s helpful [and necessary] to use what Scripture has given us, even if they are just titles.
- It also can allow for unbiblical requirements to be put on a church leader that falls outside of their God-given responsibilities.
- It also will confuse the congregation as they study these offices on their own time. They might be reading about ‘elders’ and think/say that their church does not have elders if the name has been changed to something else.
Keeping clear, Biblical titles and definitions produces clarity and protects the Church from unbiblical or unnecessary responsibilities, and will help the congregation grow in their understanding of Christ and His Church.
A Brief Biblical Context to the Qualification an Elder:
1 Timothy 3:2-3 says, “An overseer [Elder] must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.”
Just in this one verse, there are very important qualifications for Elders/overseers of the church, and we get to all of those in another episode/blog more deeply.
Elders are Responsible for the Primary Leadership and Oversight of a Church
They are Biblically mandated to:
- Lead the church [1 Tim 5:17; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 5:1–2],
- Teach and preach the Word [1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9],
- Protect the church from false teachers [Acts 20:17, 28–31],
- Exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine [1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 3:13–17; Titus 1:9],
- Visit the sick and pray [James 5:14; Acts 6:4],
- Judge doctrinal issues [Acts 15:6].
- Shepherd, oversee, lead, and care for the local church” (16).
Aren’t “Elders” and “Pastors” technically the same?
John Piper summarizes the biblical use of the terms “elder,” “pastor,” and “overseer” as such…
“The New Testament only refers to the office of pastor one time (Ephesians 4:11). It is a functional description of the role of elder stressing the care and feeding of the church as God’s flock, just as “bishop/overseer” is a functional description of the role of elder stressing the governing or oversight of the church. We may conclude therefore that “pastor” and “elder” and “bishop/overseer” refer in the New Testament to the same office.”
This is a simple breakdown of the two offices. Pastors serve as Elders. In a Biblical sense, all elders are technically Pastors.
Why are Elders Important to the Local Church?
From a Congregational Perspective
- The sheep have a shepherd.
How lost are the sheep without their shepherd? How devastating this would be to a flock. Shepherd provide protection, guidance, wisdom, and sound teaching.
- Elders Protect the congregation from power-hungry/authoritative leaders.
We have all heard the horror stories of power-hungry leaders. But God has given us elders to protect the congregation from the damage an ‘AWOL’ leader can cause.
- Elders increase our confidence in the church’s leadership and direction.
We can trust the direction the church is moving, that it is Biblically sound, and that the direction and guidance is driven by Scripture. (Prov 11:14, 12:25)
- The congregation has a defense against false or inaccurate preaching.
In a time where truth is becoming more and more ‘relative’, it is important to have guard rails for whoever is teaching and preaching (2 Tim. 2:15-17). A team of Elders will keep the Pastors accountable to the doctrine of Scripture, and vice-versa.
- Elders keep us from following or idolizing a single pastor or teacher (1 Corinthians 1:12).
Having a team of Elders will keep us from creating a ‘celebrity pastor’ mentality in the local church.
From a Pastor’s perspective (Rev. Drew Gysi)
- The Pastor is cared for.
Elders provide a shepherd, or group of shepherds for the Pastor to lean on. Just like the congregation, there needs to be a plan to care for the Pastor.
- Having Elders helps provide broader care of the congregation.
Elders keep this responsibility from falling on just one man (The Shepherd Leader, Dr. Witmer). As the church grows, there needs to be more “under-shepherds”. If the congregation is divided among the ruling Elders, and done well, then no people will fall through the cracks and the congregation will feel cared for.
- Decision making is easier with Elders.
Pastors should be sharing their processing and desired decision outcomes with the Pastoral team and the Elders in order to move forward. The Bible says there is wisdom in the multitude of many (Prov. 11:14).
- Elders provide accountability for Pastors.
Many Pastors don’t like this one. They love to have their independence and run their own perceived plans without interference. However, there should NEVER be a Pastor that is not accountable to the Elders on multiple levels (time management, teaching, actions, attitudes, emotions, etc..).
- Pastors provide accountability for Elders.
This is to make sure that they are leading, feeding and shepherding the congregation! Eldership is not just an “office”, but it is a hands-on position of leadership.
- Elders provide unified leadership for direction of the church.
Unanimity should be the desired outcome for decision making on church boards. From the Congregations perspective, it makes clear to them that the Elders and Pastors have processed things, discussed things and prayed over things to the point that the Holy Spirit has knit together their leaders’ hearts and minds to move in a certain direction or make a certain decision.
- Elders protect the pastor from burnout.
Proper and Biblical Eldership will ease the workload for the Lead Pastor and Pastoral Team. They will also allow the Pastor more concentrated time in the Word so that he can preach and teach the Word of Truth.
- If something happens to the Lead Pastor, Shepherding and church leadership will still go on!
If there is a preaching Elder on the team, it would be good to have him preach regularly so if something does happen to the Lead Pastor, then it would be normal for the Lay Elder to step in and preach for a week, two or three.
- Elders Protect the Pastor from the sheep (and potentially from the wolf in sheep’s clothing!)
Pastors hurt also! We bleed also! And we have memories that hold onto the horrible…ungodly things that are said to them and that they are accused of (in this situation, falsely accused). Elders can be a buffer in certain situations or with certain people. Some Pastors are very gentle in spirit and they cannot handle a lot of negativity, so having an Elder to be the buffer between the congregation and the Pastor is critical.
Remember to pray for your elders and pastors daily.
