Over the next few weeks, I want us to explore what biblical church government should look like. As many of you know, in a few weeks we will have the privilege of appointing Jonathan Douglas as an elder. It is a very exciting time for us as we have prayed toward this day for over a year.
However, I want us to be able to go into that day understanding why we have chosen the model we have chosen, namely, having elders and deacons as the two offices in the church. If you grew up like me, this model is a strange approach to government. Every church I have been a part of until now has simply had a pastor and deacons as its government. But I believe there is a closer biblical model than this. And it is the one that I will lay out today and over the next few weeks.
Because we are approaching the day that we appoint Jonathan as an elder but we are not yet appointing any deacons, I will focus on only one of the two offices in the church – the elder.
However, before I get into looking at the characteristics of an elder and defending the fact that this is the closest biblical model we could have, I want to make a few statements regarding church government.
First of all, we need to understand that those governing the church are not the ones doing the main ministry of the church.
It is not as if in appointing Jonathan in a number of weeks that we are saying that now he and I are going to be the ones doing the ministry of the church. No, in fact, the main ministry of the church is in the hands of the people. The elders are called to equip the people of the church in order that they might do the work of ministry. Ephesians 4:11-12 says: “And He [Jesus] gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”
Therefore, in a few weeks Jonathan will not be appointed to do the main ministry of the church but to aid as an elder in equipping the people to do the main ministry of the church.
Second, by implication our goal should not be to have as many elders as we can but only the number that we definitely need. For we need a greater number of people who do not have to be wrapped up in the work of planning, governing, setting forth the overall visionary work of the church, and organizing how things might be done in order that we might allow them to be involved in the ministry itself.
Though the analogy is lacking, to try to appoint as many as possible as elders would be much like trying to get all your basketball players to become coaches. You want rather only the number of coaches absolutely needed so that you might have a good number of players that can actually play the game.
Our goal then as a church should not be to appoint as many elders as we can but to fit as many people for the “work of service” as we possibly can.
Third, the head of the church is Jesus Christ, and below him all his children are on level ground spiritually. He does not look upon his children as one being more precious than another. If God were to call one to be a pastor, another to be a computer programmer, and yet another to be a farmer, it is not because he views them differently. None of them will be esteemed over the others in his eyes. It is simply our job to be obedient to our calling. We are all on equal ground spiritually. I am not dearer to Jesus than someone obeying him by teaching school or another profession, and nor will Jonathan be dearer to his Lord in a few weeks than he is right now.
Finally, however, God does call certain men to hold the office of elder. And the individual whom he calls to that office should be obedient to the call of his Lord. That is what we will be recognizing in a few weeks with Jonathan. As he is appointed an elder, it will not be that we are doing anything special to him. Our job is merely to recognize the call that God has placed on his life to serve in this position.
And with that preface, let me tell you why I think appointing elders is moving toward a more biblical model of church government.
Luke writes in Acts 14:23 that “when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
This is only one of many texts that confirm that the early church had elders. Here are a few more.
- Acts 11:29-30 – “And in the proportion that nay of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea. And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.”
- Acts 15:4 – “And when they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.”
- Acts 15:22 – “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas – Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren.”
- Acts 16:4 – “Now they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees, which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe.”
- Acts 20:17 – “And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.”
- Acts 21:18 – “And now the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.”
- 1 Timothy 4:14 – “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed upon you through the prophetic utterance with laying on of hands by the elders.”
- 1 Timothy 5:17, 19 – “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching … Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.”
- Titus 1:5 – “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.”
- James 5:14 – “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
- 1 Peter 5:1 – “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed …”
This list should be pretty convincing (see note 1). It is therefore quite obvious that the early church had elders. But why don’t we have them very much nowadays – at least as Baptists?
That is an interesting question. And it is one for which I do not have an answer. It is possible that we simply got away from the biblical model by not paying attention to Scripture and decided to model our government with what best made sense to us – with one man running the show.
However, I do know that the model in the Baptist church of having one pastor and then deacons as the church governing structure is not the way Baptists have always done it. In fact, even into the nineteenth century, Baptists had elders in the church.
Here are some statements to give evidence to this:
- The New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith – 1833, Article 13 – “We believe that a visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the ordinances of the church, governed by His laws and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His word; that’s its only scriptural offices are Bishops or Pastors [Elders] and deacons whose qualifications claims and duties are defined in the epistles to Timothy and Titus.”
- A Short Confession of Faith in 20 Articles by John Smyth – 1609, Article 16 – “The ministers of the Church are not only bishops who whom power is given of dispensing both the word and the sacraments but also deacons … who attend to the affairs of the poor and sick brethren.”
- Propositions and conclusion concerning the True Christian Religion – 1612 – 1614, Proposition 76 – “That Christ hath set in His outward Church two sorts of ministers viz; some who are called pastors, teachers, or elders who administer in the word and sacraments and others who are called deacons.”
- The Second London Confession – 1677 and 1688, Article 26, Paragraph 8 – “A particular Church gathered and completely organized according to the mind of Christ consists of officers and members. And the officers appointed by Christ … for the peculiar administration and execution of power or duty which he entrusts them with or calls them to, to be continued to the end of the world are Bishops or Elders and Deacons.
- Confession of Faith and Ecclesiastical Principles of the Evangelical Association of French-Speaking Baptist Churches, Part 2, Article 2 – “In addition to Pastors or Elders the local Church may have other responsible servants, for example deacons and deaconesses whose role it is to assist the pastors or elders in their ministry by assuming especial responsibility for everything that relates to the material interests of the congregation.”
And there are many other sources from which we could draw to show that this idea of government is nothing new but is historical and, in fact, biblical.
In other words, you might say, “Lee, the confession statements that you showed often parallel ‘Pastors’ and ‘Elders,’ so maybe we haven’t missed this in having one pastor or elder.”
Well, I do think these two terms are synonymous, which I will show in a bit, but what we have missed in the biblical model is the plurality of elders. Scripture never speaks of one, lone elder or pastor governing and overseeing the flock.
In fact, in every biblical and historical example I gave you where confession statements and the Scripture speak of elders, it is always “elders” (plural; see note 2). There is no hint from the early church that there should be one, lone elder overseeing the flock.
As one example, when James describes someone being sick, he automatically assumes that the church has at least more than one elder when he calls for the elders in James 5:14.
This is also displayed throughout all of Scripture. Jesus sent out the seventy, two by two. Proverbs tells us that just as “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (27:17). And (as I mentioned Wednesday night, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 tells us that, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”
Therefore, when we think of governing the church, there should obviously be plurality. Among many other benefits, this provides accountability and does not allow one man to get carried away on his own bias.
The terms bishop/overseer and pastor are synonymous with the word “elder.” It is clear that bishop/overseer (from the same word, episcopos) are synonymous with elder in Acts 20. In Acts 20:17 Paul calls for the elders to meet with him at Miletus. However, when he speaks to them, he says in verse 28, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among you which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [i.e. episcopos, or bishop] to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
Therefore, Paul feels free to interchange the terms for elder and bishop/overseer. In the same way in Titus 1:5, Paul tells Titus to “Appoint elders in every town.” But when he begins to give the qualifications for such men he says, “For a bishop …” Finally, though there are more examples, Paul writes to the Philippians, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons” (1:1). However, if you remember Acts 14:23, it was elders that he had appointed in every church. Why would Paul then ignore these men in writing this letter to the church at Philippi? Well, obviously he wasn’t as the term “Bishop” and “Elder” are interchangeable.
And the same is true with the term for “pastor” as well.
Actually in the New Testament, the term “pastor” is used in reference to an office only once, in Ephesians 4:11. However, elders are often described as “pastoring” or “shepherding” (same Greek word) the flock. For example, Peter writes to the elders, “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily …” (1 Peter 5:1-2).
Therefore, the pastor is one of the elders. He has no more governing authority than any of the other elders. However, he may be one of the main teaching elders as is hinted at in 1 Timothy 5:17 as Paul writes, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” Then he goes into the argument that the “laborer is worthy of his wages” (1 Timothy 5:18). Therefore, the pastor is probably one of the main teaching elders who probably got paid for his duties since it required full-time effort.
But even with this being the case, the New Testament gives no model of a one-man show. Instead, we see the church governed by elders.
Therefore, in the next few weeks we will approach the time when we will appoint Jonathan Douglas as an elder, believing and recognizing that God has called him to such a work. This will not only give me accountability, but it will add to the stability of the leadership of the church, removing it from one man’s shoulders.
But above all reasoning and logic, we believe what we are doing is moving toward a more biblical model of government. And we pray for God’s blessing as such.
Therefore, I encourage you in the next few weeks to pray for Jonathan and the church. And encourage him as he has committed himself to the calling of the Lord on his life.
May God’s grace be lavished richly upon us in these days. Amen.