The Office of Elder
Part 1: The Man Who Would Be an Elder
Andrew Rutten
Elders for the Health of the Church
One of the components of health in a local church is the installation of elders to lead and care for the congregation. A clear example of this comes from the Apostle Paul as he directs Titus. Paul explains the reason he commissioned Titus to remain in a specific area, Crete, was that he might bring order out of chaos. People had been evangelizing, conversions were happening, and churches were being planted. Yet, for the well-being of the church, it is Titus’s responsibility to bring order to the chaos of church planting.
What is Paul’s primary desire for order, or well-being, in the church? For Titus to “appoint elders in every town as I directed you” (Tit 1:5, ESV). Paul teaches Titus, us by extension, that for the health of the church, elders must be put in place. An essential responsibility of elders is to bring about order and health in a local church. These elders must: have certain qualifications (1:6–9), carry the responsibility of instructing the church (1:9), find and fight false teachers and doctrines (1:9–16), teach how to behave in community (2:1–10), teach, exhort, and rebuke with authority (2:15), remind people of their brokenness and the beauty of the gospel (3:1–7), insist people believe in God and devote themselves to good works (3:8), and discern when to lovingly leave people in their foolishness (3:9–11). These are only a few of the reasons why it is for the health of the church that each local congregation has elders put in place.
Furthermore, we find in other places in the New Testament the high calling and role of elders. As Paul leaves Ephesus in Acts 20, it is his final act to encourage and exhort the elders to their ministry calling (Acts 20:17–35). In part, this is because, for the health of the church in Ephesus, he must focus on the health of her leaders. Paul also urges Timothy to install qualified elders (1 Tim 3:1–7) and for the church to respect and reward the elders who serve well (1 Tim 5:17–18). He reveals to Timothy that it is the responsibility of the elders to “rule” (1 Tim 5:17), meaning they have high-level leadership and oversight in the congregation.
The Apostle Peter, in 1 Peter 5:1–4, urges the elders in all the churches to shepherd their congregations under the authority of Christ. He calls them to exercise oversight and leadership in the church. And he exhorts them to do all this willingly, not for greedy gain but out of love and an eagerness to serve. All of this is to be done under the ultimate Shepherd, Christ. The sheep that elders shepherd are not ultimately their own, but they are Christ’s. Therefore, the call is to lead and love them in a way that the Great Shepherd has led and loved them. For elders who do this, they receive a crown of glory when their ministry is fulfilled.
All these passages point us to see that, for the well-being of the church, she must appoint elders to lead and care for her. And it is imperative to understand that these leaders must be qualified, must desire the task, and must be equipped to handle the office. Healthy leadership drives a healthy church. And unfortunately, the opposite will always be true as well. Therefore, for a healthy church to exist, she must be led by healthy leaders, namely, elders.
The Man Who Would Be an Elder
Who should be an elder? The calling on someone’s life to be an elder is important and life-changing. And if a church’s health is dependent upon her elders’ health, this may be one of the most important questions that a church can ask itself. The answer then, to state the obvious, becomes one of the most important statements a church can make. The answer to this vital question is that an elder is a Biblically qualified man called to shepherd the church.
Biblically Qualified
Eldership is not for anyone who wants a leadership position. They must be qualified. And those qualifications are not up for interpretation in each local congregation. Instead, the Bible has given clear qualifications that elders must display. These qualifications are explicitly laid out in 1 Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:5–9.
In speaking of these qualifications, what is startling is how ordinary they are. It is not a list of elite leadership characteristics, but rather the characteristics each Christian is called to live out. A qualified man is not to be noted as elite, but simply mature. Apart from not being a recent convert and being able to teach, the remaining qualifications for the elder are standards for the Christian life. Therefore, it could be said that the lifestyle qualifications of an elder are such that they must be “exemplary Christians.” That’s not to say that they must be on some spiritually elite level, but that their lifestyle is a living example of what all Christians are called to. In that, as 1 Timothy shows us, they must not be a recent convert but a mature Christian who has walked with the Lord for a while.
The only other qualification for an elder besides high character and spiritual maturity is that he must be able to teach (1 Tim 3:2; Tit 1:9). This is not to say that each elder must be primarily called and gifted as a preacher or carry the preaching workload in a congregation week-in and week-out. However, it does portray a man who is able make God’s Word known clearly, compellingly, and with conviction. He is to know the Word of God in order to teach it rightly as well as to refute false doctrine. This teaching may not consistently take place during the regular Sunday worship gathering of the church, but there must be an ability to teach in some formats and spaces.
A Man
Part of the Biblical qualifications for an elder is that the office is for certain men. Let’s be clear: a complementarian theology of eldership in no way attempts to denigrate, dishonor, or undervalue women. In fact, if complimentarianism is true, it is the most empowering and honoring structure for women. While all people, both male and female, are created in God’s image and represent characteristics of God, gender is not to be flattened but to be enjoyed in its distinctiveness. Men and women are equal in value and dignity but are distinct in role and function.
That being said, let’s look at three reasons why an elder must be a biblically qualified man. First, while this heading can elicit male vs. female distinctions only, it is helpful to highlight the preceding point. Eldership is not for every man, and therefore it is not merely a gender distinction. The issue is not solely about leadership for men or women. The calling is more specific. While the office is to be held by men, it is a smaller subset of men, namely, only qualified men.
Second, it is important to note the context of 1 Timothy 3 in this discussion. We see direct points in the passage that lead us to say this is a role for men. One, for instance, is that Paul uses specifically masculine pronouns to refer to elders. In addition, he uses masculine roles like husbands and fathers in outlining their qualifications. However, faithfulness requires broadening the scope to read this passage in light of 1 Timothy 2.
In 1 Timothy 2:8–15, Paul is exhorting Timothy about how to encourage people to operate in worship gatherings. In verse 9, he calls for women to gain attention for their good works rather than their outer beauty. The examples that Paul uses are cultural examples from his time period. He calls them to wear respectable apparel, not gold or pearls. Why gold and pearls explicitly? Because in that context, those are the examples of fine clothing that would attract attention over their lifestyle of good works.
Paul then transitions to how women are to learn in these gatherings and not teach or exercise authority. His example or reasoning for such a command? Interestingly, he does not give a cultural or time-sensitive example but bases his argument in the creation story, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve” (1 Tim 2:13). Paul is teaching that something in how God created males and females informs how the church gatherings should function. Because of Adam’s unique created order and responsibility to lead, among the people of God, it is the responsibility of certain men to teach and exercise authority.
It is on the heels of this argument that Paul gives qualifications for elders. Why is that important? Because Paul argues that the main role of elders is to teach and exercise oversight. The logical building blocks of this argument spanning chapters 2 and 3 would point us to see that certain men are to hold the office of teaching and exercising authority in the church, and those men are to be identified by the standards in 1 Timothy 3:1–7.
Third, it is also helpful to remember the correlation between the household unit (otherwise known as the family) and the household of God (the family of God, meaning the church). Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, highlights the importance of the family unit. In the Old Testament, we find the blessing of multiplying through children (Gen 1:28), the call to lead families well (Deut 6:4–9), and the implications of generational rebellion against God (Exod 34:7). In the New Testament, the family also carries great weight. Most clearly, we see this in Paul’s letters to the Ephesians and Colossians, where he commands how the household is to function in a God-honoring way (Eph 5:22–6:4; Col 3:18–21).
However, the New Testament also communicates about another family or household, that is, the household of God. This family is not naturally born but born again by the Spirit (John 3:8). Jesus called not his blood relatives, his mother and brothers, but those who walk with the Father (Matt 12:46–50). The Apostles frequently invoke family relationships to speak of God as Father as well as other Christians as children of God, brothers or sisters. The Apostle Paul reminds Christians that we have been saved by Christ and made “members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19).
All this to say, there are two important family lines running throughout the Bible: earthly, natural family units as well as the family of God. And these are not two separate units with no connection, but the family units we have on earth are to be a picture or shadow of the ultimate family unit we belong to in Christ. This is why when qualifications are made for an elder, one of the necessary conditions is that they lead the shadow well as proof they could lead the substance. If our family units are shadows of the greater reality of the family of God, then an elder must first prove himself in the former before being trusted with the latter.
This connection is made obvious in 1 Timothy 3:4–5, “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” We find a similar sentiment in Titus 1:6, “if anyone is . . . the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination” [1].
Hopefully, at this point, we can see a clear connection between the earthly family and the family of God. So where does this leave us with the qualified male eldership question? Specifically, regarding leadership in both households, there are clear leadership roles given. In the church, we’ve already discussed the leadership responsibilities of the elders. In the home, we see the husband is called to lovingly lead his wife (Eph 5:22–33) as well as carry the responsibility of leading their children (Eph 6:1–4). These are similar responsibilities to those involved in the leadership of the church. Therefore, it is not a stretch to correlate a complementarian theology in both the home and the household of God, but in fact, it is a Biblical connection. This means that men are given the responsibility to lovingly lead the home like Christ, and certain men are called to lovingly lead the church like Christ.
Andrew Rutten - Providence Church - Omaha, Nebraska
[1] There lies an obvious question with the Titus passage on what to do with men who seem qualified yet have unbelieving children. While that question deserves a thoughtful response, the purpose of this particular point is simply to show the connection between family unit and family of God.